REVIEW: Trinity of Sin: Pandora #1

What happens when three super groups bump into each other? As Bugs Bunny would say, “Of course you realize, this means war!” This series focuses on the woman who may be behind the Trinity War!

TRINITY OF SIN: PANDORA #1
Writer: Ray Fawkes
Artists: Zander Cannon, Daniel Sampere, Patrick Zircher
Editor: Wil Moss
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $2.99

Previously in TRINITY OF SIN: PANDORA: The mysterious woman connected to the creation of the New 52 gets her own series! Pandora is on an action-packed, blood-soaked mission to hunt down the horrors she inadvertently unleashed upon the world. Can she save the DCU — and redeem herself in the process? A prequel to the upcoming ‘Trinity War’!”

PANDORA BEFORE THE NEW 52

If you were reading the New 52 back in its earliest days, you remember a woman cloaked in red who was appearing in the DCU. Turns out she was Pandora, well known in legend as the woman who released the Seven Deadly Sins on the world.

So, just who was Pandora and her famous box?

In classical Greek mythology, Pandora was actually the first woman on Earth. Zeus ordered Hephaestus, the god of craftsmanship, to create her, so he did — using water and earth. The gods endowed her with many gifts: Athena clothed her, Aphrodite gave her beauty, and Hermes gave her speech.

When Prometheus stole fire from heaven, Zeus took vengeance by presenting Pandora to Epimetheus, who was Prometheus’ brother. Pandora was given a beautiful container – with instructions not to open it under any circumstance. Impelled by her curiosity (given to her by the gods), of course, Pandora indeed opened it, and all the evil contained therein escaped and spread over the Earth. She hastened to close the container, but Its contents had escaped except for one thing that lay at the bottom — the Spirit of Hope named Elpis.

Today, the phrase “to open Pandora’s box” means to perform an action that may seem small or unimportant, but it turns out to have severe and far-reaching consequences.

WHAT’S PANDORA LIKE IN THE NEW 52?

Pandora is less “keeper of a box” than action heroine. When we first see her in this issue, she’s taking care of her ill siblings during a prehistoric time. Told to gather some berries, she finds a golden skull. When Pandora picks it up, she looks into its three glowing red eyes, and that releases the Seven Deadly Sins – Envy, Gluttony, Greed, Lust, Pride, Sloth and Wrath.

When she returns to her tribe, she finds the Sins are in the process of physically devouring everyone she knew. Worse yet, they refer to her as “Mother.”

Brought before the Council, she is punished for her deed by being cursed to walk the world, eternally undead and a witness to all the ruin she had inflicted the Earth with.

Over the centuries, Pandora tries to talk humans out of their sin, but her successes are few, so she learns all she can about the Sins and how to combat them and their agents. Along the way, she encounters immortal Vandal Savage, who she comes to despise.

As the issue draws to a close, Pandora is told that the Council has been destroyed (in the “Shazam!” back-up series in Justice League) by the former head of the group, who apologizes to her for their poor judgement before dying himself.

In a radical change from the original legend, she’s told that the box actually holds the power to end her curse. However, it takes someone with the strongest of heart to open it. Pandora has just the person in mind … Superman!

So, my biggest question is, what’s that golden skull she touched? Apparently it comes back because in the double-page spread advertising the Trinity War, she’s holding it again with its red eyes glowing again. Then, too, it’s on the cover of this issue and even in the “o” of “Pandora” in the book’s logo on the top of that same cover. I expect to see it again before long!

THE STORY AND THE ART

The story is an interesting one, with several twists and turns that keep us wondering what’s going to happen next.

The art is good considering that several artists provide different pages. But one thing provided bumps in the road when I was reading this issue – sometimes the timeline jumps around, making it tough to understand just what’s going on. The worst example of this was when Pandora is in the process of acquiring guns from an arms dealer/being shot at by one of Wrath’s assassins. Without any indication just what is happening, the sequences literally jump back and forth from panel to panel. I struggled to figure out what was happening when.

BOTTOM LINE: TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THE “TRINITY WAR,” IT’LL BE IMPORTANT TO READ THIS BOOK FIRST.

It’s always tough to judge a miniseries by its initial outing. This one has really good moments, and at its very core, it’s clearly a tragedy. Pandora loses her family and village due to a simple act, then is condemned to suffer for centuries. Along the way, she can’t turn people from their evil ways, meeting loss after loss. Now, a way out may have been presented to her, but is it real? Only time and upcoming issues will tell!

I’m still not convinced I buy Pandora as an action hero, but that will hopefully grow on me as we go along. Cool costume, though!

I’ll be very interested to see just what plot threads this book has set up for the “Trinity War.” There are at least two more issues coming for this title, so I’m sure to keep up! Trinity of Sin: Pandora #1 gets 4 out of 5 stars.