Comic Review-Umbrella Academy vol.1

Umbrella Academy vol.1
Apocalypse Suite
Written by Gerard Way; Art by Gabriel Ba
Published by Dark Horse, 2008

5 stars

If you don’t know who Gerard Way is, then his super team comic the Umbrella Academy is a good way to be introduced to him. As the lead singer of My Chemical Romance, Way is both loved and hated as an Emo king. As a comic writer he may have found a niche that will gain him only praise.

The Umbrella Academy is made up of the seven Hargreeves children, all adopted from a group of forty-three immaculately conceived babies by an eccentric inventor/adventurer for the purpose of saving the world.

Now I’m not a fan of My Chemical Romance, I find most of their songs whiney and annoying (granted, I‘m not their target audience), but I was curious of Way’s writing skill when the book was first hinted at in early 2008. Way has created characters that are unique in the realm of super heroes, and the little bit of back story that was introduced in Apocalypse Suite has brought more people to the book with the current sequel, Dallas.

B’s art is dynamic and clean with bright colours by Dave Stewart and perfect page layout for the action-packed tale. Apocalypse Suite is available as a collected paperback which includes extra short stories and character design sketches by Way and Ba.

Reviewed By Amy Chop