DC is finally pulling out their epic event after having two straight years of smaller story arcs. This is right in conjunction with the Ultimates world ending Infinity Gauntlet story arc. Never has two world ending events been compared and contrasted.
The Stories:
Trinity War- The Justice League, JLA and Justice League Dark are searching for the Pandora's box. This tool is believed to have manipulated Superman into killing Doctor Light. After countless civil battles between groups, they finally discover that Earth 3 is behind this and the evil altar egos of the Justice League step into Earth 1.
Gauntlet War- The Ultimates are trying to track down the Infinity Gems when Krang, a mysterious alien visitor, teams up with the Hulk and Mr. Fantastic to steal them. They use the gems to manipulate the world into their own utopia. The Ultimates are defeated and Krang reveals herself as Sue Richards from the future.
Story Magnitude:
The Ultimates story arc focuses on the destruction of the team and the helplessness of the good guys on page one. The minute we see Hulk and Reed with the gauntlets we know the team is screwed. It becomes an epic struggle to see the team survive. Then the death of Tony Stark happens and see the writers throwing more calamity in the world ending scenario.
The JL story is more of a journey based narrative. First, all teams go to Kahndaq. Then they have to solve a mystery of why Superman killed Doctor Light. All the while, the team is getting into fisticuffs over problem management. The DC world does not get into deep trouble until Earth 3 opens up and spits out the evil Justice League. The 6 story arc becomes a buffet of heroes arguing and random clues thrown at you.
More World Threatening: The Ultimates
Character Usage:
The JL story proudly throws tons of combatants and heroes at you from page one. Geoff Johns was tasked with showing off DC's bounty of new and old faces. This ensures that very few people get more than 2 pages of development. We see Shazam get excited about punching Superman, Cat Woman seduce a magical house, The Question talk about questions and Wonder Woman strangle tons of guys in her ambitious quest. Mostly the bad guys get the real star treatment.
The Ultimates shine a spotlight on Reed, Hulk, Quicksilver and Krang. These characters are deliciously psychotic and destitute of humanity. At the same time they think they are the good guys. The story arc never really explains why The Ultimates need to save the world from them. The Ultimates take a back seat as the villains are the real seasoning on this story. Tony Stark gets the most panel time, which is pretty impressive because he is dead.
Best Characters: The Ultimates
Life Altering Events:
The Ultimates are screwed from page 3 of issue 1. They see the Hulk destroy their entire team and Reed Richards is a step ahead. Marvel exclusively uses the Ultimate stories to blow up stuff and kill off characters. Curious to see how Tony Stark will function as a sentient computer program.
Not much changes in the DC world. Doctor Light dies and we are reintroduced to the evil JL of Earth 3. The premise of this mega event was to put the Justice League against each other. It is a neat idea, but nothing really happens that is ground breaking.
Riskier Story: The Ultimates
