Reviews: "Pantheon: the complete scriptbook" and "Pantheon: welcome to the machine" by Bill Willingham

Most folks who know Bill Willingham know him through Fables, his fantastically popular Vertigo graphic novels. Fewer readers know of The Elementals, his first series, a superhero comic (albeit a quirky and rules-breaking one at that.) Connecting those two is Pantheon. What is it? Would I like it? Who should read it? Is it any good? I'll attempt to answer all that in a roundabout way.

First, let me say that everyone who like Fables should have the opportunity to read The Elementals. Even though this is Bill's (can I call you Bill?) earliest writing, and he's working in a genre chock-full of tropes and conventions, and pile on the fact that the kernel of Elementals comes from his days playing Villains & Vigilantes, one of the first (perhaps THE first) roleplaying games about capes and masks, Elementals was still ground-breaking, witty, with great twists and plot turns.

Alas, note that I said "should have the opportunity." Unfortunately, only a few of the very earliest issues are available in "The Natural Order" graphic novel. The series itself went under when its parent company, Comico, was sold off to an unreliable investor. Worse still, the story of The Elementals ended right before the big climax of a multi-issue plotline. Years of stories building up to...cancellation.

So, fans of Fables should read The Elementals. But you can't. Mostly. What happened next?

Bill moved on to other projects, and just before DC comics found him, a small independent publisher from Texas hired him to do another superhero series. This is Pantheon-on the surface, it's about a superhero group called Freedom Machine, but really it's an exploration of and deconstruction of superheroes, along the lines of Watchmen. Pantheon also attempts to show how Elementals' big plotline might have wrapped up, told through the lens of Pantheon's pantheon of characters.

So, if you're one of the few who *did* read Elementals back in the day, *you* should definitely read Pantheon.

And, if you're a thorough fan of Willingham's writing, you will want to read Pantheon: the Complete Scriptbook (and the graphic novel, although it--like Elementals--is only a few, early issues.)

Now, Pantheon wasn't a huge commercial success. And, I'd argue that--stacked up against Willingham's other works--Pantheon is a mixed bag, critically. Certainly, if you like action, Pantheon's got a ton of action. Eye-lasers and fists flying, and things disintegrating. If you like Willingham's plots and stories--you'll get some of that here, along with a great plot-twist ending. If you like his characters...ah...here's where the ice gets thin.

Perhaps it's because Pantheon was born on the heels of a cancelled series that Bill felt compelled to push the action button so hard over character, plot or story-telling. Certainly, he wanted to show the ending to Elementals that he'd planned, but never got a chance to show-I get that. Thank you, Bill, for thinking of the readers. But the characters in Pantheon are, without a doubt, the slightest to ever grace a Willingham comic. Deathboy? Commander Cross? Kid Kong?

Hey, I'm  no fan of "origin stories," but there's nothing to connect with here, no back story at all.* Worse yet, some of these heroes are simply knock-of
fs of (no kidding) the Fantastic Four, Johnny Quest, Batman, Superman, who are joined by characters who are little more than a name, a costume and a set of powers. (While it's true that Watchmen did the same thing, somehow it doesn't feel as much like a shortcut when DC recycled their own characters. Also, Watchmen is just...Watchmen, y'know?)

When contrasted with what Willingham accomplished with supers in the pages of Elementals--each of whose characters I can *still recall vividly and go on about idiosyncratic details...but I can tell you next to nothing about Pantheon's cast of characters. It's a bit of a letdown.

So, Pantheon's got great action, good plot, but slight characters. Still, is it worth a read?

Yes, there are some real gems here that any reader would enjoy (Blackheart's backstory, the twist ending to the series. Dynasty.) A Fables fan will get a kick out of seeing an early incarnation of Bigby Wolf (I shit you not.) And a completist like me...I don't have to sell you. Go get it.


Bonus question: should Willingham do supers again? Yes. Obviously, I'm an Elementals fan. If the rights to it could be pried out of the hands of the nutjob investor who bought it, Elementals could get an awesome reboot. Some of the issues it tackled back in the 80's are ever-more-relevant today. I'd even be happy to see more Pantheon. Just with more attention to character, please.


*Actually, we do get a smidgen of backstory on two of its main characters, but both were saved for the end of the series. Too little, too late.