With 21 fantasy and sf stories by a talented group of mostly young artists, the fifth Flight maintains the anthology series' consistent high quality. In fact, Flight may be too consistent for its long-term good. Many standouts here are by creators who stood out in previous volumes, such as Michael Gagné, who now concludes his saga of the heroic young fox Rex; Sonny Liew, who offers another charming Malinky Robot tale; and Scott Campbell, who reprises the delightfully wacky Igloo Head and Tree Head. While the minimal, fantasy-based story lines retain their charm, their plucky young protagonists are beginning to feel overfamiliar. Newcomer Svetlana Chmakova's manga-influenced portrayal of an insistent girl trying to convince her disparaging classmates that she is a space princess from Pluto, however, offers a new take on the favorite Flight theme of determined youngster battling imposing odds. Flight has recently broadened its franchise with an offshoot, Flight Explorer, for a younger audience, but despite a growing reliance on formula, the original continues to be an all-ages delight.

The Flight anthology series has often been accused of being uneven, and this fifth installment will do nothing to change that—there are a handful of gems scattered through some very forgettable vignettes. Tony Cliff’s “The Aqueduct” is an appealing blend of steampunk and Arabian Nights with a good sense of humor; Reagan Lodge’s “The Dragon” also blends genres, skillfully swirling samurai action into a giant robo story. Sarah Mensinga’s “The Changeling” is a standout thanks to a simple, understated story and a warm color palette. Also excellent is the poignant “Beisbol 2,” in which a little boy learns that heroes don’t always behave like heroes. For pure self-referential silliness, though, the high point might just be Ryan North’s “Scenes in Which the Earth Stops Spinning and Everybody Flies into a Wall,” which is exactly what its name suggests, but with an elegant twist at the end. Many stories, though, feel either unfinished or inconsequential, like Sonny Liew’s brief meditation on what it means to be a robot and Matthew Bernier’s tale of vanishing mountains. It is a handsome volume, however, and the beautiful art throughout is a pleasure in its own right. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(July)