Trinity of Sin: The Phantom Stranger #18

            I have not been a fan of this title for the past few months.  Not only did the name change with the addition of “Trinity of Sin” screw up my pull box list as a new computer system was added to the checkout, but it really stunk.  Now it was not a case of bad writing or sucky art.  No, this was all about how the Forever Evil mega-crossover took control of The Phantom Stranger.  Thankfully all that is hopefully behind us.  I am so happy that it appears we will once again be following the story of Judas as he spends eternity making up for betraying Jesus.  It was that story that made me become interested in this new Stranger.

            This is a ghost story that involves the biggest of the bigs in the DCU.  Superman is being haunted and it is not having a good effect on the dimensional barriers.  The spirit of Dr. Light has decided that Superman should pay for his death and all the people he has never saved from anything that has ever occurred.  It is nice to see the Stranger and his power set interacting with Superman.  One awesome visual is of Supes smashing through the giant embodiment of the Stranger and it breaking into so many shards.

            Bringing the baddie they did into this ghost story is what has given me hope for this book to get back on track.  It was dangerously close to being dropped from my hold box.  That would have been sad for me.  I have really become taken with the character of The Phantom Stranger.  So for now I will keep reading.

BDS

The Phantom Stranger #0

            The New 52 is a year old now and the new reality is forming.  The Phantom Stranger has always been a character of mystery in the DC Universe.  He is and has been around key moments and is very powerful, yet we are always kept wondering just who and what his purpose is in the cosmos.  The New 52 gives direction to this character.  It is an interesting and bold choice in many ways.  Unlike Marvel, DC has never shied away from writing about and using the Christian God for characterization.  In fact they are very mush a company that has acknowledged Christianity, Judaism, and Islam in their Universes.  Marvel of old acknowledged that many believed in a supreme being, but that its pantheons of gods and goddesses were not connected.  They were only superhuman beings that had been worshiped on Earth.

            Why go into all of this religious talk?  Because the identity of the Phantom Stranger has been revealed.  He is Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of the Son of God.  In the DCnU his is part of what is being termed the Trinity of Sin.  A council of Wizards passed judgment upon him and now he wears the thirty pieces of silver he was paid to betray Jesus as a necklace around his neck.  No mercy was given when he asked for it.  He is returned to the world a Stranger.  Vast powers are his to command.  He wears a robe, a simple robe of cheap cloth.  It is the robe of Jesus.  That is what his cloak is after being reshaped over the centuries.

            So the Phantom Stranger wanders the Earth, forever apart from those around him.  He is told that he will be called upon to aid those that will serve good.  We get to see his first assignment that has been thousands of years in the waiting.  It is the Stranger that aids in the events that lead to the creation of the Spectre.  Not sure if it is the main DCnU Earth, or Earth 2 where this is all happening.  It will be interesting to see which it happens on.  The kicker for the Phantom Stranger is that his help will always require him to betray those he helps.  A constant reminder as to why he wanders the Earth.

            It is a brave twist and I like how they are approaching this Trinity of Sin thing.  I forget who the Question was before, but he is one part of this group and Pandora is the other.  I have a feeling that Captain Marvel will be involved in the overall story.  I hope all the Phantom Stranger issues are as good as this one was to me.

BDS