THE PANDORA
THE PANDORA
Classification: Sailing vessel
Creator: Unrevealed, but likely one of the
Puritans who sailed forth in search of the "New World" in the 17th
Century A.D., or else someone they employed to this end.
First Appearance: Fantastic Four III#40 (April, 2001)
Powers/Abilities/Functions: The Pandora is wooden ship intended for intercontinental/trans-Atlantic travel.
Despite being pulled through an interdimensional vortex to a rocky planet(oid), the ship has been remarkably preserved for around 400 years.
History:
(Fantastic Four III#41 (fb)) - In the 17th
century A.D., The Pandora,
carrying a crew of Puritans, set forth from
Amsterdam in search of the New World, following the likes of Columbus
and the Virginia settlers.
A massive storm -- like none other caused
the seas to roll and the sky to turn black as pitch. 
Ultimately, a whirlpool caused the ocean to open and swallow the Pandora, transporting it and its crew to the Negative Zone.
(Fantastic Four III#41 (fb) - BTS) - Per Reed Richards' speculation, the Pilgrims obviously did not open a portal to the Negaverse, so one was most likely opened in the Negative Zone (by unidentified parties), presumably to gain access to Earth, and it pulled them into it.
(Fantastic Four III#41 (fb) - BTS) - Though fearing their sins had brought them to some Hellish realm, guided by their strong faith and their desire to protect their young, the Puritans defended the land around the Pandora, fighting off the aliens that threatened them.
Accepting that the Lord worked in mysterious ways, these Puritans settled there, and they found their lot to be as gatekeepers and discoverers, exploring and learning from the machines and tools left behind by beings unidentified.
The Puritans encountered Annihilus and considered him to be "the Devil himself," and they prevented him from leaving the Negative Zone via any portal near them.
(Fantastic Four III#41 (fb) - BTS) - The tale was handed down from generation to generation.
(Fantastic Four III#40 - BTS) - Seeking to investigate the N-Explorers, three of the Fantastic Four (Invisible Woman/Sue Richards, Mr. Fantastic/Reed Richards, Thing/Ben Grimm) headed into the Negative Zone. Within the Distortion Area, they were ambushed by the N-Explorers, who blew up their ship.
They escaped aid from resident dragon-creatures, who song opened a dimensional wormhole, transporting them into the Negative Zone, on Pilgrims Rock, although they had no idea of their position within the Zone.
They were surprised to find
the Pandora, an old and terrestrial ship.
(Fantastic Four III#41 (fb) - BTS) - The Fantastic Four explored the Pandora, finding evidence of olde English language before discovering a group of Puritans conducting a funeral service for their lost member Martha. An alarm suddenly sounded, and Jacob noted the presence of intruders.
Although Sue turned the Four invisible, the blind Jacob's "second sight" allowed him to advise the Puritans to seek the intruders within the bowels of their ship, and he encouraged them to smite whatever demons had come to test their faith yet again.
As the Puritans fired blaster weapons, Reed asked Sue to maintain the force field but to drop her invisibility cloak from himself and Ben. As Ben and Reed appeared before the Puritans, asking them to lower their weapons as they meant no harm, the intruders' inhuman forms and/or powers only convinced the Puritans that they were facing demons. Reed and Ben disarmed a number of the Puritans, who noted that they spoke English, although some considered this more of Satan's work.
Assuring the Puritans that Satan had nothing to do with this and that they were from Earth, Reed asked them to cease fire so they could speak to each other. After the Puritans ceased fire, Reed convinced them that they were not demons via reading from Jacob's copy of the Bible.
Comments: Created by Carlos Pacheco, Jeph Loeb, Rafael Marin, and Jesus Marin.
Upon first encountering the Pandora in the Negative Zone, Reed Richards noted that it looked to be a 15th century Spanish galleon.
When first referenced in Fantastic Four I#41, their base was called
"the Pilgrims Rock." Later in the same issue, it was called "Pilgrim's
Rock."
Singular possessive doesn't make much
sense. I think either Pilgrims Rock (plural, non-possessive) or
Pilgrims' Rock (plural possessive) make the most sense.
In Doom: The Emperor Returns#3, Hellscout notes that a Hellscout had protected Pilgrims Rock and watched the gateway for six-hundred years. If the Puritans arrived there in the 17th century, that's the 1600s, meaning it won't be 600 years until the 2200s...but, perhaps time passes differently in the Negative Zone...OR, if their world circled a sun-like structure, each planetary revolution was significantly shorter, so that a year was a shorter time period. Or he meant 400, but just misspoke.
The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z hardcover#8: Negative Zone entry identified the Puritans of Pilgrims Rock as the Pandorans. Obviously their ship was the Pandora...
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Pandora should be distinguished from:
images: (without ads):
Fantastic Four III#40, pg. 21 (Ben Grimm discovering the Pandora);
#41, pg. 3-4 (modern lateral, with Fantastic Four);
pg. 14, panel 3 (asail);
panel 4 (sailing rough seas, with light/portal from above);
panel 2 (whirlpool);
panel 3 (in Negative Zone, with natives approaching)
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
First posted: 04/08/2022
Last updated: 04/08/2022
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