The Umbrella Academy Vol 1 (v. 1) [Paperback]

Gerard Way (Author), Gabriel Ba (Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Umbrella Academy | Publication Date: June 24, 2008

Gerard Way, of My Chemical Romance, makes his comics writing debut in this outrageous superhero epic that Grant Morrison called "An ultraviolet psychedelic sherbet bomb of wit and ideas. The superheroes of the 21st century are here at last..." In an inexplicable, worldwide event, forty-seven extraordinary children were spontaneously born by women who'd previously shown no signs of pregnancy. Millionaire inventor Reginald Hargreeves adopted seven of the children; when asked why, his only explanation was, "To save the world." These seven children form The Umbrella Academy, a dysfunctional family of superheroes with bizarre powers. Their first adventure at the age of ten pits them against an erratic and deadly Eiffel Tower, piloted by the fearsome zombie-robot Gustave Eiffel. Nearly a decade later, the team disbands, but when Hargreeves unexpectedly dies, these disgruntled siblings reunite just in time to save the world once again

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The newest superhero kids on the block are just that—kids. At least they start out kids in the first Umbrella Academy collection, written by the lead singer of My Chemical Romance (Way) and superbly illustrated by Brazilian graphic artist Ba. When the diminutive orphans turned masked crime fighters first appear in the public arena, with their wealthy patron, Sir Reginald Hargreeves, keeping watch, their nemesis is a mobile, death-ray-zapping Eiffel Tower. Twenty years later, it takes Hargreeves’ death to bring the gang members, now grown and separated by their own idiosyncratic ambitions, back together to face a new enemy: estranged sister Vanya, the only one of them presumed to be powerless. Newly gifted with destructive powers by a race of robotic aliens, Vanya will stop at nothing to destroy the world unless her siblings stop her. Way and Ba provide all the ingredients of a superhero team to rival the X-Men and make its colorful adventures a hit. --Carl Hays

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Dark Horse (June 24, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593079788
• ISBN-13: 978-1593079789
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 6.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #42,340 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #53 in Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Publishers > Dark Horse
  • #88 in Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Graphic Novels > Science Fiction

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "There's just nothing special about you.", August 3, 2008

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H. Bala "Me Too Can Read" (Just moved to posh Marina Del Rey, CA - where if you drop a quarter, why, you just keep on walking) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Umbrella Academy Vol 1 (v. 1) (Paperback)

A rocker writing comics? What's that about? And, yet, Gerard Way, of the rock band My Chemical Romance, comes up with a humdinger of a comic book in THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY: APOCALYPSE SUITE, a wonderfully strange and inventive six-issued limited series published by Dark Horse Comics. It's an auspicious debut, really, and, now, count me as completely sold on Gerard Way, comic book scribe.

So what's this thing about? Well, some time ago, around the globe and in the same instance, at 9:38pm, forty-three gifted children were born to women who had before shown no signs of pregnancy. An extraterrestrial masquerading as a human adopted seven of these children and trained them to save the world. But theirs was a cold and callous father, so it's no surprise that the kids grew up as a dysfunctional family. However, the training took hold and the kids did become superheroes.

But the story really begins years after the team, called the Umbrella Academy, had disbanded as most of the siblings reunite for their father's funeral. I say most, because one had perished (we don't know how), while another is too bitter and disinclined to pop in. During this sad gathering, a world-threatening menace promptly surfaces, forcing these bickering capes to quit the bellyaching and work together...except that, of course, they don't quit the bellyaching.

For those looking for something different, something original and wonderfully off-beat, THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY: APOCALYPSE SUITE will fit the bill. I don't know how much of Gerard Way's experiences and life style influenced him in his writing, but his stuff reads as from an askewed perspective. APOCALYPSE SUITE is inventive and surreal and keeps on surprising. For a first-time writer, Gerard writes with startling confidence and with wit and a certain airiness. To quote THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY's artist, Gabriel Ba: "For me, it's not important anymore that it's his first comic, or that he's a big rock star, because the story is really interesting and well told."

Even thru the bizarre takes, Way infuses a layer of complexity and tragedy which grounds the stories. A key moment surfaces early on when eminent scientist and entrepreneur Sir Reginald Hargreeves (the alien's guise) impersonally tells one of his adopted daughters, "There's just nothing special about you." This heartbreaking indictment would have devastating repercussions years later for the Umbrella Academy. By the way, Sir Hargreeves is so detached that he tends to refer to his children as Numbers One thru Seven. Likewise, he insists that his children call him The Monocle, instead of "dad." Dang, that's cold. You could see why the kids grew so messed up.

Way peppers his story with a diverse cast of personalities. I have my favorites. How could you not dig Spaceboy (Number One, and team leader), whose head years ago had to be transplanted onto a gorilla's body. Or the time-travelling boy (Number Five) now forever stuck at the age of ten? Or Rumor (Number Three), who has the neat ability of telling a lie ("I heard a rumor...") and have it come true. These characters happen to inhabit a quirky world in which apes have gained intellect and where supervillains are regularly featured guests on television talk shows. Man, I love it!

This trade comes with very decent bonus material: the intro written by Grant Morrison, who is a huge influence on Gerard Way; an afterword by Dark Horse Comics editor Scott Allie; rough concept designs and bonus art by Ba, cover artist James Jean and, yes, by Gerard Way, himself a graduate of New York's School of Visual Arts (although his stuff here is pretty sketchy); and two out of print short stories - the two-paged online teaser "Mon Dieu" and the 16-paged Free Comic Book Day story "...But the Past Ain't Thru With You."

A bit now about the artwork, because Brazilian illustrator Gabriel Ba's significant contributions shouldn't be neglected. Dude's style is expressive, angular, and semi-exaggerated; it deftly captures the off-kilter essence of this comic book. Dave Stewart's colors complete the visual look, while James Jean's covers are terrifically evocative (and not at all reminiscent of Ba's artwork, but it works). All in all, a near perfect storytelling team. I hope they stay together for more UMBRELLA ACADEMY stories (although rumor has it that cover artist James Jean might be simply too busy to stick around for future issues).

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY is off to a roaring start, garnering props left and right from fans and critics. If you like being nudged off your comfort zone, then give this one a try. This is simply too good to pass up. The cheery news is that Way is chock full of ideas and has promised a limited series per year for the next busload of years. So, me, I'm desperately waiting on the Academy's next set of adventures, projected to be a 6-issue mini-series titled THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY: DALLAS.

And, by the way, Gerard Way's rock band isn't bad, either.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An interesting experiment., August 26, 2008

By 

Sean Curley (Charlottetown, PE, Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Umbrella Academy Vol 1 (v. 1) (Paperback)

One could be forgiven for expecting that a comic miniseries by one of the members of the band "My Chemical Romance" would be a gratuitous vanity project. That is, however, not the case. While I do not rate is as highly as many others here do, Gerard Way has produced a genuine story, with nice art by indie favourite Gabriel Ba (also known for Matt Fraction's Image series "Casanova").

As the description says, an unexplained global phenomenon saw numerous children born to women who had not previously shown signs of pregnancy. Seven of these are adopted by an eccentric millionaire, Sir Reginald Hargreeves (secretly a space alien), and raised to fight evil. This is the classic superhero setup of the X-Men. Well, it is, and it isn't. Way subverts some of the basic idea, particularly regarding the Professor X figure, Hargreeves (aka The Monocle). Hargreeves is a cold and demanding person who is not interested in providing the children with a genuine father figure; he is merely their boss. He even refers to the children by numbers, rather than names (their names are supplied by the 'mother' he deigned to provide, an animated clothes dummy; the kids are split in how they treat her, with some accepting her, while the rebelious Diego sees her as just another layer of artifice in their upbringing). Hargreeves' parental neglect is the catalyst for the primary villain plot, revolving around #7, Vanya, who has no powers, and thus was just not "special" as Hargreeves tells her directly. However, she may indeed have some purpose for an eccentric villain out to bring about the end of the world.

Way's style has been compared to Grant Morrison (who provided strong praise for the series, and an introduction to this trade paperback), and, indeed, one can draw strong comparisons between this series and Morrison's "JLA". High concepts are thrown out quite frequently, there is a lot of action, and there isn't a huge amount of characterization. The two most interesting powers concepts are the White Violin, the weird villain of the piece, and, even moreso, those of Allison/The Rumour, who can literally warp reality by lying (most clearly demonstrated in a bonus story included in this collection written for Free Comic Book Day).

Recommended for people interested in a Morrison-esque superhero experience.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Start to a new series, March 24, 2009

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Red Dwarf "Red" (Ogden, UT USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Umbrella Academy Vol 1 (v. 1) (Paperback)

I loved the art in this book. It was definitely its greatest asset. The story was interesting and very fast. I hope in future books to get to know more about these complicated characters. The writing is quirky and fun. My only complaint would be that I felt like it got over too soon. Overall I recommend this book.