Action Comics 2021 Annual: A Return to the House of El

Think back, if you will, a few months to the time when Future State took control of DC’s lineup for two months. It was a wild time full of ideas and possibilities – some of which went over better than others, as is natural with experiments.

For me at least, one of the most intriguing titles at the time was House of El. A single-issue story set in the far future that explored the future of Superman’s bloodline, House of El brought the Superman line into a semi-fantasy, semi-science fiction future complete with an off-world fortress inhabited by an alliance of Kryptonian-descended superheroes, warriors, and even a Blue Lantern. The villain of the issue, Pyrrhos, was the son of Superman and Circe – a callback to the Mordred of Arthurian myth created to be an agent of destruction. It was a grand epic in 40ish pages and presented a whole package of ideas and characters that were interesting as is, but really deserved more room to breathe.

This brings us to the Action Comics 2021 Annual, “Tales from the House of El,” which revisits the Future State setting. Rather than a sequel, however, this annual serves as something of a prequel… while also tying back to the current plotline running through the main Action Comics series.

It’s something of a timeline crossover, although that sounds more confusing than it is. We open on the streets of Warworld, seemingly some time ago, with the arrival of a young Thao-La to a secret meeting of storytellers led by the mysterious Mr. Byla. Each of the children in attendance hopes to hear a heroic tale of the past or present; ultimately, Byla chooses a tale of the future… though how he could possibly know the tales from centuries yet to come remains an open question.

Through Byla, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Siya Oum, and Scott Godlewski delve into the wedding of Alura Van-El and Khan-El, or Khan as he is known before the marriage becomes official. Presided over by Kara Zor-El – Superwoman – the wedding should be a celebratory time, but it descends into chaos when Pyrrhos crashes the party and banishes most of his House to the long inaccessible Phantom Zone. That is a major problem for them, as the Phantom Zone projectors were lost long ago, leaving them in the difficult situation of having no known means of escape.

Of course, being who they are, that’s certainly not going to stop them.

There are many ways to approach an annual, and every one of them is valid. For me, though, it’s always been a bit of a shame when an annual is essentially just a longer, but otherwise normal, issue. At the same time, a bit of a connection is always nice so that it doesn’t feel random.

That’s pretty much what we get here. A glimpse into the history of a character whose importance is on the rise, an introduction to Byla, whom I’m guessing will have some significance later… and of course a story that otherwise may not have had a place in this run due to its being out of the normal timeline. There are other points of relevance as well – things I’m not going to get into because they are spoilers. However, I will say Johnson is reaching into some deep Superman mythology both here and in the main run and I love to see it.

Artistically, Siya Oum and Scott Godlewski work together beautifully. Switching artists in mid-issue is always a gamble but, in this case, neither the story nor the visuals suffered at all.

Oum is equally at home in the shantytown of the opening and the grandeur of the El home base. His ability to express emotion and personality through expression and body language is impressive. Brandon Kent looks, physically, very much like Clark or Jon, and yet you would never mistake him for either of them because his relaxed body language and mild expression give him a visual language of his own. Similarly, every time Alura and Khan share a look or a panel even, you can feel their love as surely as if you were in the room with them.

Godlewski’s pages are primarily spent within the Phantom Zone. That may sound dull considering the way the interior of the Phantom Zone is typically portrayed… but this Phantom Zone is a wholly different beast – terrifying and inhabited by creatures that are more terrifying still. It’s nice to see Godlewski back in the world he helped define back in FS: House of El regardless, but he’s brought action and nightmare fuel to the table on his return, and there’s no complaint possible about that.

Of course, it’s all pulled together by the color work of Hi-Fi – which is at least partially to thank for the smooth transition between artists. In particular, the shantytown sequences pop with their rich, warm palette, as do the Phantom Zone pages with their oddly muted colors.

Now, as a personal note. I was feeling quite glum when I sat down to read this book, but I was smiling by the end. And really, what better endorsement is there than that?