Recent Reads: The Umbrella Academy #1 by Gerard Way

The Umbrella Academy: 

The Apocalypse Suite by Gerard Way 
Series: The Umbrella Academy Volume 1
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Publication Date:  June 22, 2008

 

Format: Paperback
Source: Borrow from the Library

Rating:


Goodreads Synopsis: 

In an inexplicable worldwide event, forty-seven extraordinary children were spontaneously born to 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.

Collecting: The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite 1-6, as well as out-of-print short stories and an expanded sketchbook section featuring work by Gabriel Bá, James Jean, and Gerard Way.

Review: 
I started watching this show on Netflix recently but realized that there was a graphic novel series that preceded it, so I paused the show and grabbed the volumes from the library.

This is a weird series, I knew that from watching the first episode of the show and the graphic novels obviously are just as weird if not a little bit weirder. The illustrations throughout the book were wonderful, dark and macabre where they needed to be and bright and vivid as they flash back to better times. 

We meet the 'family' of extraordinary children as they come together for the passing of their adoptive father. There is a lot of background that you get from flashbacks and story telling by the characters but I felt like there was still a lot to be explained. The graphic novel chapters move very quickly and hop from one crisis to the next while also telling an overall tale of this strange family. Although they are coming together for their fathers death - their father does not seem like a nice man or really even a father to them and that just sets a sad tone throughout the book. 

I picked up the next two volumes and am hoping that there is more backstory to give insight into why there is so much angst and hate between all the members of the family. 

If you enjoyed the show and are interested in reading the comic adaptations, know that they stories are already slightly different (at least from what I have seen). There might actually be more background in the initial comics than there were in the first few episodes of the show. it is strange and I generally like strange so I am going to push through - I will let you know how it goes.