In comic books, there are a few famous disasters. Thomas and Martha Wayne being gunned down in an alley; Crisis on Infinite Earths; oh, and the horrific destruction of Krypton which leads to Superman coming to earth. The new graphic novel House of El Book On: The Shadow Threat is the first in a graphic novel trilogy about the destruction of Krypton.
In the first graphic novel, we are introduced to Zahn, the child of Krypton’s wealthy elite, and Sera, a soldier who is basically an afterthought to most of Krypton. The way the world is structured, the two should never even come into contact, but an extinction-level event brings them together. Sera is used to experiencing ground quakes and being put into situations where she’s not expected to survive. Zahn has discovered an underground world of people fighting to find out what is really going on despite leadership’s continued promises that everything is fine.
If you’re a Superman fan, chances are you’re going to enjoy seeing figured like General Zod, Jor-El and Lara, and a few references sprinkled through. I wasn’t a big fan of this one, despite the fact that I’ve loved others involving the Teen Titans and Wonder Woman. House of El feels extremely heavy handed on the important concepts of global warning and leadership looking out for their own interest. These are definitely serious threats, but this one felt like they were pushing it a touch too hard. Sera and Zahn are hard to connect to as characters and I found myself not really caring too much when there were other figures like Lara and Jor-El doing serious work.
House of El Book One: The Shadow Threat is available from DC January 5, 2021.
