Reviews with content warning for Gore - The Umbrella Academy, Vol. 1: Apocalypse Suite

Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Umbrella Academy, Vol. 1: Apocalypse Suite by Gerard Way

26 reviews

mousey's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

While the art of this comic is amazing, the story fails to live up to the same standard. The writing is often confusing and muddled, and transitions are unclear and jarring. The themes this book attempts to tackle are complex, and Way often fails to write them in a respectful way.

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ashlightgrayson's review

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dark

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I think this story was limited narratively by the length. I finished the story and I wanted more. The way the story is told is not linear which can make understanding what's going on at first a bit difficult. Despite this, I was able to grasp the important plot points and characters by the end. I do think this is one of those stories that bodes better on a reread. I think if there were more issues the writer would have been able to spend more time on exposition to make some of the plot developments clearer.

The art is tonally dark and matches the story and characters well. It reminds a lot of Alan Moore's Watchmen in terms of the mood of the characters and story. I need more alternative superhero stories like this. Looking forward to reading volume 2.

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m0usey's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Honestly a mediocre comic. The art is fantastic and the concept is amazing, but the writing is a bit confusing and there are definitely themes and topics that Way tried and failed to explore in a respectful way. But other than that it’s a fun read and the world is pretty interesting.

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halfbloodprincess_hogwarts's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I was curious to see how different the netflix series progresses versus its manga. That I completely forgot some of what happened and why I stopped watching in in the beginning lol.Tbh, this is just not my cup of tea of a series but I enjoyed the illustrations. By the 30% mark, I gave up on reading the text and mainly focused on the visuals.

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emilywasbored's review

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

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inkdrinkers's review against another edition

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dark funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.0

I have complicated feelings towards this. I watched the Netflix show when it premiered but only had a chance to read the source material now and it was a letdown.

The show spends so much more time pacing and introducing concepts, characters, and backstory that when faced with the comic even I was confused with the sudden jumping around. A lot of the characters changed from the comic to the adaption - while the designs were visually interesting in the comics, I found myself disliking a lot of them overall. Especially Vanya (now Viktor), the sexualization of her and Allison/Rumor was extremely overt.

I also just didn't vibe with the art style. It's very dark and while scenes like the diner and featuring the detective fit it well because of the classic noir style, the rest of the issues just feel busy and overwhelmed with colors, concepts, and details.

Overall, I'll probably finish volume two and three just for completion sake but this first volume made me cherish just how well the show took the source material and made it infinitely better.

The Luther/Allison stuff is still gross though.

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notalightbulb's review

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dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

I am so confused as to what I just read. They gave me answers to questions I didn’t have and what I did want to know was always completely ignored. It’s hard to not compare it to the show, they are obviously separate entities but how did they do that from this?? Their powers make no sense (they don’t in the show either but they at least try give some explanation) and we’re really just glossing over the fact that a character is introduced as a literal Alien on page 6???? What?

If there was more time for the ideas to be fleshed out and properly explained, it would make a fun story, just like the show proved but Apocalypse Suite was just… not it.

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