A great many exciting things are happening in DC during the current Infinite Frontier initiative but Johnsons Action run (and the shorter Superman run before it) have been standouts in a field of standouts for me even more now that the story has the space and time to really get going. The 2021 Annual is no exception. It manages to bridge the past and the future yet remain relevant to the present... all while telling a strong standalone story featuring characters that I really hope to see again. Read Full Review

The art by Oum and Godlewski, especially the scenes in the Phantom Zone, is dramatic and haunting, and this remains one of the most unique Superman stories in a while. Read Full Review

Overall, this is a fantastic book and a really lovely "Superman" story. Read Full Review

Overall, Action Comics Annual 2021 #1 was a pleasant surprise. It had a compelling main story that may end up taking a back seat to the bookends of this annual with Thao-La and Mr. Byla's interactions. If you were thinking of passing on this annual, I implore you to reconsider. This creative team delivers a great story and incredible art with so many possible implications for the current story arc making Action Comics Annual 2021 #1 a can't miss issue. Read Full Review

This jam packed annual is just full of great set-up, hints and world building for Superman's future (and maybe his past). On top of that though, it's a great story with very good art, start to finish! Read Full Review

In total, this was a fun read. As I said, it works fine as a stand-alone peek into the future. But the bits which impact the current arc make it more impactful. And the return of Aethyr! Cool. Read Full Review

House of El is a fun concept that Johnson reinforces would make for a quality spin-off to further expand the Superman Family titles. Read Full Review

While all the Superman Family members of the future look cool and distinct, the story in this Annual feels a bit odd all together with its new ideas about classic things, its discontinuity with other Future State stories, and ultimately, it didn't feel like it needed to be as long as it was for the story it was telling, but that being said, the book looked great and if you wanted a younger version of the Future State House of El character then I'm sure you'll enjoy this story but sadly, I wanted more out of it. Read Full Review

Huge fan of what PKJ is doing with the Superman mythos

PKJ has won me over 100%.

I liked this mostly, because Philip undoing Future State Superwoman. Glad to see that grim story is not more part of Kara mythos/canon. Philip characterization of Superwoman/Kara is great, finally we see again her heroics qualities :'D and fight with and for her family... And looks she is immortal like Kal-El.

Thank you Philip for make justice with Kara, you're doing great things with her. Here and much more in your Action Comics ongoing title :D

This was a fun romp with the future House Of El, though my one reservation here is that while no one El gets a complete focus on the story, it feels like we barely get to know most of the family. There are some decent character moments for each, and granted this is meant to be just one moment in time with these folks, but I certainly ended up wanting to learn more about them.

I'm not sure how I feel about the expansion on the lore of the Phantom Zone. On one hand it's clear PKJ wants to try his hand at expanding the Superman mythos and I like some of the concepts here. However, the classic hopeless void of terror is gone here. I prefer having a PZ that's a desolate lonely place of wonky physics, basically Purgatory. PKJ keeps some of these elements and posits that the Zone is more of a consciousness. It's a heavy concept and bears exploring. But I like my classic Phantom Zone just the way it it's, with its already established rules.

Overall, I enjoyed this issue and look forward to staying on the Action Comics train as I say bye to the regular Superman books. I like the universe building here where the concept of an El and Kent dynasty going centuries into the future is a hell of a proposition. I bet the original Kent parents never would have dreamed that their family name would go on to form a legend spanning millennia. I like the meta commentary made there - that no matter what point of time you find yourself in, now and forever, there will be Els and Kents. more

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TheKing - Jul 14, 2021

Aethyr creating the Phantom Zone is an old Pre Crisis call back.

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Nothing special, just an in between events chapter of House of El. But at least we get to see the culture of the House of El in regards to honor.

I do not find the House of El future very interesting. It kind of reminds me of that alien race from the most recent Superman arc, also written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson. It's just a whole lot of information about these new(ish) characters and no reason to care. The best thing about this issue is Cyborg Superman's inclusion, and that should say something.

Not bad for a book that made little sense. What was this? When? I don't follow this House of El stuff nor do I follow the multiverse. Frankly Superman's world is becoming even more confusing than in the silver age.
The end was pretty poor. Johnson is apparently a strong believer in Superheroes being replaced at a young age. This Brandon Kent looks like he must've been in his lower teens when his daughter was born. I thought at first it was a story from Jon's time as Superman. Heaven forbid it be that simple though. They're going to have to undo a lot of crazy stuff to get me back into Superman after I'm out in the near future.

Amazing art but painfully boring story of characters that we have no connection to that were just as boring in their future state story.

An annual of the house of El with characters that do not hook me much.

Didn't care about these characters the first time around, don't care this time either, there's nothing interesting about them and if Pyrrhos is who I think it is, it's pretty shitty, too.

About as appealing as microwaved dog s**t. ANYTHING else would have been better than an Annual that uses the future state failure. No one wants to read this crap. Save your money kids.