New Comics Wednesday- Reviews

In an effort to keep you all a little better informed on whats new on the shelves each week, I am teaming up with a few regular customers who blog and review.
This week Shawn has his thoughts on 2 new titles you'll find on the shelves today.

Trinity of Sin: Pandora #1-
Trinity Of Sin: Pandora #1 kicks off the summer-wide DC event Trinity War with a bang.

The issue serves as a prologue to the Trinity War event and tells the story of Pandora, a young tribeswoman from 8000 BC who discovers and unleashes sin upon all the world. Each of the seven deadly sins - envy, gluttony, pride, greed, sloth, wrath, and lust - are let loose due in part to Pandora's natural curiosity, and she must now spend the rest of her life weighted by the guilt of her actions. Her village is ravaged, her family is slain, and she must journey forth on her own.

Traveling the world throughout the millennia, Pandora has dedicated her life to eradicating the seven spirits of sin from the world, and Trinity of Sin: Pandora excels at showing how lengthy and demanding her journey has been. This story spans many millennia and many important historical periods. It's clear that Pandora's journey has been influencing the current DCU for a very long time.

Ray Fawkes (Constantine, Justice League Dark) has done an incredible job telling a story that is friendly to new readers, or readers who might not be familiar with the upcoming Trinity of Sin event. Pandora's journey ties in well with the DC Universe, but you don't need years of backstory to jump into Trinity of Sin: Pandora and enjoy the tale Fawkes is weaving. Readers of the Shazam backup in Justice League will, however, get to see how the two stories tie together.

All in all, this is a great prologue for the Trinity War event, which begins next week in Justice League #22. Fawkes has provided a great look at the mysterious character Pandora, who's been randomly and inexplicably appearing in the backgrounds of many DC titles. The art was handled by Cannon,Sampere, Cifuentes, and Zircher who all did a fantastic job telling the story and handling the few action sequences the book has to offer.

Certainly pick this book up if you want a head start on Trinity War.

SATELLITE SAM #1

Satellite Sam #1 is the newest title from Marvel Architect Matt Fraction (Hawkeye, Fantastic Four, FF) and acclaimed artist/writer Howard Chaykin  (Black Kiss, numerous Marvel & DC titles) about a young man investigating his father's death, but more importantly, investigating his fathers life.

Satellite Sam takes place in 1950's New York and tells the story of Michael White, a young man working for the LeMonde Network, a television station on the verge of a revolution in colour broadcast. Michael is part of the production team for a live-to-air sci-fi program, in which his father plays the lead character Satellite Sam.

Upon hearing of his father's untimely and sudden death, Michael learns that there was much more to the man's life than he had initially thought. A mysterious world of amateur smut and questionable practices lead Michael wondering just what his father was up to before his death. Also a big part of the story is Mr.LeMonde, president of the LeMond network, who's hunger to reach the peak of the broadcast industry is already leading towards a heated conflict. Satellite Sam is clearly a book written by and made for adults.

Fraction and Chaykin are the perfect creative team for a book like Satellite Sam. Chaykin's history as a controversial artist adds to the somewhat provocative subject matter of the book. His black & white pages display a detailed freneticism; a great example of traditional methods and digital tools. Anyone who's read a creator owned book by Fraction knows that his dialogue varies in tone and structure from page to page, and Satellite Sam #1 is no exception. It's a great example of storytelling and sequential art. It's a fun read with interesting characters.

Image has been on a roll for a while now, releasing some top notch creator owned titles. Image Expo 2013 kicked off July 2nd and the future of the publisher looks as promising as ever. Satellite Sam is a great addition to the Image family, and this debut issue is highly recommended for fans of adult-themed mystery comics.