REVIEW: Adventures Of Superman: Book Of El #11
Adventures of Superman: Book of El #11, “The Garden of the Promethean Giants” is the penultimate chapter of Phillip Kennedy Johnson’s epic Superman saga. The entire House of El has come together including Pyrrhos, and a surprise addition, to put a stop to Kryl-Ux’s galactic tyranny. The stage is definitely set for a fantastic finale.
The standard cover is by Scott Godlewski and Alex Guimarāes. Superman appears to have been defeated as he lays unconscious upon an Ux crest that’s been carved in the ground. With how long Kryl-Ux has had to put his plan in place, this image masterfully captures the daunting task Superman has to foil his efforts. However, as the cover title states, this is only the beginning of their final conflict so it’s a bit premature to count Clark out just yet.
Lucio Parrillo’s variant is a gorgeous image of Superman in his new outfit for this series. It also suggests a different take in the ensuing battle inside as Clark looks ready and determined to take on anything crossing his path.
The variant by Cian Tormey and Romulo Fajardo Jr. depicts a confrontation between Superman and Pyrrhos. While the first half of the story does deal with The Lost Son of El, their interaction doesn’t quite reach this level of intensity. Still, it’s a great looking cover and with one more issue to go, this could end up being a bit of foreshadowing.
Scott Godlewski, Vasco Georgiev, and Cian Tormey all get colored by Matt Herms for the interior art. The shear visual scale of this book is nothing short of impressive. Between the Promethean Giant graveyard and Kryl-Ux’s cosmic citadel the artists truly bring the scope of the story to the forefront. They even manage to bring to life the motivations behind Kryl-Ux’s desperate attempt to rewrite his past and allow us to feel a bit of empathy for him. We’re also gifted a great splash page of the House of El members as they arrive at Kryl-Ux’s doorstep which alone is worth picking up this book.
Phillip Kennedy Johnson, lettered by Dave Sharpe, brings the entire House of El together for their fated confrontation with Kryl-Ux in ‘Adventures of Superman: Book of El’ #11. Wanting to see for himself if the rumors of Superman’s return are true, Pyrrhos sets a harmless trap to draw them together. In doing so, Clark welcomes his long lost son and Pyrrhos decides to join the rest of The House of El in taking on Kryl-Ux. He also brings additional information regarding the last Aspect of Olgrun and the one who guards it, which turns out to be a delightful surprise. Before any real attacks occur, Superman tries one last time to appeal to Kryl-Ux’s humanity, but seeing himself so close to his assumed finish line, Kryl wants nothing more than to accomplish his ultimate goal of returning his fallen loved ones to life. With one more issue to go, it’s going to be exciting to see how this story resolves.
(9/10) PKJ never fails to remind us the importance of Superman’s compassion while still giving us action worthy of his abilities in Adventures Of Superman: Book Of El #11. I’ve always been impressed about how he handles world building and never seems to stop making additions even as his story reaches its end. Both of these elements are present this issue and it only makes me crave more.
