You had me at Gerard Way.

As a ex hardcore scene kid of the mid 2000s, Gerard Way can do no wrong in my eyes. He winked at me at a concert once and I think that was my “fun fact” about myself for the next 10 years. Knowing that his graphic novel and subsequent Netflix series based upon it were back in the news, I figured it was time for a reread.

Goddamn I love this series.

Umbrella Academy follows a simple premise. One day, 43 women who were previously not pregnant all gave birth to children at the same time. Reginald Hargreeves searched and adopted 7 of them. These children were given numbers and superhero aliases rather than names and were trained by Hargreeves to become The Umbrella Academy, a superhero crime fighting family. But, as with many families, disputes broke them apart and they went their separate ways, only to be reunited by
1. The death of their father
and
2. The Apocalypse. 

The family is made up of 6 children who powers and one child, Vanya, who is told she isn’t special and isn’t to be included in the family business. She is the red-headed stepchild of this series. She also becomes the biggest threat the world has ever known and it is up to the rest of the family to take her down as well as the time traveling team of Hazel and Cha-Cha who are tracking down Number 5.

This series is a fucking trip.

It’s weird and wacky and really fun and totally confusing sometimes. I have read it about 4 times and there’s still things I realized I’ve missed. The time travel aspects get very Doctor Who timey-wimey confusing, but that doesn’t at all take away from how much I love it. Volume 2 is even MORE over the top. It involves the Kennedy Assassination. Yep.

Listen I may be totally blinded by my personal biases but the art, the dark humor, the stylization, all the things about this series are up my alley. I really enjoyed it, and I hope you do too.

Title:  The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite (Volume One) & Dallas (Volume 2)
Author: Gerard Way
Format:  Paperback
Pages: 184 // 192
ISBN: 9781593079789 // 9781595823458

Three Descriptors: Darkly humorous, action packed, stylistically complex