Pantheon

Five issues of this series have been published, and it's pretty good. Leeke's pencils are polished, although his human figures still look a little strange at times, and it's difficult to tell the faces apart. The series is black-and-white and I think it would work much better in color.

This is another entry in the "last super-hero story" contest; others have included Magna-Man: The Last Superhero (from Comics Interview Publications a decade or so ago), and of course Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns. Willingham's stories are hard-hitting, setting up the dichotomy between the heroes. Issues 2 and 3 are an extended flashback to the heroes' encounter with the devastating DeathBoy; make no mistake: the name may be silly, but an invulnerable boy who can disintegrate anything he can see is tough to bring down. There are far fewer heroes at the end of the story than there were at the beginning.

It's fairly clear that the series will involve a lot of interesting build-up with a grand finale of some sort. It's good enough that I'll likely stick with it to the end, and hopefully many of the characters will be fleshed out by then. You can order it directly from the publisher's Web site if you're interested.

Other comics picked up this week:

• The Authority #7, by Warren Ellis, Brian Hitch, and Paul Neary (Wildstorm): If Ellis' StormWatch and Authority have had a weakness, it's that the characters have been a little too capable, and there's rarely been much doubt that they'd win, eventually, albeit often at some cost. This issue packs a stronger punch, as the villains manage to invade the heroes' home base and launch a seemingly-overwhelming attack on Europe. The background of the villains and their parallel Earth is rather terrifying. I wish Ellis had taken it a step further in terms of showing the devastation the villains can and have wreaked, rather than largely just telling us about it. Still, it's a good yarn, and I look forward to The Authority every month.

• The Avengers #1-1/2, by Roger Stern and Bruce Timm (Marvel): An entertaining but basically unnecessary "fill-in" issue which is supposed to have occurred between Avengers #1 and #2. Stern obviously had fun writing in the "Mighty Marvel Manner" of the early 60s, and Timm does his best to emulate Jack Kirby and fail to draw backgrounds.

• The Avengers (vol 3) #22, by Kurt Busiek, George Perez, and Al Vey (Marvel): The final episode of the latest Ultron epic is quite violent, and ends with a tremendous moment of catharsis for one of the Avengers' founding members. I have no doubt that Busiek intends this to be the last Ultron story (although the ramifications of Ultron's plans here will continue to be felt for a bit), ending a 20-year plot thread, and if so, then I applaud for him. Lovely drawing by Perez, as always.

• The Flash #154, by Mark Waid, Brian Augustyn, Paul Pelletier, and Jose Marzan Jr. (DC): The identity of the mystery Flash is revealed, and more parallel-worlds stuff crops up. Entertaining lite fare.

• Rising Stars 32, by J. Michael Straczynski, Keu Cha, and Jason Gorder (Image): Babylon 5 creator Straczynski's 24-issue story about a town where 113 children are born with super powers continues. Straczynski is amazingly wordy! There are four pages of solid text in this issue, and most of the story is told in flashback using a dialogue between three characters. Very low-key, and not really all that exciting. I'd expected more.

  Worse, Straczynski is saddled with Cha's pencils, which seem to be of the stereotypical Image mold (i.e., Liefeld/Lee), better suited to muscled figures striking heroic poses. The backgrounds are sketchy, and the art is anything but fluid; the main character in this story is overweight, and is drawn as a caricature.

  I'm disappointed with this series so far. It's not what it needs to be, which is to say it doesn't get inside the heads of its characters, its approach to portraying how the world deals with these kids seems rather simplistic so far, and it needs lush, subtle artwork to show what it needs to show. Of course, there are still 22 issues left, plenty of time for it to improve. But still.

The Dodgers beats the Giants in the final game at Candlestick Park this afternoon. Yes, CJ and I saw the only Giants victory in their final homestand at the 'Stick. Sad, but true.

Meanwhile, yesterday the Red Sox clinched a playoff berth, eliminating the Athletics from Wild Card contention. And tonight the Yorkies clinched the AL East title.

Meanwhile, in the National League, the Mets are quickly playing themselves out of the playoff picture, and it seems all but certain that their second consecutive late-season collapse will send the Astros and the surprising Reds to the playoffs.

Only 3 games left to play for most teams...

Things I'm not quite used to in my car: The passenger-side mirror. The 'slow' setting on the windshield wipers. Looking for a dark green coupe rather than a light blue hatchback in a crowded parking lot. Having a 12-gallon rather than a 10-gallon gas tank (throws off calculations of my gas mileage). The turn radius, which I think is basically the same, but the car is bigger.

Things I got used to quickly: Being able to go from 65 to 75 in 3 seconds rather than 8. A window not pocked with dozens of tiny chip marks from years of driving. Windshield wiper sprayers that work well. The wide-beam headlights. Having a trunk rather than a hatchback.

I'm thinking of naming my car "Forrest" after its color. My old car never had a name; I usually called it "my good old car".

I've actually contemplated changing the name of my journal recently. I thought "du jour" would be a good name. Or maybe some other language's version of "of the day". Like Urdu (joke). Don't know if I'll do it, though.