Review - Broken Trinity: Pandora's Box #2

Most of Top Cow's primary books lately have been building towards Artifacts this summer, the super Top Cow universe combining storyline that will seek to bring a sense of order. Broken Trinity: Pandora's Box #2 is the second in a series by Bryan Edward Hill and Rob Levin that focuses on billionaire Glorianna Silver, bearer of the Ember Stone, and Michael Finnegan, bearer of the Glacier Stone. The two stones don't really like each other much, leading to an inevitable showdown. In the meantime though, Glorianna and Michael have to team up to stop Elias Legion, seeking Pandora's Box for who knows what sort of mischief. How does it stack up? Read on for a review.

A good chunk of this issue focused on Michael. He's a little more unsure about the ability of the Glacier Stone, other than the fact that he can use it to his advantage when necessary. He's approached by Glorianna who wants to take it off her hands. I mean, who wouldn't want to just ask for something instead of fighting and possibly killing the bearer? Michael isn't too keen on Glorianna's largesse, so he moves on at his own pace. Regardless, he too is after Elias and even manages to encounter some of his men, which doesn't end well for the men. The motive for Michael is a little unclear because he doesn't seem to realize the full potential of the Glacier Stone or Pandora's Box.

Meanwhile, Glorianna has to make other arrangements in her search for Elias. Her travels take her to Russia to meet with a playboy named Niko Romanov. Romanov is one of those shady, men in the know that Glorianna confronts about what Elias is really after. His assault on the church in an effort to find the compass has received unwanted attention (unwanted for him) and Romanov goes into detail about the compass. It's a relic from the time of Rasputin and Glorianna realizes that it can be used to lead Elias to Pandora's Box and, presumably, the immeasurable power within it. The issue ends with Michael reconsidering Glorianna's offer about taking the stone off his hands, after his brief encounter with a zealot of Elias leads to a seance.

Alessando Vitti's pencils are somewhat blurry and kind of blend into the backdrops (not complaining, just observing). Sunny Gho's colors and Troy Peteri's lettering contribute to the relatively simplistic feel of the comic. There's not an excess of details in the illustrations and the book is really carried by the story more than anything. Like the first issue, the second boasts a variety of international locales that are illustrated well and these illustrations present something of a hastiness or impatience. I'm really not trying to devalue the art here; to me though it's almost as if the art is purposefully minimal to keep up with the pace of the book.

The way Hill and Levin are crafting this story is pretty cool actually. Both Glorianna and Michael are looking for Elias and are investigating in almost parallel paths. We're clued in on a shady past on the part of Michael and while Glorianna's aim is to unite the stones you have to wonder if she's got something else planned for that day. I'm not sure if uniting the two stones will have any ill effects on the lone bearer, but my experience with stuff like this in the past tends to make me believe that it won't be as simple as it seems. If Elias gets a hold of Pandora's Box I can only imagine what chaos will ensue.

The issue is available next week, but interiors are available now below.

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