Trinity of Sin - Pandora #2

Writer:  Ray Fawkes

Art:  Daniel Sampere, Vicente Cifuentes

Get Caught Up...

Pandora unwittingly released the seven sins upon mankind.  She was punished accordingly.  She’s walked the earth for lifetimes, and is now on a crusade to put the seven sins back where they belong.

What’s Good?

There are some solid story beats in this book.  I really enjoy the nods from Fawkes as to how long Pandora has been around.  She’s a figure that global agencies have noticed and have extensive files on.  Her involvement with Superman before his attack on Dr. Light has been noticed.  She’s been using the same arms dealer in different incarnations for several lifetimes.  A lot of good moments like this peppered into the story help bring it above the mediocrity that threatens it.

I love that they picked up on a hanging plot thread from the first issue.  The wizard said that Pandora needed the strongest of heart or the darkest of heart.  She immediately went with the strongest, which lead to her interaction with Superman in Justice League #22.  The other side of the spectrum leads to her reencountering Vandal Savage after a thousand years.  

 

Sempre and Cifuentes’ art is solid in this book.  I’m glad they were able to do the entirety of the book, instead of splitting duties like last issue.  The seven sins are somewhat ridiculous characters (for the most part), so I’m glad that the art team here was able to make them at least somewhat believable.  The character designs here are what I’m most pleased with.  I love their take on Vandal Savage.  The cover by Ryan Sook was phenomenal, as well.  Great desing.

What’s Not So Good?

Vandal Savage is the only good thing about the Secret Society’s involvement in this book.  Giganta and Signalman are both throwaway characters that serve no purpose other than to expand on Pandora’s abilities.  The way Signalman said everything that was happening while holding up his tablet bordered on ridiculous.  I would have much rather had Vandal Savage come alone.  I enjoyed the first meeting between Savage and Pandora a great deal, and I was hoping for more of that style interaction from this book.  It was there, after the necessary combat, of course, but not to the same degree.   I’m enjoying the Secret Society as a whole, but its involvement here seems to be mismanaged.

I hope something comes of the agents from ARGUS and SHADE’s involvement in this story.  It seems like a lot of time was spent on them with no payoff.  For a Pandora title, we were surprisingly light on the actual Pandora time.  The good moments in this story are few and far between.

The Verdict...

I’m going to keep up with this series.  This is moreso out of curiosity and desire to get the complete Trinity War story than out of dedication to the writing and art, both of which are decent, but nothing terribly special.

Oh, Yeah, And...

I have no idea if this is a limited or an ongoing series.  I would assume it is going to be ongoing since there is nothing on the cover to indicate a specific number of issues.  I think I would prefer this story to be a limited series, just to avoid dragging out the reveals.  I want to see Pandora’s involvement in the Trinity War, which will be completed next month.  Where does the title go from there?  I’m hoping we get some sort of resolution in the core Trinity War titles to Pandora’s Box, and the plot thread isn’t stretched out in this title too long.