After the release of Ancient Enemies #1 and Ronin: Book Two #1, Frank Miller Presents has another book up its sleeve: Pandora #1. Created by Frank Miller, this YA fantasy series is written by Miller, Anthony Maranville, and Chris Silvestri, drawn and colored by Emma Kubert, and lettered and edited by Pete Carlsson. It’s certainly a much different book than FMP’s other releases to date, leaning into the fantastical for an intriguing beginning to a story.
Annabeth craves more out of life. Despite her artwork and conversations with her grandfather, she feels lonely and in need of adventure. Going into the forest with a map her grandfather drew to find terns, she encounters the mysterious Knox, who doesn’t quite converse like a regular human being and seems like he’s from somewhere else. It’s here that Annabeth finds something unexpected and potentially dangerous. At the same time, there is another realm of creatures that appear to be struggling with their own problems somewhere beneath Annabeth’s world.
Pandora #1 hits all the beats one would expect for a fantasy story. From the protagonist who wants to escape from the real world to the mysterious stranger who will change everything for her, there’s a familiarity and comfort to the story. While there is a sense that this story has been told many times before, there are trails in this first issue that indicate there’s more to Annabeth’s situation than meets the eye. In fact, there’s a chance her desire for escapism may inadvertently lead her toward more danger than she ever could have imagined. It isn’t clear by the end of the first issue which direction the story is going, but it does enough to pique the curiosity of the reader to want to know more about it.
While most of the story makes sense and sets the scene for what is to come, there is one glaring issue that needs to be addressed: Annabeth and Knox’s relationship. The development from reserved strangers to flirty acquaintances feels rushed here. While Knox’s peculiar nature is what makes him appealing to Annabeth — and it’s understandable why she might feel attracted to him — she does a 180 extremely fast in a few pages. Sure, puppy love happens when it happens, but here, it feels slightly inauthentic.
It’s easy to see why Miller chose Kubert to do the art and colors here, as the artist’s style is extremely similar to Miller’s. However, there is a marked difference in the sense that Kubert tackles this as a fantasy project rather than as a traditional superhero comic, so it does tend to have more of an easy-on-the-eye appeal than, say, something like Ronin. This comes across in the darker elements of this fairy tale, especially in the designs of the creatures that capture the eye immediately. Matching the tone of the illustrations, the colors dance around on the pages with a vibrancy and excitement that’s expected of the genre, never shying away from adding more glow to the scenes.
Pandora #1 opens the box of familiarity, making the reader feel instantly at home in this story. However, there is something else bubbling beneath the surface that hasn’t been uncovered or touched upon yet. As the opening chapter of a larger world, it reels the audience in with these small shimmers of intrigue, but it might need to up its game in the second installment to truly differentiate itself from similar tales.
