Broken Frontier

In Broken Trinity: Pandora’s Box #2, Michael Finn and Glorianna Silver put a hold on their ongoing hostilities in order to first deal with Elias Legion and the Disciples of Adam, who seek another of the "artifacts."  This time, the artifact is the mythical Pandora’s Box, and like in the myth, it has the power to destroy the world.  Silver seeks Finn out to say that only they can really stop them, but instead of offering him an alliance, she offers to buy his artifact from him.

This issue features a lot of grand action and was overall a visual treat.  Artist Alessandro Vitti really stepped it up.  His depiction of Finn and Silver’s powers is much more dynamic than it was in the first issue.  The radiating energy and scorching fires seem much realer and really pop off the page.  His figures and layouts are also very dramatic and interesting, even during dialogues.  I especially appreciated his treatment of the early sequence where Silver and Finn speak.  As the scene takes place in Japan, the blowing grass and dueling atmosphere of the field they’re in is a great touch.  Both the backgrounds and the people throughout this issue had a very organic quality which helped make the story more engaging. 

I wasn’t a huge fan of the story, though.  The ideas are good, but the pacing feels rushed and the story details are choppy.  If you stop to think about it, a lot of things don’t make sense.  The characters are supposed to be smart and capable, but they don’t behave that way.  We can see an example of this when Silver offers to buy the artifact from Finn.  He’s already voiced that he wants out of the ice stone responsibility, but he walks away from the money.  From everything we’ve learned about him in the series, the reader would assume that Finn would jump on this opportunity. Why doesn’t he take it?  The writers don’t offer a sufficient explanation, or develop things about his character beforehand to give the reader any indications.

Another instance of this is in the opening sequence. Silver burns her followers to make sure there aren’t any more traitors in their midst.  The followers line up and accept this.  If you think about it, the only ones who would do this are the ones that are loyal.  A traitor would run, not show up, or even try to attack back in the situation.  Crazy or not, Glorianna should have known this. 

Despite this, I applaud the writers’ ability to write a cool character.  Finn may be inconsistent, but the way he talks and the ways he goes about things make him really interesting.   For instance, he likes using his gun, not the powers of his artifact.  Also, it’s unclear whether he’ll be a reluctant hero, anti-hero, or even villain. This dynamic makes it fun to follow Finn around.  

Broken Trinity: Pandora’s Box #2 was a fun read.  It was definitely an improvement from the first issue, and offers drama, action, and excitement, if you’re willing to suspend your disbelief for a bit.