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quadrille 's review for:
The Umbrella Academy, Vol.1: The Apocalypse Suite
by Gerard Way
I got into this because of the Netflix TV series, and found that the comics are simultaneously darker, bleaker, and unhappier; but also zanier and more bonkers, featuring killer robots and supervillains and e.g. an origin story for Vanya’s Stradivarius violin involving an undead Antonio Stradivari. (SERIOUSLY. I died.)
The Umbrella Academy is about a dysfunctional superpowered family, raised by an emotionally abusive father who honed them like weapons, or tools in a toolbox, rather than children. Hyper-violence and cynicism abounds.
One of the things I liked best was the text rundowns of each Academy member seen from different angles (Sir Reginald’s notes, or Vanya’s notes, or a supervillain’s), although you unfortunately don’t get a really good sense of them within the actual comic itself. This is my main problem with the comic tbh: the pacing is so rushed since it’s only six issues. The TV show, in comparison, gets to stretch its legs and take its time, sink its teeth into character motivations and flesh them out and devote more time to all their complicated tangled relationships. So the TV show is actually better, imo, but I’m glad that this existed as a springboard for it and that it provides a different, more cartoony lens for the story.
The Umbrella Academy is about a dysfunctional superpowered family, raised by an emotionally abusive father who honed them like weapons, or tools in a toolbox, rather than children. Hyper-violence and cynicism abounds.
One of the things I liked best was the text rundowns of each Academy member seen from different angles (Sir Reginald’s notes, or Vanya’s notes, or a supervillain’s), although you unfortunately don’t get a really good sense of them within the actual comic itself. This is my main problem with the comic tbh: the pacing is so rushed since it’s only six issues. The TV show, in comparison, gets to stretch its legs and take its time, sink its teeth into character motivations and flesh them out and devote more time to all their complicated tangled relationships. So the TV show is actually better, imo, but I’m glad that this existed as a springboard for it and that it provides a different, more cartoony lens for the story.