Reading: HOUSE OF EL BOOK ONE: THE SHADOW THREAT - Claudia Gray (author), Eric Zawadzki (illustrator)

Prose (Story): This well-done, highly readable graphic novel is just book one of a proposed trilogy by DC that appears to start at the beginning of what will ultimately become Krypton's downfall as a planet. The Shadow Threat opens on a Krypton where the division between castes seems to grow every day, even as groundquakes that have the lower castes fearing the future of their planet are virtually ignored by the higer-ups, who follow the tribune's "everything's okay - no need to panic" message that's sent over the airwaves across the planet daily, almost as if hypnotizing the populace. Meanwhile, these same leaders are sending military crews out to nearby planets on a massive and seemingly urgent terraforming mission, as if the need may be coming very soon for a new planet for Kyptonians to live on - and when an intelligent, brave female soldier named Sera, along with Zahn, a member of the upper-caste who is secretly working with a militant group determined to expose whatever's really going on with Krypton, learn some startling information about themselves and the genetic makeup of generations of Kryptonians, both must work together to find a way to save a planet that seems ultimately doomed for destruction, even if their fellow Kryptonians don't seem to either understand or care about it.

Don's (Review): Though I wasn't sure about the story at first, Claudia Gray's characters and plot sucked me in pretty quickly, both as gritty as Eric Zawadzki's precise artwork that gives you a sense of the intimacy of character in some panels ... and both the beauty, and now-lost beauty of different sections of Krypton the next. Pretty much anyone who knows Superman's story knows what ultimately befalls Krypton, but The Shadow Threat gives readers a nice backstory that teases at potentially answering some of the questions that remain of the cause behind what happened to Krypton in the end. The multi-layered political, social and personal plotlines are nicely textured - especially for a graphic novel - and toward The End I rememberd this was only book one so I was ulikely to get a wrapped-up/satisfying conclusion here ... but again, was surprised when, though definitely the expected cliffhanger, the ending provided more closure to the actual events going on in this book than I expected. But seriously: 2022 for volume two?? No way! (Available January 5)  4/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.