Required Summer Reading: The Umbrella Academy

By Teresa Jusino

Summer’s mostly over, but you’ve got the entire month of August ahead of you, and you’ll need something to read.

Actually, there’s something you need to read no matter what the time of year.

Run, don’t walk, to your nearest comic shop and get yourself a copy of the trade paperback of Dark Horse Comics’ The Umbrella Academy, cleverly written by Gerard Way, and brilliantly illustrated by Gabriel Ba.

This six-issue story arc, called The Apocalypse Suite, tells the story of seven children born under extraordinary circumstances and who each develop extraordinary (albeit unexplained) abilities.  They are sought out and adopted by a rich inventor (and alien) named Sir Reginald Hargreeves, who takes them back to a mansion dubbed “The Umbrella Academy”, where they disappear until the children are ten.  It is then that they emerge as a dysfunctional family of superheroes and stop the Eiffel Tower from killing everyone in Paris.

You read that right. They stop the Eiffel Tower from killing everyone in Paris.

The Apocalypse Suite can, in one sense, be seen as the standard story of a super team.  A group of villains plan to destroy the world, and it’s up to the members of The Umbrella Academy to stop them.  Yet it’s the fiercely original way in which events unfold that make this comic special.  The world of The Umbrella Academy is at once futuristic and hearkens back to an older time, and there’s a very “old-school” way of storytelling at work here.  The Umbrella Academy feels like serialized 1930s pulp fiction, even as it reads like sci-fi.

In addition to the deft blending of past and future, there is also an unapologetic juxtaposition between innocence and horrific violence.  By flashing back between The Umbrella Academy’s lives as children and as adults, or having a 60 year old man trapped in the body of a 10-year-old doing unspeakably violent things, or even the manner of the children’s births (they were each suddenly and violently born to random women around the world who showed no signs of being pregnant) seem to say Violence and horror exist in the world.  It’s naive to think that children are exempt or can be sheltered from it.  But children are resilient and can, and will, survive.  They might even grow up to save the world. It’s a powerful message.

Lastly, this book contains some of the most intriguing new comic characters to emerge in a long time.   The theme of figuring out and presenting one’s identity is a strong one in this book.  Each member of The Umbrella Academy has a number, a team name, and a given name, except for the two most interesting characters among them, and it is their lack of complete identities that propel much of their action:

Vanya Hargreeves, aka Number 7, is one of the most fascinating characters in comics.  Since being adopted by Sir Reginald Hargreeves, aka The Monacle, she’s had it drilled into her that she is nothing special.  Her other adopted siblings each have a special ability, like flight, psychic ability, or superhuman strength, while her only extraordinary skill is playing violin.  However, it’s this gift of hers, as well as her furious resentment for being the “ordinary” one in an extraordinary family that may be responsible for destroying the world.

Number 5, who was never given another name because he ran away from home before names were given, time traveled into the future and saw the end of the world.  He spends the next 60 years figuring out how to prevent it, and when he does, comes back to his siblings to help them do so.  However, due to a mishap in time travel, he is his 60-year-old self trapped in the body of his 10-year-old self, which would make figuring out how to present your identity to others difficult for anyone.

The rest of the family has their own identity issues.  Number Three, aka The Rumor, aka Allison Hargreeves seems to be fighting against her superhero identity in her adult life, while for Number One, aka Spaceboy, aka Luther Hargreeves, his superhero identity is the only one that gives him comfort.  And then there is The Horror, whom we so far only get to know through flashback and mentions by other characters, his identity patched together by their memories.

I’m really out of touch with what the kids are listening to these days, so it wasn’t until after I finished these six issues that I even discovered that Gerard Way was the lead singer of My Chemical Romance. (Now, ask me to name a My Chemical Romance song…) Apparently, some comic fans that are more music-savvy were wary of a “celebrity” writer.  I didn’t have that hurdle.  To me, Gerard Way is an innovative, vibrant new writer of comics who has created an exciting, original world.  Way knows how to draw a reader into a story, withholding juicy bits of information until they’re absolutely necessary, or dropping facts into your lap that make no sense, trusting that you’re smart enough to hold onto it until its important.  This is not a comic that holds your hand as you read it, and it’s a wonderful approach to the superhero genre of which this is a part, though only in the broadest terms.

However, this comic would not be as amazing as it is without Gabriel Ba’s artwork.  It’s the look he gives the comic that gives it that pulp-fi meets sci-fi feel, and it seems that he was the perfect artist to be chosen to bring this world to life.

Special kudos must also be given to James Jean, whose gorgeous covers were what drew me to the series in the first place.  I would recommend getting single issues over the trade, if you can, if only to be able to see his covers the way they were meant to be seen; especially the beautiful wraparound cover of Issue #2:

And while I’m giving out kudos, here are some for Dark Horse editor, Scott Allie, whose work on Buffy: Season Eight as well as The Umbrella Academy shows he’s an editor with amazing taste and skill.  Keep the great comics coming, Scott!

The Umbrella Academy is the most original comic work out there, and now is the perfect time to get a hold of that trade paperback and get reading!  When you’re done with the first six issues, head on over to MySpace Dark Horse Presents for a new Umbrella Academy story called Anywhere But Here.  You’ll then be all ready for the release of Series Two of The Umbrella Academy in NOVEMBER!  From what I hear, it’s going to have to do with the Kennedy Assassination…  It’s going to be amazing, so make sure you’re caught up in time to be a part of it!

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TERESA JUSINO was born on the same day that Skylab fell. Coincidence? She doesn’t think so.  As a writer, her work has appeared in Elmont Life newspaper, and on the sadly defunct website, CentralBooking.com. She is currently at work on a collection of short stories. As a geek, Teresa loves Star Trek, Lost, comics, and anything Joss Whedon ever touched. Also, she has a fangirl *squee-ing* crush on Brian K. Vaughan, which is now being rivaled by her burgeoning crush on Robert Downey Jr. in his Iron Man suit.

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