The final week of Future State gives us a new stand alone title, House of El 1. I was a bit skeptical when I began this 44 page story. Superman is a big enough character on his own, but to have an entire House of Superman seems rather implausible. How could any threat be big enough for an entire family of Supermen?! This one shot not only tells a wonderful story, but a rather epic one at that. It needs more pages to tell more story.
The House of El is exactly that. In the distant future an entire family of Els inhabit a moon-based city of Solitude, and its about to fall. An army controlled by the Red King. Their army overwhelms the House of El’s defenses and the King is coming. The descendants are many, but they cannot maintain the defense. How can a family of Supermen fail? It’s really quite simple. In an age where Kal-El is a myth, the Red King is not, for he is the direct son of Kal-El. Not only that, but he brought his Doomsdays (yes that’s plural).
House of El 1 – A Stranger Will Come…
As the descendants of El fight the good fight, a friend searches for the impossible. Brainiac 4 searches the heavens for a final hope of survival, and before his destruction, he finds it! Now can it just arrive in time?
We never find out why the Red King betrays his own kind, but he is determined to wipe out the symbol of the House of El once and for all. Pyrrhos, as he goes by now, can out fight any of his bloodline, and his Doomsdays help. He gloats as he beats the family down, one after the other. Hope is lost and the fight can only go one way…until hope returns.
Hey, Pyrrhos, daddy’s home. As most of you probably guessed, the last hope Brainiac found was the dad, the man himself. Kal-El returns. Father vs son. And the fight is over before it begins. No one stands up to Kal-El of Krypton.
It turns out Pyrrhos was not the son of Lois Lane, but Circe, the witch of the Greeks. I guess Kal got a bit lonely to sink to that level. Circe banished Kal and manipulated Pyrrhos into his anti-family sentiments, but Kal never gave up. The story ends with Kal reaching out to his son, after kicking his ass, and promises to show him a better life.
House of El 1 – More To the Story
House of El can be summed up easy enough, but the detail in teh pages really make this story stand out. The House of El struggles to stay alive. Losses rock the family, and there is a nice ‘calm before the storm’ moment. The fighting also continues the story instead of just taking up space. You feel the desperation as the House knows it will fall despite continuing the fight.
We never get a detailed story of any of the characters. There simply isn’t the time or room in this single issue, but the taste we get makes this issue one of the few that really needs to continue post Future State. Many of the outfits look amazing, and the powers and personalities also are diverse and well rounded.
I really loved this stand alone issue of House of El 1. What did you think of it? Head over to DC Fanatics on Facebook and let us know what you thought of the Super Family.
