Pandora Volume 1 is the story of Christy and Bailey, two teens exploring Greece who come across Pandora’s Box while exploring the Temple of Hephaestus in Athens. The editing is mostly good with some errors in grammar and syntax, but not enough to spoil the reader’s enjoyment. The characters are interesting and distinctive, though I would have liked to have learned more about them in the text, as the story starts in medias res without a great deal of exposition as to their purpose/reason for being on their quest. The dialogue is a little stilted in parts and doesn’t always feel believable, this might be in part because of the author’s choice to use small, minimal speech bubbles, though this does allow them to showcase their art more effectively. The pacing of the plot is extremely rapid, moving quickly through several set pieces that would have each warranted their own volume in my opinion! At times the action moved so quickly that I had to re-read in order to make sense of what was happening. However, for a first volume this graphic novel has great potential, and by the end I cared about the two protagonists and want to know what will happen next, as well as further development of their background and pasts, hopefully at a slightly less-than-breakneck pace. The illustrations are the volume’s true stand-out feature. Engaging and consistent art, well-realised movement, clear facial expressions bring the characters to life and clearly no detail was spared in the background art. An excellent first volume by a promising young author, I award 3.5 stars.
By Ralph Booth
