Trinity of Sin - The Phantom Stranger (2012-2014) Vol. 1: A Stranger Among Us

For a start I feel I must point out that my review will be slightly biased, as you can tell by the name I write reviews under I'm a huge fan of the stranger (he's in my all time top five comic book characters) but I was very unsure about reading this new take on the character due to the number of changes but having done so I've found a lot to like but also some stuff that I didn't like, but it wasn't as bad as I feared it would be. I'll go over the bad stuff first, the major problem is they have for the first time defined the origin of the Stranger, the major selling point of this character has always been his anonymity, he has been around since 1952 and at no time until now were his origins explained in this detail there has always been theories (I personally liked the angel who didn't take sides theory, go check online for all the theories) but never solid fact, so to basically give all but the characters name (if you know your bible you'll know it) on page one was a little bit disappointing, It may just be me personally but I felt this somehow took something away from the character, the second problem was the fact he has a family, I have nothing against families but this just seemed like a plot device to humanise the Stranger and to give him a weakness it just felt a little bit contrived and obvious, you can basically see what is going to happen a mile off. Now the good, the Stranger still looks pretty cool, there is something about the design that I have always found brilliant, and even thought he medallion has been replaced by a necklace of coins it doesn't ruin the design, the story in general is strong if a little muddled in places, it does a good job of setting out the Strangers mission and also showcases his powers and limitation, the main strength though is the number of DC magic characters that appear in this book there are origin stories for the Spectre and Raven built into the stories and there are also appearances from Doctor Thirteen, Justice League Dark, Trigon and the other two members of the trinity of sin Pandora and the Question. (if you are unaware of the trinity of sin all is explained inside) So how to sum this all up, it's really a mixed bag these stories are there to really serve two purposes to set up the Strangers place in the new 52 and also set up the trinity of sin, it does these two things well but you can't help but think that in doing that it's lacking something in the substance department, it may be good to see the Stranger and the Spectre knocking the living hell out of each other but I couldn't help but think that this was a bit of a missed opportunity, but still there is enough here to be getting on with but hope future volumes flesh out everything a bit more.

The story running through issues #0-5 of DC Comics’ ‘New 52’ Phantom Stranger title is collected as  Phantom Stranger Volume 1: A Stranger Among Us TP (The New 52) . This is a superb start to a new series, with excellent scripting and artwork. The old ‘accepted/implied’ origin is kept, and made explicit this time round – I remember the original story - “Tarry Till I Come Again” - that was offered as one of three possible secret origins back in the 1970s or 80s, and that was always considered the favourite. Here however, that origin is now tied explicitly into the character’s actions, as every time he carries out a specific mission for the ‘Voice’, one of the silver coins he wears around his neck is released. The origin is also tied into the Trinity of Sin and  Justice League Trinity War HC (The New 52) (Justice League (DC Comics))  that is currently running through the Justice Leagues, though to what end we do not yet know. Now, the Stranger’s mission is apparently to betray people into a fate that they don’t deserve, but is required for the Greater Good, though the victims don’t necessarily know, understand or care, as the Spectre makes plain when the Stranger runs into him further into the volume, having led Detective Corrigan to his fate in issue #0 – we get the secret origin of both the Spectre and the Phantom Stranger here. We also get Pandora, the current Terrence Thirteen and the Question appearing in this volume, and everyone’s stories seem to be intertwined with the Phantom Stranger – who doesn’t just do tasks for the ‘Voice’; he has his own activities to keep him busy, including one that really makes this iteration of the Phantom Stranger different from those that have gone before – and this is on a level with ‘The Anatomy Lesson’ in terms of ‘why did no-one think of that before?”.This really is a superb opening volume in the story of the Phantom Stranger that denies nothing of the past, but adds new elements that really make it a new story.

I know the New 52 is all about "no status quo", but even I thought it was a bit daring of them to take a character who in the previous continuity had no definite origin, whose mystery was a big part of the character's popularity, and use the first issue of his revamp to tell you *precisely* who he is and why he does what he does. Not that strange any more. Also, I'm slightly puzzled as to why they chose the particular origin for him that they did - it's been suggested before and it's not even the most interesting one (Alan Moore came up with a much better one!). Still, it's nicely written, prettily drawn and entertaining, so it does what it set out to do. Sadly, in the process I feel it rather diminishes the character.

Sometimes, if there is an enigmatic character, fans want them to be left mysterious and don't want to know their backstory e.g. I like the Jokers background (even his vague new one in new 52) but a lot of people don't want to.I think its always better to know whats behind the character.If you liked the Phantom Stranger but wanted to learn more, check this out