Trinity of Sin: Pandora #2

I finally figured out what I hate about the art in this comic! It’s bad! And not just the me-not-being-impressed-kind-of-bad. There was a panel where Pandora was fighting Vandal Savage and Savage catches her knife and she has this expression on her face. Her eyes are open, not squinted with rage, not wide with shock, just open, and her mouth is agape. Again, no emotion behind it, just open. She looked like a sex doll and not only did it creep me out but it was just . . . bad. Now, not everything Daniel Sampere does is terrible, most of it is mediocre. He does do action scenes well enough.

However, if the cover artist, Ryan Sook, took over art duties I would be plenty happy! Do you see that cover? That’s just cool. She’s tense, ready for action, and her facial expression is on point! That is good art . . . inside the book is another story.

As for the story . . . . eh. The Secret Society is hunting Pandora as they said they would in that last chapter of Trinity War and hunt her they do. She thinks she can use them to open the box because their hearts are so dark. She gives it to Vandal Savage who has just enough good in him that he feels remorse and the box stays closed. Oh! And S.H.A.D.E (the government agency who deals with parahumans) is teaming up with A.R.G.U.S (the government agency who deals with metahumans) to catch her.

Despite the kind of boring fight (really, Pandora is just really good at getting her ass kicked and then throwing an exploding knife at her enemy) we learn a bit more about her powers and what the Seven Deadly Sins are trying to do to keep her from capturing them. I’m not really feeling this title. I’ll read it through to the end of Trinity War but, in all honesty, after that I will most likely just drop it. The few redeeming qualities (Vandal Savage feeling remorse for his countless sins, Pandora getting the last word if not the last blow) don’t make up for all the boring and all the bad in this title.

Verdict: 2 Stars. Way more “Meh” than I want in a comic.

X-Men #3

The Sublime/Arkea feud has come to an end. Well, for now. But Storm’s X-Men and her school survived (for the most part) their first world saving mission! Congrats to them!

The X-Men team make it to Europe (or wherever) find the hospital Arkea is hiding in, and take her out (with the help of the body she possessed still having some consciousness in it). There was a tense moment where the team were arguing about killing the body just to take out Arkea, seeing them, in a life and death situation, weighing the pros and cons of potentially killing a friend to save the world was weighty. Improbable, but it showed them work as a team despite their differences.

I am annoyed by Jubilee. That is all I have to say on that. Well, that and even my friends who regularly read Marvel aren’t too fond of her. I don’t even know if she’s a mutant anymore. Is she a vampire? Did she kidnap a baby? Why is she already so attached to it? Yadda yadda yadda. Her side story was completely uninteresting. Kitty Pride’s, on the other hand, was rather cool.

The art is nice, I’m a fan. It’s dripping with style and a bit of Eastern influence. Olivier Coipel and Mark Morales work well together to bring humor, action, and characterization to the look of this title.

Brian Wood wrote a great first arc for this title. It’s set up the team nicely and I really can’t wait to see where else this is going.

Verdict: 4 stars. Color me impressed, Marvel.

(Side note: I am not, strictly, a DC fanboy. I am a fan of several Marvel titles, actually. Ultimate Comics Spider-Man, the AvX series, this one, and because of my recent stint on The Hero Nuggets Podcast I am now a fan of The Superior Spider-Man!)

Batman Annual #2

A Batman Annual! With a “tie-in” to Zero Year!!!

I’m not a huge fan of Annuals, to be honest. I’d rather see more of the continuation of the current arc than see some one-shot that usually doesn’t impress. And that’s what we got with this title . . .

It wasn’t bad, mind you. I just didn’t care a whole lot. They really tried to sell the Zero Year tie in on this and it was, like, a page or two. A flashback. I would hardly consider that a tie in but whatever.

The story takes place in the present day (maybe? Who knows) Batman is testing the new Arkham Asylum cell block by trying to escape. The same night he does this is the first night an orderly from Metropolis starts working. An old, old inmate who has the power to phase through things (and read minds because phasing through things means you can do that, apparently) wants to take out Batman for turning her asylum, her sanctuary, her place of healing into a hell because he’s trapped so many crazy psychopaths in there during his run.

The Anchoress, our villain du jour, was slightly interesting. Her look more than anything. Her back story was somewhat uninspired but her reason for wanting to take out Batman was tragic.

My favorite part of this was the orderly. He was bright, optimistic, and really wanted Arkham to be a place of healing. That wasn’t what I liked, however, it was the reactions he got for his optimism. His boss stated that he really did seem like he was from Metropolis. I like this because it really builds the DCU. It’s painting a picture of what the citizens from different major DC cities are like. Metropolitans are optimistic, kind, sincere, etc. Gothamites are hardened, bitter,and cynical.

Verdict: So . . . yes. There was good and uninteresting in this title. 3 stars. Oh, yeah. Art was there. Nothing much to say on that point.

Tags: Batman Annual, Brian Wood, Daniel Sampere, dc comics, Mark Morales, Marvel Comics, Olivier Coipel, Pandora, Ray Fawkes, Scott Snyder, Trinity of Sin: Pandora, Trinity War, x-men, Zero Year