The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite
Written by Gerald Way
Art by Gabriel Bá
Dark Horse Comics
Published by Dark Horse, The Umbrella Academy garnered some buzz when it first came out because it was written by a guy named Gerard Way. What makes him special is that he is a musician in the rock band My Chemical Romance. But I picked up the trade paperback which contains 6 comic issues based on the good words I was hearing about the book from various sources.
Written by Gerald Way
Art by Gabriel Bá
Dark Horse Comics
Published by Dark Horse, The Umbrella Academy garnered some buzz when it first came out because it was written by a guy named Gerard Way. What makes him special is that he is a musician in the rock band My Chemical Romance. But I picked up the trade paperback which contains 6 comic issues based on the good words I was hearing about the book from various sources.The story starts with with a bit where at the exact same instant in time, 47 babies were unexpectedly born. Of all of these special babies, seven of them were adopted by millionaire inventor Reginald Hargreeves. With these children he created The Umbrella Academy is a group of 7 children who all (except for number 00.07) have extraordinary powers. And when asked why he adopted these special children, his response was "to save the world." From this point, the story jumps to the future where Hargreeves has died and the children get together for his funeral. It turn out that the children grow up to form a dysfunctional family of super heroes. And that's where the fun of the story lies.
It's been a decade or so since I read the Grant Morrison run on Doom Patrol, but I get the same type of vibe. I mentioned in the review for Seaguy (also by Grant Morrison) that strange is good, and this makes a valiant attempt to reach that surreal level of strangeness. Quirky things just appear in the story without any explanation. For instance, there are talking chimpanzees living and working alongside humans. But it all works in the continuity of the story. The artist Gabriel Bá has a blocky hard style in this book which also fits well with the narrative. The character designs are most striking and the backgrounds are full of detail of this unique world they have created.
It's been a decade or so since I read the Grant Morrison run on Doom Patrol, but I get the same type of vibe. I mentioned in the review for Seaguy (also by Grant Morrison) that strange is good, and this makes a valiant attempt to reach that surreal level of strangeness. Quirky things just appear in the story without any explanation. For instance, there are talking chimpanzees living and working alongside humans. But it all works in the continuity of the story. The artist Gabriel Bá has a blocky hard style in this book which also fits well with the narrative. The character designs are most striking and the backgrounds are full of detail of this unique world they have created.
I would recommend this book for any library. There is some graphic violence and some mature themes. But again, nothing more that one can see on a primetime drama show on television. This book is best placed in the teen areas of libraries, but could easily be of interest an older audience.
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