Little by little we're getting some answers. Unfortunately with those answers, we're getting plenty more questions.
At the end of last summer's major event for DC Comics, Flashpoint, we saw a mysterious pink glowing lady whose name would later be revealed to be Pandora. As Barry Allen was trying to fix the time stream that resulted in the Flashpoint world, Pandora showed up and the result was a brand new universe. The characters were the ones we knew but some of their history had been tweaked or altered.
Since then, Pandora has shown up in all the #1 issues of the "New 52" simply observing in the background. A back up story in the pages of JUSTICE LEAGUE #6, revealed a connection to the Phantom Stranger but we were still left with more questions. With the beginning of last week's "Second Wave" of new titles, she was seen in three of the four new titles (no presence in EARTH 2, which could be the due to the story taking place on another 'universe'). In the Free Comic Book Day edition of THE NEW 52, even more information has appeared. Be sure to read the Free comic book first because there will be some spoilers below.
== TEASER ==When Pandora first appeared, she mentioned that the "history of heroes was shattered into three long ago." We were to take that as the main DC Universe along with the Wildstorm and Vertigo "Earths" that appear to have been merged with the main universe ("New Earth" or "Earth 0"). Pandora also mentioned that the history was splintered to weaken the world for "their impending arrival." One of the big questions remains to who exactly is coming?
DC's also been big on trinities. In THE NEW 52: FCBD Edition, we see Pandora in her early days being sentenced by the Circle of Eternity (higher beings at the Rock of Eternity). Pandora was grouped with two others and they were labeled The Trinity of Sin.
One of the others was the Phantom Stranger, seen with Pandora in JUSTICE LEAGUE. Phantom Stranger was sentenced because of his greed and he was to be a witness to what greed could do on Earth. Despite being sentenced, he was sent after Pandora due to her more active involvement in the DC Universe.
What specifically his role in the universe or how much he might serve the Circle remains to be seen.
The third of this trinity appears to be the Question. When sentenced, he defied the Circle and declared he would "rise to power again" and that they would fear his name "as does the world."
The Circle's solution was to make him forget his name and sentenced him to forever question his identity and have a need to constantly search for answers. We have yet to see him in the current day in the "New 52" comics.
What about Pandora? Why was she sentenced?
Apparently it goes back to that famous box of hers. She opened it and unleashed the terrors of man. The box was to be a prison to "tragedy and torment and torture." The Circle saw her as an evil girl for doing so and sentenced her to an eternity of loneliness.
It seems since her sentencing, Pandora's spent centuries in tears, some in shame and others in isolation. But after all this time, she's become more active. Merging the different timelines is a pretty big move for someone who got in trouble for opening a box. But it should be noted that she was never actually sentenced. When she didn't have anything to say for herself, the Circle went off on her telling her how bad she was and then sent her off.
In the FCBD issue, we see Pandora is even more active than before.
She may have opened the box centuries ago, but what happened to the box since? What was actually inside the box? If you've read the issue, you have an idea. She does get her box back and we do find out what's inside.
And this will also be leading into next year's Trinity War as we got a glimpse of "the near future" in the issue. What's inside the box could mean the end of the Justice League. Looks like we'll have to keep our eyes peeled in the next few #1s in the "second wave" as well as for wherever Pandora shows up next.