I knew Ray Fawkes wouldn’t let us down. After a necessary but unremarkable origin issue and a horribly flawed tie-in, we finally get an issue of Trinity of Sin: Pandora that’s actually about the plot of the series! But is the plot worth following? Well…
The Good:
This issue accomplishes the very important task of humanizing Pandora. Sure, we’ve seen tragedy and gotten aspects of character from her, but Pandora hasn’t really been a full-fledged character up to this point; she’s served primarily as a plot device for the larger purposes of the DC Universe.
Pandora’s character so far can be summed up as “vengeful immortal.” She’s been single-minded in her hunt for the sins, and we see the intensity with which she has traversed the globe acquiring new skills to kill them, as well as her search for somebody who can reopen Pandora’s Box. In this issue, we get to see what some of that training was like, and, more importantly, the conversations she has had with her masters. And in all the time she has wandered the world, we see that Pandora has always looked for some kind of answer about the nature of evil.
This man’s face makes me wistful for the pre-reboot Oliver Queen.
Through her thousands of immortal years, Pandora still held those much younger than her in a high enough regard to treat them as intellectual equals, if not superiors, and ask for their thoughts and opinions on matters she herself is well versed in. It’s a really nice touch that shows that through everything she’s experienced, in some way, Pandora’s still the curious young woman who first found that golden skull outside the Temple of Hephaestus all those years ago.
No matter how much we learn, there’s always more to learn, because things are always changing. It’s the reason philosophy still exists as a discipline. It’s the reason we continue to learn things. It’s the reason that we discuss things with each other. The search for knowledge is one of the things that drives humanity, that has led to some of our greatest achievements, and the fact that Pandora never abandons it shows that she hasn’t lost her tether to the human race.
As for the main story, the book’s plot cuts between Pandora’s discussions with her masters in the past, and the present. The present, in this case, is the events of Justice League Dark #23, in which Wonder Woman’s team is fighting each other over Pandora’s box, due to its corrupting influence. However, we see that this corruption is a result of the seven sins actually being in the room, though only Pandora can see them.
She struggles in vain to get the heroes to stop fighting. Pandora despairs, but thinks back to her past and finds strength. And with this newfound strength, she can finally make progress on her personal quest to eradicate the sins.
This is absolutely fantastic, because rather than Pandora’s book being a tie-in to “Trinity War,” it’s more like “Trinity War” is a tie-in to Pandora’s book. This is similar to what J. M. DeMatteis did in Trinity of Sin: The Phantom Stranger #11, by having the event comic forward the plot of the character’s personal arc.
The visuals continue to astound. And while the pencils and inks of Daniel Sampere and Vicente Cifuentes certainly aren’t slacking, the real star of this book is Hi-Fi’s colors. From the majestic monasteries of the Chinese mountains to the beautiful open plains of West France to the spooky forest of Flesnburg Germany, Hi-Fi’s colors just always set the perfect tone for any given scene. The Hi-Fi team does the best coloring job in all of comics, and this issue is a prime example of that.
Forest crones are life’s greatest teachers.
The Bad:
It’s true that I said that it’d be more appropriate to call “Trinity War” a tie-in to this book than vice-versa, because Trinity of Sin: Pandora #3 does absolutely nothing to move forward the plot of “Trinity War”. It’s actually kind of astounding that Pandora’s big scene at the end of the book isn’t shown happening in Justice League Dark #23, because it is a huge thing that would undoubtedly change the situation in Lex Luthor’s prison cell. Maybe the importance of this issue just isn’t overtly obvious yet, and we’ll see how it effects “Trinity War” next week in Justice League #23, but if you’re thinking of picking this issue up just because you want to own all of “Trinity War,” you’re better off just skipping it.
I find the image of Stargirl punching Zatanna in the face is hilarious, but I couldn’t tell you why.
Final Verdict: 
4/5
This is the best issue of the series by far, and I think that now that Pandora is leaving “Trinity War” and allowed to do her own thing, we’re going to see more issues of this quality. It really is fantastic, and if you’ve been on the fence with this series, I suggest buying this and issue #1 and just going from there. Feel free to skip issue #2.
Also, don’t be fooled. Batman, Green Arrow, and Constantine do not appear in this book. None of them, not even for a single panel.
Trinity of Sin: Pandora #3 is available at all participating retailers for $2.99 USD.
