The Umbrella Academy

The Umbrella Academy
Promotional artwork
Publication information
Publisher	Dark Horse Comics
Schedule	Monthly, every third Wednesday
Format	Limited series
Publication date	September 19, 2007
No. of issues	6
Main character(s)	Sir Reginald Hargreeves The Horror The Kraken The Rumor The Séance Spaceboy Vanya Hargreeves
Creative team
Created by	Gerard Way
Written by	Gerard Way
Artist(s)	Gabriel Bá James Jean (cover illustrations)
Letterer(s)	Jason Hvam (Internet preview only) Nate Piekos
Colorist(s)	Dave Stewart

The Umbrella Academy is a comic book limited series written by Gerard Way of the rock band My Chemical Romance. The comic features illustrations by Gabriel Bá, cover art by by James Jean, colours by Dave Stewart and letters by Blambot's Nate Piekos. The six-issue limited series is released by Dark Horse Comics. The first issue was released on September 19, 2007.

Main story

The members of the Umbrella Academy, a formerly disbanded group of superheroes, reunites after the death of their adopted father Sir Reginald Hargreeves. Hargreeves, an alien disguised as a famous entrepreneur collected the members of the Umbrella Academy shortly after their birth and trained them to save the world from an unspecified threat. After his death, the members reunite to save the world.

Influence

Way has stated that the biggest influence on this piece of work is his favorite writer, Grant Morrison of Doom Patrol. He has also said that Pat McEown of ZombieWorld: Champion of the Worm was a big influence on his work. Way has said that Edvin Biuković is his all-time favorite artist and that "his Grendel Tales are like my bible to draw from".

Characters

• The Monocle (Sir Reginald Hargreeves) – An alien disguised as a wealthy entrepreneur and inventor, he adopts the members of The Umbrella Academy at birth
• The Umbrella Academy:
  • 00.01 Spaceboy (Luther Hargreeves) – The leader of The Umbrella Academy; his body is that of a gorilla’s and was transplanted after a failed expedition to Mars. His powers are enhanced physical strength and resilience. After his career with The Umbrella Academy he moved to the Moon and lived at the Annihilation Control outpost.
  • 00.02 The Kraken – The reckless and rebellious member of the group, described by The Monocle as “an insolent brat”. He has the ability to hold his breath indefinitely.
  • 00.03 The Rumor (Allison Hargreeves) – Described as narcissistic. She has the ability to prevaricate, whatever she says becomes the truth. After her career with The Umbrella Academy she married her husband Patrick, who she has since divorced, and had a daughter Claire.
  • 00.04 The Séance (Klaus Hargreeves) – Showcasing a fretful, morbid temperament, his powers are to contact the dead and to levitate.
  • 00.05 – Dissapeared at the age of ten and reappears in his childhood form 20 years into the future.
  • 00.06 The Horror (Ben Hargreeves) – He possesses monsters under his skin from other dimensions. He is deceased, but no information regarding his death is given.
  • 00.07 (Vanya Hargreeves) – The most estranged member of the group, Vanya showcases no particular powers, other than an interest in music.
• Inspector Lupo – A police officer (a character similar to Commissioner Gordon of Batman)
• Abhijat – The Monocle’s bodyguard and assistant
• Dr. Pogo – A talking chimp associated with The Monocle

Series

The six part series, Apocalypse Suite, began with the release of the first issue on September 19, 2007 and one issue is to be released on the third Wednesday of every month for six months. The series editor is Scott Allie, the series assistant editors are Rachel Edidin and Sierra Hahn, and the series designer is Tony Ong.

#1: “The Day the Eiffel Tower Went Berserk”

File:The umbrella academy cover issue 1.jpg

Cover of the first issue of The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite that was released on September 19, 2007

The first issue, “The Day the Eiffel Tower Went Berserk”, was released on September 19, 2007. The issue is 32 pages and includes a letter column page. The inside front cover features notes made by Sir Reginald Hargreeves on his seven adopted children, numbered by usefulness. The last page of the story features a page from The Encyclopedia Umbrellica, which further elaborates on events in the plot. The issue appears in three versions, the standard one pictured to the right drawn by James Jean, and another featuring a variant cover drawn by Gerard Way (also released on September 19, 2007), and a third with a cover drawn by Gabriel Ba, which is to be released when the issue is reprinted on October 17, 2007.

Plot

A brief background is given stating that at the exact same moment that a wrestler named “Tusslin’ Tom” Gurney defeated a spacesquid from Rigel X-9, 43 children born with extraordinary capabilities were born to women (mostly single and who previously showed no signs of pregnancy) all over the world. Most of the ones that survived were abandoned or put up for adoption. Sir Reginald Hargreeves, an alien disguised as wealthy entrepreneur and inventor (as well as an Olympic gold medalist and Noble Prize recipient) embarked on his private airship, The Minerva and adopted seven of the children – the most he could find. After successfully obscuring the children’s identity, Hargreeves holds a press conference and says that he adopted the children “to save the world” with no further elaboration. For ten years, neither Hargreeves nor the children were seen again.

Ten years after the family’s disappearance, at 6:23 in the morning, people started falling to their deaths from the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, apparently after being pushed. Five of the seven Umbrella Academy children, who are now ten years old, (excluding 00.05 who recently disappeared and 00.07, Vanya, who possesses no apparent powers) arrive. Chaos ensues and The Umbrella Academy pursues a resolution. They head to the top of the tower, where it appears that the robotic-zombie of Gustave Eiffel is controlling the tower. After an encounter featuring some French exclamations, Gustave Eiffel is killed and the tower is launched into space.

Having saved Paris (albeit whilst losing the Eiffel Tower) The Umbrella Academy are rewarded with the key to the city, and one scoop of ice cream each.

Twenty years after this incident, 00.01, Spaceboy, is called by Dr. Pogo. After a brief conversation, Spaceboy heads home from his post on the Moon where he had been living, awaiting a threat that would send him into action. A newspaper headlines on the wall of his post proclaim him as the “first boy in space”. Another headline reads, “Mars Mission Failure: Spaceboy critically injured. Hargreeves performs experimental surgery to save life.” Other headlines read, “The Horror – Dead!”, “Sp[boy?] leave[s?] Earth!”, “The Jennifer Incident”, “Umbrella Academy Disbands”.

Back home, in the city, Vanya is called in the dead of night, by someone requesting that she audition for chair of first violin in the first suite of its kind. After being questioned, the voice declares that she would want to do this for revenge and informs her of the time and place that she should audition.

Spaceboy arrives at The Umbrella Academy and goes to talk to Dr. Pogo, in his office. After questioning whether it is true, he is greeted with the bad news of Sir Reginald Hargreeves’s death. 00.05, who had been missing for 10 years, is seen in the office with Dr. Pogo, in his ten-year-old form, warning of worse to come.

After the story an excerpt from The Encyclopedia Umbrellica elaborates on unexplained events in the plot. It explains that Gustave Eiffel planned to build 19 more towers like the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The towers were to double as powerful weapons and intergalactic spacecraft. Eiffel intended them to relocate the Parisian population to the Wolf-Lundmark-Melotte galaxy in the hopes of severing the Parisian population’s ties with Earth and to form a utopian society. It also explains that although it appeared that Eiffel died before the other towers were constructed, he was able to transplant his head to an android’s and inhabited the tower (suggesting that he could be responsible to deaths deemed as suicide after people fell from the tower) until being killed by The Umbrella Academy. The tower did take off, but crashed on the Moon, were 00.01, Spaceboy, took custody of the wreck from his “Annihilation Control” post.

Short stories

A first short preview story of the series was released on November 2, 2006 on the Dark Horse Comics website. The first printed story was “…But the Past Ain’t Through With You.” which appeared in the 2007 Dark Horse Comics Free Comic Book Day issue. Another story, “Safe & Sound”, was published in July of 2007 in Dark Horse Presents online on MySpace.

Internet preview

An Internet preview was released on November 2, 2006 on the Dark Horse website. The story was lettered by Jason Hvam.

Plot

The story is only two pages long and contains two main characters, and The Séance, appearing as an adult, and a boy, #00.05. Both are in a laboratory at the Umbrella Academy at 2:54 in the morning and The Séance is connected to a machine. The boy transports The Séance to a medieval French war via a time machine. The Séance appears on horseback and in armor in the middle of a battle as he gives orders in French to the troops. A soldier comes up to him telling him (in French) that it they must wait for reinforcements. A cannonball explodes and The Séance is back in the laboratory, still in armor.

“…But the Past Ain’t Through With You.”

Cover of the 2007 Dark Horse Comics Free Comic Book Day issue, featuring the first printed story of The Umbrella Academy, “…But the Past Ain’t Through With You.”

The first printed story of the series, “…But the Past Ain’t Through With You.”, appeared in the 2007 Dark Horse Comics Free Comic Book Day issue. The title is a line from the My Chemical Romance song “Kill All Your Friends”, a b-side from the album The Black Parade. Nobody, including Gerard Way has made any reference to the origin of the name. The name could also have come from a quote from the film Magnolia (the exact quote being, “We might be through with the past, but the past ain’t through with us”). The comic book was released on May 5, 2007, Free Comic Book Day. The comic book also features the début of Pantheon City written by Ron Marz and illustrated by Clément Sauvé and Zero Killer written by Arvid Nelson and illustrated by Matt Camp.

Plot

The story begins with Spaceboy, The Rumor, and The Séance finding The Rumor’s body in an ally. A reporter with a camera tries to take a picture of the body but The Rumor destroys the film by telling a lie about the defect in the camera. Spaceboy revives a message that help is needed in Tokyo to defeat a sea serpent. The scene changes to the studio of the Lucifer Clark Show, a late night talk show, with the Murder Magician, accompanied by his assistant, The Assassin. The Murder Magician matter-of-factly admits to killing The Rumor in front of Lucifer Clark and a live studio audience, both of which seem to not take him seriously. The Murder Magician goes on to reveal his Murderbot, which he claims he will to murder people. The audience once again seem to not take him seriously and responds with laughter. The scene changes to Inspector Lupo (a character similar to Commissioner Gordon of Batman) complaining about the situation in the studio with two police officers, while they await the appearance of the Umbrella Academy. All five members appear, just having teleported from Tokyo. Inspector Lupo explains the situation: the Murder Magician has hypnotized Lucifer Clark and the audience, activated the Murderbot, and demanded ten million dollars and a date with a soap opera actress named Gina Barbeux. Spaceboy instructs Inspector Lupo to keep his men posted outside the studio. The scene changes to the inside of the studio, which is know being destroyed by the Murderbot. The Murder Magician and The Assassin are dancing on stage and Lucifer Clark is in a Dagger Head Box. As the Murder Magician is about to saw Lucifer Clark in half, the Murderbot crashes to the ground. The Umbrella Academy appears and Spaceboy orders the Murder Magician to surrender. The Murderbot’s hand lands on Spaceboy, pressing him into the stage. The Kraken attacks the Murder Magician as The Assassin flees. Spaceboy emerges from the crater lifting the Murderbot’s hand. He orders The Horror to grab the other arm and The Séance to loosen the bolts of the robot. The Horror and Spaceboy each pull a hand, severing the robot’s arms, effectively destroying it. The Rumor seeing The Assassin on the lighting rig. The Rumor lies and tells her that the rig has assembled in a “rush job”. The rig collapses, seemingly killing The Assassin. The Monocle (Sir Reginald Hargreeves) appears in the studio to everyone’s surprise and asks how The Rumor’s body could have been found if she is still alive. Spaceboy explains that The Rumor lied about going to the library after she was found out of the house after midnight. She was actually sneaking out to see her boyfriend. Spaceboy holds up a library card with a picture of The Rumor and the name “Allison Hargreeves AKA The Rumor” and explains that her lie had manifested into another Rumor, which was killed by the Murder Magician. The Monocle commends Spaceboy on his work and states his amazement that he led the Murder Magician to a copy instead of the actual Rumor. The Kraken, enraged, asks The Monocle why he would have told the Murder Magician were to find The Rumor. The Monocle responds by saying, “to teach her a lesson”. The story concludes with The Monocle exiting the studio as he says, “class dismissed”. An editorial note at the end of the story informs the reader that the next installment of the Umbrella Academy some characters “may or may not be living and/or dead”.

“Safe & Sound”

“Safe & Sound” is an eight-page story published in the first issue of the second volume of Dark Horse Presents in July of 2007. The second volume of Dark Horse Presents (an anthology comic book, which was the first comic ever published by Dark Horse) appears monthly exclusively online on the social networking website MySpace for free. The comic book also features stories for the series Sugarshock! written by Joss Whedon and illustrated by Fábio Moon (Gabriel Bá’s twin brother) and Samurai: Heaven and Earth written by Ron Marz and illustrated by Luke Ross.

Plot

The story begins with The Kraken on top of a moving car occupied by criminals. The credits on the page say “Safe & Sound / featuring The Kraken / Formally of the Umbrella Academy”. The cars occupants, a driver, a man in the passenger seat with a Tommy Gun, a Gypsy fortuneteller in the back seat, and a little girl in the back seat are all aware that The Kraken in on top of the vehicle. After The Kraken stabs the top of the car, the fortuneteller, who is holding a green crystal ball, orders the man in the front to shoot The Kraken, who manages to escape injury. When the girl in the back says that she wants to go home, the fortuneteller tells here she can as soon as here father pays the ransom. The Kraken punches the man with the through the window, prompting the fortuneteller to order the driver to slam the brakes. The Kraken and the man with the gun are ejected from the car, the latter going through the windshield. The Kraken flies through a window of an unoccupied clothing store. The other occupants in the car exit the vehicle and the fortuneteller produces a cartomancy card that portrays death. The driver than indiscriminately shoots at the clothing store with the Tommy Gun. The Kraken emerges on top of the car (behind the fortuneteller) and demands the release of the girl. She pulls out another cartomancy card with devil. The driver shoots at The Kraken, who jumps towards him and punches him. The knocked-out man falls to the ground. The fortuneteller, still defiant, tells The Kraken not to produce his blade, or else she will drop the green crystal ball, which she claims holds the life of the girl she is holding hostage. She claims that if it drops the girl will die. The Kraken throws his knife at the fortuneteller’s shoulder and she drops the crystal ball, which shatters on the ground. The fortuneteller is in shock to see that the girl is still alive and is surprised by a punch delivered by The Kraken. The next scene shows the fortuneteller being arrested who is hysterically saying that the girl should have died. Inspector Lupo (a character similar to Commissioner Gordon of Batman) thanks The Kraken for saving the mayor’s daughter. The Kraken reaches into the back seat of the fortuneteller’s car and produces a crystal ball, identical the one that was destroyed. He hands in to the Inspector and tells him that it is, “Something important. Take care of it.”

External links

• The official The Umbrella Academy MySpace page
• Pages 1-3 of the first issue
• Pages 1-5 of the second issue
• The Umbrella Academy.net Template:Es icon

Interviews

• Gerard Way: Flexing His Writing Muscles with Umbrella Academy, Silver Bullet Comic Books, August 27, 2007
• Gabriel Bá: Shaping Umbrella Academy's Landscape, Silver Bullet Comic Books, September 11, 2007

Reviews

• Sunday Slugfest - The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite #1 (of 6) Review, Silver Bullet Comic Books

Short stories

• Internet preview
• “Safe & Sound”