Customer Reviews

Pantheon: Welcome to the Machine tpb (PANTHEON, Volume 1)

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Initially framed as Bill Willingham's "last word" on the super hero genre, Pantheon was a well-written, well-executed book that never quite found an audience among the color super hero books of its day. Now that sole objection (black and white art) has been removed and readers will get to see the epic clash of super-powered individuals turning against one another when there's no one else to fight.

As super hero stories go, Pantheon shares the stage with Watchmen, Kingdom Come, and to a lesser degree, Crisis on Infinite Earths in that each depicts a "final confrontation" scenario with markedly different outcomes. Willingham's earlier super hero work (Elementals) can be viewed through a distorted mirror throughout the course of the series, and his storytelling and plotting are terrific, as always. The artwork is good varying to great at times, and the addition of color is a welcome treat. I also really liked the extra pages that helped to fill in the minor gaps in the story.

This is good, four-color super heroes with a twist, including real consequences. Highly recommended if you're looking for something a little different.

Bill Willingham has received considerable praise for his ground-breaking creations the Elementals back in the 80s and for his hit series Fables. So it was a real treat to pick up his late-90s early 00s work - Pantheon.

On a world where most of the supervillains have been defeated, the heroes are taking a well-deserved rest. But trouble is brewing as certain heroes feel they should go further, not just fight the costume villains but take down corrupt elements of society. Meanwhile another faction is wondering if we still need heroes at all.

Willingham is able to quickly introduce new characters and make the reader care. Some are obvious homages but quite a few stand on their own. And the dysfunctional Fantastic Four homage is very entertaining.

It's a story that's been told before but this time is different. First of all we have a very talented creator working on it, secondly since all the characters are original creations anything can happen. And does. There is a prolonged battle between the heroes of the world and a homicidal 12 year old named Death Boy who disintegrates heroes by looking at them. Dozens of characters die before its over.

So if you're looking for a superhero story that avoids cliches and where things actually happen Pantheon is certainly worth a look.