The Umbrella Academy, Vol. 1

Sometimes you have to listen to your kids. I’d never heard of Dark Horse’s UMBRELLA ACADEMY until my daughter mentioned one day she’d like to read it. So I saw it at my local comic shop and picked it up for her. She still hasn’t read it yet, but I thought it looked interesting, so I gave it a go. And I’m glad I did.Created and written by Gerard Way with art by Gabriel Ba, THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY is based on the idea that one day, thirty years ago, forty-three children were born at the same time, many of them to women who had no idea they were pregnant. All but seven of these mysterious children died. Those seven were adopted by Sir Reginald Hargreeves, “world-renowned scientist and wealthy entrepreneur.” When asked why he chose to adopt the children, he answered, “To save the world, of course.”Hargreeves trained the children and raised them to be super heroes as each was endowed with a special power of their own--all but one, number 7, Vanya, who appeared to be completely ordinary in every way. The children made their debut ten years later when the Eiffel Tower, under the control of zombie-robot Gustave Eiffel, attacked. The children ended the reign of terror and their legend was born.Flash forward twenty years and the children haven’t spoken to each other in a while, each going off to live their own variation on “a life.”They only reconvene at their old home for Hargreeves’s funeral. And the old rivalries return. Unfortunately, they must set aside their differences because now, after so long, is the thing they’ve waited for so long. The world is about to end and the children of the Umbrella Academy must save it.This first volume, “Apocalypse Suite”, collects the original six-issue run of the series in one book and it’s definitely worth picking up if you like comics, humor, science fiction, fantasy, absurdity … basically, if you like anything at all, THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY is going to make you smile.Way’s writing is like the work of someone who’s been writing comics all his life. His pacing, his use of dialogue and flashbacks and captions and suspense, it’s all there. While the book focuses primarily on only a few of the members, everyone is developed enough that you get a feel for who and what they are in the grand scheme, and Way even manages to use what’s NOT said in helping to establish enough background detail that we can fill in the blanks and create an entire backstory for them.I can only imagine how entertaining the script alone must have been for artist Gabriel Ba, who also shines here.His sense of drama and tension and panel layout all coalesce into this perfect thing that grabs your attention and sweeps you along, and before you know it, you’re looking at the last page wondering how the hell did I read that so fast? And why does it have to be over?I wasn’t expecting much going into this book, to be honest. I know she mentioned it, but didn’t really elaborate and I only got it because I spoil her, but I’m glad she did because I really feel my general well of knowledge is improved by having experienced THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY.My only wish is that more people got it. I know this book’s got tons of great reviews, but I’ve read a few negative ones that make me wonder if they read the same book I did, because this made perfect sense to me, it made me laugh, it made me feel, and it shocked and surprised me many times. For me, THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY: Apocalypse Suite is 100% recommended.

First off, the quality of this version is excellent! It's a large, beautifully printed book with a built-in ribbon bookmark, and a velvety matte cover.Many people are comparing this to the Netflix series and finding themselves either disappointed or confused, and that's because the tv series took a very different approach with the material. The core plot beats are there, but the world-building, characters, and overall design got chopped up and tossed around like a fruit salad because the Apocalypse Suite arc is short and probably did not have enough content to fill a 10-episode season.The comic for Apocalypse Suite is wild, as the world-building and tropes lean way heavier on the sci-fi / superhero aspects of those kooky concepts that harken back to the 50's and 60's of comic ideas, with a touch of noir. The tv series pulls way back on a lot of this, either for budgeting reasons or style approach. It's not until S3 of the tv show where you're really starting to feel more of the same tone alignment with the comics, but the tv series is basically its own story now.The characters are also different to some degree, both personality-wise and in their design. In Apocalypse Suite, Luther is direct and has a stronger leadership presence. I find him to be WAY more palatable in the comics.Allison & Klaus are also different to their tv counterparts. Allison has an overt passive-aggressive ruthlessness to her in this arc. Klaus is super chill, not afraid of his powers, nor does his 'recreational activities' seem to hamper his connection to them either. Mileage may vary with people on whether they find that to be a good or bad thing.Vanya (comic) has a way more dynamic design near the end, and the use of the violin as the material component for their powers should have stayed in S2 & S3 of the show because that would have made Viktor (tv show) way more balanced and interesting on the power scale.Number Five is probably the only character in the group that maintained a relatively consistent transport from comic to tv show, both in character design and personality. In Apocalypse Suite, he's more of a harbinger of the apocalypse plot as opposed to the entire driving force like in the tv show. The Umbrellas are all pulling their weight in some capacity, which balances out Five's involvement in teaming up with Pogo as more of the strategist duo for the team.I would have to say that, personally, the comic definitely beats the show's S1 only because the characters are way better balanced. The arc is short, and there's not a lot of time for everyone to muddle around wallowing in their trauma. Their family issues crop up fast to keep up with the pace of the panels. The dysfunctional family aspect is still there, but all of the characters are actively working toward the same goal, just in a hodgepodge cliquish sort of way: Luther teams up with Allison, and Klaus. Diego goes it alone. Five is working with Pogo on the science and strategy issues, etc.As far as Apocalypse Suite the COMIC is concerned, I enjoyed it. Because I went in knowing it was not going to be the same experience; and it wasn't. I appreciate both the comic and the show for different reasons because they are different experiences.