Customer Reviews

The Umbrella Academy Vol 1 (v. 1)

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Ultimately not a very satisfying or good story. It was spurred along by random cool gimmicks and ideas, but in the end I think that was all it was. The parts were greater than the whole. I won't be buying volume two unless Way comes up with an even cuter instrument of world destruction.

Ok, maybe that was a bit too harsh. It was a great start and had it's moments. I just think the story would have benefitted alot if he fabricated the plot a bit more seriously and thoroughly in certain parts. I'd upgrade my review four stars if it let me.

I bought this because I was impressed with the art. I did not get it because of Gerard Way. In fact, those who do are really missing the best part. Gerard as an art director, and tone setter does a good job. However, there is really not much writing to speak of. Characters lack any serious depth. However, that doesn't matter because it has a robot zombie taking vengeance on Paris using the Eiffel Tower as a rocket ship. So what more can you want? Amazing art work.

A little (not really little) over-rated? :s
Its not BAD, but certainly doesn't deserve all that hype.
I think teenagers from the age of 13-17 MIGHT find it very appealing (i'm 25 not that old).
Its just that it screams "teenage pain"
As many others said, the art is pretty nice (actually... OKAY even), but the story? um... nothing special.
Between "Preacher" and "The Goon" (may be even "Y: The last man")i find this to only deserve 2.5/5
Again, its not bad, its just not that good.

Umbrella Academy Vol. 1 is worth buying if you can buy it for $12 or less.

The art and visuals in the story are pretty good, and the coloring is fantastic. The story is another matter. Gerard Way has an incredible imagination and adds some very compelling and interesting elements to the story. That being said the story is lacking focus. As the reader we are rushed in with a very little backstory and though we see a few snippets of the past, we don't really get much. Because of this and virtually no character arc, there is no pathos for the characters. Thus leading to the reader not really caring who lives and who dies. And there's plenty of dying or extreme maiming but I just didn't find myself caring all that much. It's one thing when the bad guy doesn't have a distinct past but it's another when almost every character seems haphazardly thrown into the mix.

All this being said, I think I'll pick up volume 2. Hopefully Gerard can learn from his first comic book endeavor and become a stronger writer. He's got the imagination, now all he needs are the tools. The only part that bums me out is that this story was given the go ahead by the Dark Horse higher ups probably because of Gabriel Ba's great artwork and the demographic Gerard Way could bring over to comics. No doubt another better written story was snuffed to make room for this one...which is a shame but I suppose that's the nature of the beast.

While the writing in this series improves from chapter to chapter greatly, the artwork (with the exception of the cover pages) is sometimes horrific. Rushed panels with basic illustrations can't be hidden with lots of color and explosions. If Way had hired an artist or team of artists who actually paid attention to each panel then he may have been on to something.

I bought this for my 13year daughter who is in LOVE with Gerard Way...she has the whole series downloaded to her Ipod so i figured the paperback would be a great gift. When it arrived I read the book just to see what it was like...and to my suprise it was a great book. The story is great and the art work is stunning, not to mention it includes a few of Gerards original drawings which made her love it even more. I am going to order the rest of the books in the series.....definately worth it! From a family of comic book lovers, this is a series we all will follow....I hope he continues writing!!!!

The people who rated this product one star have serious problems, because The Umbrella Academy is a comic masterpiece. Written by My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way, the story follows a worldwide phenomenon when forty-three children are simultaneously born worldwide. Space alien disguised as entrepreneur Sir Reginald Hargreeves, a.k.a. "The Monocle", forms the Umbrella Academy, a school and home for seven of these adopted misfit siblings.

The opening chapter alone was enough to pull me in, with the movie-like - and comically confusing - introduction, to their premiere battle with a sadistic robot Eiffel Tower, all drawn by the brilliant Gabriel Ba. The story jumps ahead twenty years to The Monocle's death, and the disbanded Academy reunites to solve the mystery of his death, their time-travelling brother Number Five, who has recently returned to the present, and their mysterious, powerless sister Vanya, who has connected with a shady orchestra who claims to be seeking the end of the world.

The art is fantastic, and the story is gripping, action-packed, and mysterious, almost like Dick Tracy meets the X-Men. The final conflict is resolved in a "Why didn't I think of that?" way, and the last panel made me want to laugh and cry at the same time. This is an incredibly enjoyable, Eisner Award-winning comic that I would recommend to even the most fickle of comic book fans.