The Umbrella Academy

[Anubis]

I saw an interview with him about it in Wizard. I'm considering it... depends whether i'm having a light week or not.

 

[PhotoJones]

its a bag which i used to carry all my Projekt Revolution merchandise that says projekt revolution on it

Sweet.

 

[PhotoJones]

Reposting my mini review from elsewhere:

The Umbrella Academy #1 - I'm very impressed with this. This is one of the better debut issues I've ever read. Gerard Way certainly knows how to craft a charmingly absurb story, that's for sure. The art by Garbriel Ba is delicious. His pictures jive perfectly with Way's words. The cadence in Way's words is also great in that the tone is strongly tongue in cheek, while treting the subject matter (often times humorous) as being deadly serious. A good way to explain it is that this is like a Tim Burton movie. Lighthearted and a bit morbid at the same time, with a touch of Victorian gothic.

 

[Anubis]

I was rereading the first two issues and I was really surprised at how good this is. It's like if Wes Anderson made a Superhero movie or something. It's just quirky, and.....just awesome really. Really didn't expect much from it, but it's been a real surprise.

 

[PhotoJones]

I don't know if I'd say it's Wes Anderson-esque. Definitely some Burton, though.

 

[Anubis]

I dont' know, I see somthing of that quirky style that Anderson uses throughout the first issue. It reminds me of the Royal Tanenbaums with Super Powers. I could totally see Hackman, the Wilson Brothers, and Paltrow in these characters. Stiller would have to play the Kraken.

 

[PhotoJones]

Actually, yeah, I can kinda of see that.

 

[Mr Sparkle]

I pretty much despise My Chemical Romance, but this may be interesting. The covers are beautiful, and I'm a big Gabriel Ba fan.

I wanted to hate this, I wanted to hate this sooo badly.
I wanted to hate this like I hated "The Black Parade" or when the lovechild of Amy Lee and Billy Corgan said that he wanted to look like a cancer patient.

but the art is great.
goddamn you! the art is great!

 

[PhotoJones]

The art is great and the story and dialogue are as great.

 

[Dread]

Reposting:

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY: APOCALYPSE SUITE #1-2: A bit late to the party, but I haven't missed out on everything. Apparently this series made some initial waves because the writer, Gerard Way (not related to the Way who writes GHOST RIDER and wishes he was Garth Ennis), is from a rock band which I have literally never heard of. But the idea of rockers writing comics initially makes one recall all those forgettable KISS comic books that KISS' band puts out every 5-10 years and which blend into oblivion. The art by Gabriel Ba' manages to bring comparisons to Mike Mignola's style on HELLBOY and perhaps the book that is very similar in style and tone, THE AMAZING SCREW-ON HEAD. No, I never read the one-shot, but I own and adore the Sci-Fi Channel pilot on DVD, and to the best of my knowledge it was one of the most faithful comic-to-animation translations that exist. My exposure to the Hellboy universe is due to the feature film and the animated DTV's (which I enjoy more than the film, especially as it has the same cast with less Hollywood interference), and I like that sort of tongue-in-cheek angle to the zany antics.

Umbrella Academy starts along in this vein, from the first page; 43 children are mysteriously "immaculately concepted" and born after a massive wrestler defeats an alien with an atomic elbow, and the enigmic Monacle, who is also an alien, adopts 7 of them as his Umbrella Academy, a team of European based heroes. They are designated with numbers and the interior cover introductions are immediately charming, and the comic continues from there. Six of them have weird and wacky powers, from .01, who is invulnerable & strong, to .07, who seems to have no powers aside for a talent for the violin. The first issue introduces their childhood years and lays down the foundation for #2, when the real plot begins to unfold as they gather 20 years later, after their team had disbanded (and .07, or Vanya, has written a nasty book about her years on the team) and the Monacle has died. The book has some wild and wacky humor in that SCREW-ON tone, from the Effiel Tower going mad to .01 becoming Spaceboy after getting his head grafted onto a massive gorilla body, to the seemingly useless "perennial breath holder" becoming a skilled assassin as Kraken, it is chock full of wacky goodness. The main villain of the peace is The Conductor, who has a team of insane musicians who want to destroy the world with an orchastra, and the reactivated Adacemy has to go fight some alien amusement rides gone amok. Ba's art has simularities to Mignola's, but has a style all to it's own. Grant Morrison breathlessly calls them, "The heroes of the 21st century" and while that is high praise, this is a wildly original creation (as both Hellboy and Screw-On debuted in the 90's) for the times. I enjoyed the book greatly and my only complaint was seeing that "of 6" on the cover, but Way & Ba' promise that more serials after this one are coming. Count me aboard.

Add another book to my list. And it is one I actually like, rather than endure. Great expectations from this wild and wacky new franchise.

 

[Dread]

Bumping, with a spoiler-full review of the latest wacky issue:

Thankgiving Leftover Edition:

UMBRELLA ACADEMY #3: More hyjinks from the zaniest superhero-themed work from DARK HORSE since HELLBOY (yes, I know HELLBOY is more about the supernatural than superheroes, but the BPRD battles monsters, villains, mad scientists, etc., so if SHIELD can be included in the genre, so can HELLBOY), or even THE AMAZING SCREW-ON HEAD, by Gerard Way & Gabriel Ba'. I mean, even Grant Morrison likes it.

Spoiler

The issue has more of the Umbrella Academy, or at least the members who aren't either dead (The Horror) or time-travellers (0.05), battling amusement park death-robots from one of their enemies, Dr. Terminal, who gets a flashback sequence with Rumor this issue. This issue allows some more time with seeing Kraken, Seance, and Spaceboy in action, and the death-robot banter is hilarious. Vanya, the one who seemingly has no abilities save for musical skill, attempts a reunion, but is angrilly told off by Kraken, the bad-ass of the team (despite his seemingly feeble ability to be able to hold his breath indefinitely). The ending has Vanya join the Icarus Theatre troupe after all, in the issue's funniest scene. Dr. Terminal is sort of a cross between Hannibal Lector and a cyborg-mad scientist, and it works well, but naturally this is the Apocalypse Suite, so the orchastra fellows will be the main villains.

It is really hard to describe this series if you're not reading it, but it is charming and fun yet still has some dark humor and so on. Glad I'm aboard and hopefully more people are, too.

 

[JackRembrandt]

You've never read Hellboy or BPRD, have you?

 

[Dread]

You've never read Hellboy or BPRD, have you?

No. I have wanted to but I haven't had the money to collect all the trades. What little I have seen of Hellboy from the feature film and the superior animated DTV's, though, I like. So I presume I would and will enjoy the comics, when I get around to buying them.

 

[Anubis]

Got a few Hellboy trades. Didn't really care for them. But I still think Lobster Johnson is awesome.

 

[Dread]

Got a few Hellboy trades. Didn't really care for them. But I still think Lobster Johnson is awesome.

Lobster Johnson was awesome in a 30 second promo for the 3rd animated Hellboy DTV at the end of the second (BLOOD AND IRON), with minimal animation. So, yes, he reaks of awesome.

 

[Anubis]

Hell, the name alone oozes awesome.

 

[JackRembrandt]

No. I have wanted to but I haven't had the money to collect all the trades. What little I have seen of Hellboy from the feature film and the superior animated DTV's, though, I like. So I presume I would and will enjoy the comics, when I get around to buying them.

I could see how one would think "zany" if their only exposure to Hellboy/BPRD was through the live action film and the DTV's. Read the comics, and I don't think that word will pop into your head. Hellboy is straight up folklore at this point. It's pretty cerebral. And BPRD is a horror comic.

 

[Dread]

I could see how one would think "zany" if their only exposure to Hellboy/BPRD was through the live action film and the DTV's. Read the comics, and I don't think that word will pop into your head. Hellboy is straight up folklore at this point. It's pretty cerebral. And BPRD is a horror comic.

I'm fairly certain it is. I am aware that movie and DTV depictions are more commercialized and simplified versions of the comic work. But they have created an interest.

Anyway...how about that Umbrella Academy #3? This would be a great comic even if it wasn't being written by a rocker, but the fact that it is casts aside cliches of "stars" doing comic work.

 

[JackRembrandt]

You should give 'em a shot. I'd recommend BPRD over Hellboy for a new reader, actually. It's a lot more straightfoward and linear. Hellboy's gotten pretty experimental in it's storytelling. It's still great though.

And yeah, it's a shame that The Umbrella Academy will forever have a stigma attatched to it because of Way's "other" job.

 

[Dread]

Another problem, which I have noticed with this and FEARLESS, is that many shops just don't give smaller launches a chance with decent orders. I have to venture into Manhattan to buy Umbrella Academy & Fearless because my shop barely orders any copies. One has to understand that Diamond sales are based on orders from shops, not exactly what gets moved; if shops have zero faith in launches of 3rd party books, even larger ones like Image and Dark Horse, than it maintains the Big Two dominance.

How can some of these smaller books get a shot if too many shops don't even bother ordering? My LCS didn't get even 1 copy of FEARLESS #1. Not even 1 copy of a launch title? Sheesh.

And, I agree; Umbrella Academy is great stuff that deserves better than a stigma because of it's writer. Apparently not all rockers are made alike. Who'd a thunk?

 

[JackRembrandt]

Your shop must be a weird one. The ones in my town have over ordered The Umbrella Academy and it's still managed to sell like hotcakes. It's mostly teenage girls, from what I've heard, but hey, their money spends the same.

 

[Dread]

Your shop must be a weird one. The ones in my town have over ordered The Umbrella Academy and it's still managed to sell like hotcakes. It's mostly teenage girls, from what I've heard, but hey, their money spends the same.

The store I go to in Manhattan overorders UMBRELLA ACADEMY. My local shop is in Brooklyn, an outer borough, and next to a movie theatre, so they mostly get the stuff that "sells".

 

[Dead Fred]

I really enjoyed the first issue of Umbrella Academy. It was the most fun I've had ready a comic in a long while! I didn't even realize the writer was a "rockstar" till after the second issue came out. Guess that's the generation gap for you (coming in at a decrepit 31)

 

[Anubis]

Wow. What was Jesus like?

 

[Dead Fred]

Wow. What was Jesus like?

Ahhh ... the good ole days. Never wanted for wine I can tell you that!