The Good
The history of Pandora is explained. She walks as an immortal throughout time paying for her sin and has her own mission to complete.
Man, the Trinity of Sin don't live the happiest of lives, do they? It's a pretty lonely road they have to travel and in this first issue of the PANDORA series, we learn why Pandora is a part of the Trinity of Sin. I won't give it away. This will be as spoiler-free as possible. She walks the Earth for thousands of years searching for something. At first, all these disconnected moments in time didn't make sense to me, but it all dawned on me in a singular moment that it's more about her "living" on this planet more than anything else. She's survived for thousands of years without mentally deteriorating. She has a task to complete, and she's willing to do anything to complete it.
The book ends on a pretty cool note, which is a lead in to the start of the Trinity War. Pandora will once again be making her way into another book, but this time, she'll have a purpose. She needs to talk to some of Earth's heroes in order to achieve her goal.
Two different art teams on this book, and it's not a huge problem. The only time you'll really notice it is when the page layouts become a bit more dynamic and interesting. You'll notice it on page 8, when artist Patrick Zircher takes over, with Hi-Fi on colors. His opening page, with Pandora's head floating at the top, and her silhouette walking away to the left, is easily my favorite panel in the book, not to take anything away from the other art team of Zander Cannon (layouts), Daniel Sampere (pencils), Vicente Cifuentes (inks), and Hi-Fi on colors. Their second and final pages are really stand outs here as well. Again, while it is two different art teams here, their art all meshes together very well.
VANDAL SAVAGE! He gets his own little section because I love seeing him pop up in books.
Might as well talk about the cover, right? Ryan Sook put the cover together here, and it's pretty awesome. It's probably one of my favorite from the week.
The Bad
I was not really into this book on the first read through. I thought it was ok, at best. However, I always like to read a book a few times before I babble on paper, and I found myself really enjoying the book. It was weird, and I couldn't place my finger about what I didn't like about it, until I started writing this. The mystery of Pandora is gone. Everything about her and her history is explained here. Don't get me wrong, it's done very well, but what drew me the character, this aura of mystery, feels completely gone. I'm sure there are tales to tell from her past, but what drew me to this character feels evaporated.
The Verdict
I kept this pretty spoil free because it's worth your time and money. Sure, I'm a little bummed that most of the mystery behind this character has been stripped away, but this book is an excellent read. We get to know pretty much everything about this character, and it does make her more interesting, not just a figure in the shadows like she's been for the past couple of years. Her backstory is very interesting and it got me even more pumped for Trinity War. Just get off your butt and go buy it already.
Overall, I highly recommend this issue.