Welcome to Pantheon High! You’re not here because you’re smarter, faster or stronger than other kids. You’re better than other kids because you’re the child of a god and a mortal. As a demigod, you’ll get the best education a child of Greek, Norse, Japanese or Egyptian divinity can receive. Here at our Los Angeles based campus, you’ll study subjects ranging from Algebra to Mythstory under noted instructors such as Greece’s oldest mortal, Tithonus, and Japan’s mistress of combat, Ms. Hitomi Hachiman. And let’s not forget our very own Fighting Chimeras--divine league basketball champions two years running. Keep at ‘em, Coach Hercules! You may have heard prophecies or seen visions of a great doom looming over the school, but the End Of All Things is no excuse for tardiness and absences will go on your permanent record. The challenges at a school for demigods are great, but if anyone can face them it’s the students of… Pantheon High!

Grace Morgenstern: Grace is an overachiever, just like her parents. Her mother is a prominent African American politician and her dad is a Hollywood producer. Of course, that made for a media circus over the summer when one of her mom’s political rivals revealed that Grace’s mom had an affair with Tyr, the Norse god of war, back when she was studying abroad in Norway. Now that the cat is out of the bag, Grace has been transferred to Pantheon High.

Powers: Grace is a thinker, not a fighter, so finding out she’s half war god has turned her world upside down. Now that she is doing more than just reading books, she’s discovered that she is incredibly strong, has innate combat skills and can field strip an AK-47 with her eyes closed.

Yukio Takahashi: Yukio’s name means, “Gets what he wants” and it has always proven true. When Yukio was little, his father, a gardener turned Los Angeles real estate tycoon, told Yukio that his mother had left them to pursue her career. When Yukio turned 16, his dad revealed that Yukio’s mother was actually Benten, one of the seven Japanese gods of luck. It may seem like he gets whatever he wants, but deep down he wonders if he has ever achieved anything on his own.

Powers: Yukio loves to take chances and he always gets through challenges by the skin of his teeth thanks to his incredible luck. Things just fall into place for Yukio, especially those things that are important to teenage boys, like catching glimpses of naked girls, impressing the opposite sex and kicking ass.

Aziza Ra

Her mom is a high-powered attorney and her dad is the Egyptian sun god, Ra. Aziza uses her parents’ status to her advantage at every possible opportunity and she’s without a doubt the most popular girl in school. After all, she is the daughter of Ra, king of the Egyptian gods.

Powers: Anytime she’s under pressure, whether turned on by a boy or pissed off at an enemy, Aziza’s body temperature increases to the point where she can melt steel with a touch. It’s frustrating because just when she wants to act too cool for school, she gets hot and everyone can see that she cares about things more than she wants to admit.

Griffin Pierce

Griffin is an orphan and an outcast at Pantheon High. He spent years moving from one foster home to another, never fitting in. A few years ago, he learned that his father is actually Hades, the Greek god of death. That didn’t help. It turns out Griffin’s mom abandoned him as a child, killing herself so that she could spend more time with Hades.

Powers: Though he has little control over his godly powers, Griffin can sometimes cause people to find themselves temporarily in the midst of a horrible punishment appropriate to their sins.

BREAKING NEWS: Hear a podcast interview with creator Paul Benjamin at Fanboy Radio

Let's face it, for many of us, high school is the most intense, gut-wrenching, brutal and humiliating experience we'll ever have in life. (Not for me, mind you. I was never a geek. Unlike all of you. Seriously, anyone who reads manga and checks out TOKYOPOP's website has to be a nerd.)

"If only I were a demigod," you've frequently thought. "Then High School would have been a total breeze." Well, I hate to dash your dweebish musings, but according to the world of Pantheon High, being a teenage demigod is full of its own challenges and hardships. (And by the way, if you're into mythology and manga, you've entered a whole new echelon of geekdom.)

Okay, here's Pantheon High's inspired setup: Demigod teenagers. High School. Los Angeles. That's a winning trifecta, folks. Set in modern-day Los Angeles, several demigod teenagers from Greek, Norse, Japanese and Egyptian pantheons attend an exclusive school in the Hollywood Hills. Just like any school, there are bullies. Only, these bad eggs are the children of evil gods--and they've unleashed a plan to usher in Armageddon. Now four unlikely heroes from different cliques must band together to stop them: Aziza, a hot-headed prima donna; Grace, a sword-wielding bookworm; Griffin, a loner with a death wish; and Yukio, an excellent athlete and student.

It's The Breakfast Club meets Clash of the Titans. How cool is that?

I mean, that's almost as cool as this book's amazing art. Steven and Megumi Cummings have done what no other global manga artists have ever done--they have painstakingly hand-toned every page of this manga! Look, Mom! Just like they do it in Japan!

And I better not forget Paul Benjamin, writer extraordinaire. He's the biggest nerd behind this whole Pantheon High project. Check this out. This is how he came up with the idea for the book: “A few years ago, I was talking with a fellow geek about how D&D cleric characters have a direct connection to their deities. Pray to Thor for a bolt of lightning to smite your enemy and it actually happens. Imagine having a direct line to your god! I began playing with ideas for incorporating the ancient gods into our modern day world.”

Dungeons and Dragons and mythology and manga? Now that's entering the realm of the uber dorks! Man, I can't even begin to imagine what torture Paul Benjamin went through in high school. Even if he was a demigod, he would have been teased mercilessly!

Well, you know what I always say: Making manga is the best revenge!

~Paul Morrissey, Super Cool Guy and Editor Who Was Never a Nerd