Review: Trinity of Sin: Pandora Vol. 1- The Curse
Quick Summary
Pros: There are a number of moments that are interesting and have potential to be developed further in the second volume.
Cons: The main storyline is severely disrupted, in a negative way, by two major events in the DC Universe. Many interesting plotlines are unceremoniously dropped just when they start getting good.
Overall: This is a volume that starts with a lot of promise and ends by failing to deliver on this same promise. The book is hampered by two events that cause interesting plotlines to be either dropped or too rapidly resolved. There are moments where readers can see the book this was meant to be, but these are too few and far between to make up for all of the negatives. If you somehow enjoyed Trinity War, then there are parts of this book that you may enjoy, but everyone else has little reason to pick this one up.
Story
Trinity of Sin: Pandora Vol. 1: The Curse, by Ray Fawkes, is a book with a lot of potential that never seems to pan out. It builds up to and relies heavily on the Trinity War (Review) event but is ultimately left hanging by the event’s ending. Then, it begins to explore the aftermath of the war, only to be thrust into the midst of Forever Evil: Blight without resolving anything the entire series has started. This is a classic example of events ruining something that could have been entertaining. As of right now, this is not a series worth reading, but the next volume could do something with the potential this one created, if it can manage to stay clear of event fatigue.
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The Curse starts out interestingly enough, with cryptic scenes involving Pandora and her role in the current state of the DC Universe. She has been popping up throughout the DC Universe since Flashpoint (Review) so finally having some answers is a pretty satisfying feeling. The entire tease is enough to get your attention but not enough to cause the story to jump forward too soon.
Pandora is on a quest to reopen Pandora’s Box in order to rid the world of the evil she unleashed upon it many years ago. To do this, she needs to find the “strongest of heart or the darkest” because only that person will be able to open the Box. Meanwhile, she is also on a quest to kill the personifications of the Seven Deadly Sins. She released these sins when she first opened the Box, and they now plague her eternal existence.
There are some good moments along this trip that, without the book’s many negatives, would have made this an enjoyable read. Her confrontation with Vandal Savage, the government’s X-Files style investigation, and her mysterious weapons manufacturer are all points of the story with potential. The end of her quest to defeat the sins, where she realizes that sin can only be defeated when one makes the personal decision to do so, is particularly noteworthy and was my favorite moment of the entire collection.
Unfortunately, this is all hampered by the book’s reliance on Trinity War (Review). This event was so bad and so terribly managed that the shadow it casts over this entire work darkens every bright spot. Pandora’s goal to find a heart of pure good or evil is contradicted by the book’s conclusion, where it is revealed that only someone from Earth 3 could ever open the Box. It leaves fans wondering what the point of the entire arc was and why the initial prophecy would have existed in the first place. Even Pandora’s triumph over the sins seems pointless, as her victory seems to have no impact on anything and is barely mentioned from this point onward.
The book begins to salvage this damage by simply turning itself into supplementary reading for Trinity War (Review). Showing Earth 3 Martian Manhunter, having the Outsider explain what the invasion is all about, and detailing the true origin of the Seven Sins are all worthwhile plot points. However, any interest in these is immediately dashed when Pandora is unceremoniously drafted into Forever Evil: Blight. It seems that, once again, the series has experienced a massive change in direction that manages to shake off any interest I had in continuing to read.
(spoilers end here)
Art
The first half of this collection heavily features art from penciler Daniel Sampere and inker Vicente Cifuentes. This artwork is rather bold and imaginative; it depicts strange and ancient lands in a way that makes them feel accessible while still keeping an aura of mystery about them. It also makes the Sins look wonderful and makes it feel as if they are ready to pop right off the pages. The first half of this book looks great because of this and ends up being another one of the collection’s better aspects.
Unfortunately, the second half, featuring the art of Francis Portela, does not look as nice. Details do not stand out as nice and the art lacks the same level of polish. This makes characters less distinct and causes them to convey less emotion and meaning then they did before. Things still don’t look bad but they simply do not look as good.
Continuity
Trinity of Sin: Pandora Vol. 1: The Curse starts the Trinity of Sin: Pandora New 52 series. However, the origins of the series can be traced back to Pandora’s appearances in the Justice League series and even at the end of the Flashpoint (Review) event.
The story started here continues in Trinity of Sin: Pandora Vol. 2: Choices or in Forever Evil: Blight.
This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:
- The Wizard mentions giving up his powers. This happened in Shazam! (Review).
- The beginning of this collection is a major tie-in to Trinity War (Review). See our Trinity War Timeline for more information.
- Issue #4 of this collection flows directly out of the end of Trinity War (Review) and the beginning of Forever Evil (Review).