Title: The Umbrella Academy.
Story-arc: The Apocalypse Suite.
Volume: 1.
Writer(s): Gerard Way.
Illustrator(s): Gabriel Bá.
Colourist(s): Dave Stewart.
Letterer(s): Nate Piekos of Blambot.
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics.
Format: Paperback.
Release Date: July 22nd 2008.
Pages: 164.
Genre(s): Comics, Science-Fiction.
ISBN13: 9781593079789.
My Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆.
It is often a sign of disappointment when the creator wasn’t exactly a writer to begin with as their expertise often shows in the quality of their work. However, some people have a hidden talent that allows them to venture in territories you just don’t expect them to. The lead vocalist and co-founder of the rock band My Chemical Romance, Gerard Way, for example, had a secret facet to him that allowed his creativity to proliferate outside of the music industry. While he never fully embraced his artistic abilities, his mind had an idea that could only be translated into one medium, that is comic books. Founded in surrealism and paranormality, the story he offers fans remains grounded in the superhero tropes as the heroes show their ludicrous and out of the ordinary personalities and superpowers.
What is The Umbrella Academy: The Apocalypse Suite about? Winner of the 2008 Eisner Award for Best Limited Series, this six-part story introduces us to seven adopted children of millionaire Sir Reginald Hargreeves from the Umbrella Academy. Initially, born in an inexplicable worldwide event where women who showed no signs of pregnancy gave birth to a total of forty-seven extraordinary children, these disgruntled siblings form a dysfunctional family who was assembled for one simple reason: to save the world. While their first mission at the age of ten is to go up against one of the oddest creatures at the heart of Paris, they find themselves separating themselves from one another until, a couple of years later, the death of Hargreeves brings them back together to save the world again.
Rooted in ideas that demand a lot of your imagination, the story finds solace in its extremes, whether it is the occasional violence or the circumstances that touch the heroes of this story. The premise is exciting and the story keeps you hooked, but it rarely ever takes the time to fully develop the characters or the world, with every event being thrown at the reader one after the other with nothing to watch evolve properly. It’s the fact that the story reads easily and manages to connect one piece to the other that makes it understandable and easy to follow. Otherwise, the story struggles to offer the readers anything to hold onto as they are forced to simply jump into a pit of ideas and pray that something will catch them at some point during the fall.
It should hence be noted that Gerard Way’s series isn’t meant to be perfect in every department, especially with the first volume. In fact, The Apocalypse Suite felt a lot like an introduction to his story-telling style, a taste of what exactly he’s prepared to gift us. This observation of mine also leads me to the artwork style that isn’t exactly easy to digest either with its blocky visuals and flashy colours that quickly bring the readers to associate it to this comic book series. There’s a particular approach to the art that either draws you in or kicks you out but nevertheless succeeds in being original in one way or another. This first volume thus presents the series’ identity and allows the reader to decide if they are ready to give it a shot or not.
The Umbrella Academy: The Apocalypse Suite is a promising exploration of dysfunctional families and superhero tropes with stylish artwork that will either impress or leave you unaffected.
Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for sending me a copy for review!
Netflix acquired the rights to launch a live-action TV series adaptation of this original comic book series! Have you seen season 1 yet?
Roars and Echoes 
Great review Lashaan! I agree that Apocalypse Suite was a bit rough, especially in terms of character development, but I found Dallas and Hotel Oblivion progressively better. I absolutely love Netflix’s adaptation and ironically they’ve fleshed out the characters even more.
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Thank you so much, Kim! I totally agree that Dallas was much better than Apocalypse Suite! I can’t wait to check out Hotel Oblivion though. The wait has been long!
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I have a friend who was able to snag a 14 page sampler of Hotel Oblivion Ashcan and he shared it with me. While it was just a tease, I can’t wait until the full version comes out in September.
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I think I ned to move on to the next book to really give this story a chance. I liked a lot about The Academy Suite, but felt like I didn’t connect with the characters as much as I should have in the first volume of a comic.
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Yep, the first volume really felt like a story to establish the world. The second volume was much better for me. Hope you’ll enjoy it when you get around to it, Paul!
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Well, I saw the first season of this series on Netflix. It was pretty good. While it started off slow, it quickly pick up momentum and became better with every episode. If you haven’t seen it yet, I definitely recommend it. As for this graphic novel, I didn’t know of it’s existence until I read about it here. The cover looks cool, and having read this, I might give it a chance. Great post as always! 😊
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I’ve slowed down immensely on my consumption of TV series to make room for movies since the beginning of 2019 but I’ve got The Umbrella Academy at the top of my list when I decide to get back into binging shows! I’m glad to put this on your radar though! Thanks for reading, my good friend!
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Lol…It’s the other way around with me😂😂 I’m watching more tv series and less movies 😊
I definitely think you will like the Umbrella Academy show. Look forward to hearing your thoughts on it 😊
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I loved this Netflix adaptation. Interested in reading the comic some time. Great review Sir!
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Hope you have a great time with this series if you ever get the chance to read it! Thank you, sir!
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Great review. I bet I’ll find the same faults with it when i read it, but I watched the show so I’m still interested in trying the comic book. I’m just so curious about the story.
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Thanks, Zezee! Ah I think you’ll spot flaws in this one as well. It’s far from perfect but yes, if you love the show, then it’s totally worth looking into the original comic book series to see what these heroes were originally meant to be like!
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Well Lashaan I am with you on the visual here! Not easy and not my favorite. It’s quite “stocky” and “pointy” if I may say so ….and if you don’t really take the time to develop the characters I am not sure I would have finished the book honestly! That being said you once more gave us a fantastic review!
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Ohhh I assure you it would be one of the quickest reads you’d have had 😂 But yes, I totally understand! Maybe the next volumes help further develop everything as well. Thank you, Sophie! 😁
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I hear people raving about the Netflix series so I may eventually give that a go, perhaps it might serve the audience better in terms of developing the ideas more fully? But – ugh – that art is a big turn off for me unfortunately, when you’re spoiled by the likes of Jim Lee, Ivan Reis, Jason Fabok, Alex Maleev and Tony S. Daniel (to name but a few faves) it doesn’t grab me. But it’s a subjective thing and I’m sure their are readers who love it and that’s great.
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The hype around the Netflix series is definitely real and it’s also one of the reasons why I pushed this one up on my reading list just so I could figure out if it’s any good. I completely understand the subjectivity of artwork and with Dark Horse, I sort of got used to these styles hahah
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Seems like watching the story is better than reading it.
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At least for the first volume, it is!
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Great review! I saw the trailer on Netflix but never watched the series! Can’t believe the singer of My Chemical Romance is behind this, though 😂
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Thanks, Caroline! Hahahah yes! It is stunning to know about their other talents. 😮 Usually, it doesn’t turn out to be that big of a hit but in this case, it’s a pretty cool addition to his accomplishments!
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