The Umbrella Academy
Encyclopedia
The Umbrella Academy is a comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...

 written by Gerard Way
Gerard Way
Gerard Arthur Way is an American musician and comic book writer who has served as lead vocalist and co-founder of the band My Chemical Romance since its formation in 2001...

 with art by Gabriel Bá
Gabriel Bá
Gabriel Bá is a Brazilian comic book artist best known for his work on The Umbrella Academy and Casanova...

, cover art by James Jean
James Jean
James Jean is a Taiwanese-American visual artist, known for both his commercial work and fine art gallery work. He is known in the American comics industry as a cover artist for various books published by DC Comics, as well as for his work for Prada, ESPN and Atlantic Records...

, colors by Dave Stewart
Dave Stewart (artist)
Dave Stewart is an artist who has worked as a colorist in the comics industry. He is known for his work at Dark Horse Comics, DC Comics and Marvel Comics, as well as colouring Tim Sale's art in Heroes.-Dark Horse Comics:...

 and letters by Blambot's Nate Piekos. The six-issue limited series was released by Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...

, the first issue making its premiere on September 19, 2007
2007 in comics
-January:*January 10: Superman & Batman vs. Aliens & Predator released.*January 24: The Boys is canceled with issue #6.-February:*February 2: Newsarama reports that The Boys has been picked up by Dynamite Entertainment....

. It won the 2008 Eisner Award
Eisner Award
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, and sometimes referred to as the Oscar Awards of the Comics Industry, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books. The Eisner Awards were first conferred in 1988, created in response to the...

 for Best Finite Series/Limited Series. A second series The Umbrella Academy: Dallas followed in 2008.

Main story

The members of the Umbrella Academy, a disbanded group of superheroes, reunite after the death of their adoptive 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 carry on his plan to save the world.

Influences

Way has stated that the biggest influence on this piece of work is his favorite writer, Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison is a Scottish comic book writer, playwright and occultist. He is known for his nonlinear narratives and counter-cultural leanings, as well as his successful runs on titles like Animal Man, Doom Patrol, JLA, The Invisibles, New X-Men, Fantastic Four, All-Star Superman, and...

 and Doom Patrol
Doom Patrol
The Doom Patrol is a superhero team appearing in publications from DC Comics. The original Doom Patrol first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80...

. He has also stated that Pat McEown of ZombieWorld: Champion of the Worm was a big influence on his work. Way has said that Edvin Biuković
Edvin Biukovic
Edvin Biuković was a Croatian comics artist. He made his debut in 1987 with the strip Dokaz. He spent several more years working on comic projects in Croatia....

 is his all-time favorite artist and that "his Grendel Tales
Grendel (comics)
Grendel is a long-running series of comic books originally created by American author Matt Wagner. First published by Comico, Wagner has now moved his character to Dark Horse. Originally a noir comic in the style of European titles such as Diabolik, it has evolved into, in Wagner's words, a study...

are like my bible to draw from".

The Monocle (Sir Reginald Hargreeves)

An alien disguised as a wealthy entrepreneur and world renowned scientist, he adopts the members of The Umbrella Academy at birth. Inventor of the televator, the levitator, the mobile umbrella communicator, and Clever Crisp cereal. Olympic gold medalist for fencing, and recipient of the Nobel Prize for his work in the cerebral advancement of the chimpanzee. He was very cold in his raising of the children in that he refused to let the children call him father, instead preferring to be called The Monocle. Also when speaking to the children he addressed them by their number, which he gave them in order of usefulness to him.

00.01 Spaceboy (Luther Hargreeves)

The leader of The Umbrella Academy. As a child he possessed the ability of super-strength, however, after a disastrous expedition to Mars, the Monocle had to transplant his head onto the body of a martian gorilla. His powers are enhanced physical strength and resilience. His martian gorilla body can withstand the vacuum and cold of space so long as he has a helmet on. He often uses a jet-pack and his weapon of choice is a ray-gun. After his career with The Umbrella Academy he moved to the Moon and lived at the Annihilation Control outpost. On the moon, Luther is attended to by a robotic butler of sorts named Ben. As revealed on the Dallas storyline, Spaceboy and The Boy (Number Five) are twin brothers.

00.02 The Kraken (Diego Hargreeves)

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 and has demonstrated a strong affinity for knife-throwing. He and Luther have a very clear rivalry and Diego seems unwilling to take orders from Luther. He is much more of a Batman-like superhero in that he goes on regular patrols and can be seen taking down drug dealers. In his teenage years he was the bass player in a band called the Prime8s, with Body (Inspector Lupo's assistant), and Vanya Hargreeves. It appears that Diego harbors a secret love for his adopted sister, Vanya. It is yet to be seen how The Kraken lost his right eye, but he has no sight in his right eye and wears an eye-patch when not wearing his mask, which has a blacked out right eye.

00.03 The Rumor (Allison Hargreeves)

Described as narcissistic. She has the ability to instantly alter reality by lying. After her career with The Umbrella Academy, she married her boyfriend Patrick and had a daughter named Claire. The couple has since divorced. She is romantically linked to her adopted brother, Spaceboy, however their love for each other is not consummated as Spaceboy sees himself as somewhat of a monstrosity due to his martian-gorilla body. She has a cybernetic right hand, as Dr. Terminal devoured her original hand when she was a child, though in "Dallas" when she goes in and gets vocal surgery, her arm is no longer drawn as if it were mechanical, showing that her arm had also been fixed.

00.04 Séance (Klaus Hargreeves)

Showcases a fretful, morbid temperament, his powers are levitation, telekinesis, and the ability to contact the dead, although his powers only work when he is not wearing shoes. He has the words "Hello" and "Goodbye" tattooed on his palms, and it has been theorized by Mr. Pogo that he's been taking drugs since he was a teenager. In "Dallas", Klaus is seen holding a Vietnamese baby, which he later reveals to be his, to the surprise of Luther. Handing it to an elderly woman before leaving in the televator, he thanks her for taking care of the baby, to which she responds: "Where you are going is no place for kids, the baby is safer here." Before leaving in the televator, Klaus apologizes to the woman, saying: "Really sorry about what happened to its mother." The conversation was in Vietnamese, implying that he learned it during the three years he ran a strip club named "Spookies". Klaus had been killed by Cha-Cha and Hazel in "Dallas", but was rejected from both Heaven and Hell, and later noted that it did not matter when a member of the Hargreeves family was shot in the head.

00.05 The Boy

Disappeared at the age of ten and reappears in his childhood form 20 years into the future. 00.05 appears to be capable of traveling forward through time under his own power, although he was forced to spend decades in the future trying to prove the possibility of backwards time-travel before he was able to achieve it. He was shown to have aged normally in the distant future, but regressed back to his youth in transit. 00.05 claims to have read accounts of the Academy's immediate future and their connection to an apocalypse. He worked with the Temps Aeternalis while trying to go back in time to warn his adoptive brothers and sisters about the apocalypse. He was taught to perform "microjumps" in time, allowing him to move faster than the what the eye perceived. As revealed on the Dallas storyline, Spaceboy (Number One) and The Boy are twin brothers. In the same storyline, he acquired a puppy whom he named Mr. Pennycrumb.

00.06 The Horror (Ben Hargreeves)

Possesses monsters under his skin from other dimensions. Is deceased, but no information regarding his death is given. There is a memorial statue of him located in the front of the Academy. Even though he's been dead since before the start of the series, he's been portrayed as a member of The Umbrella Academy, appearing as his statue counterpart, or in visions.

00.07 The White Violin (Vanya Hargreeves)

The most estranged member of the group, Vanya originally showcases no particular powers, other than an interest in music. Vanya is known to have written a book detailing her life with the Academy and her decision to leave. According to The Conductor, leader of the Orchestra Verdammten, she's the most powerful of the Umbrella Academy. In her early childhood, The Monocle suppressed her powers and kept her on medication to keep them that way, but they were eventually released by The Conductor which ended up driving her mad. She is capable of releasing destructive waves of force using her violin which can be strong enough to cut someones throat or destroy an entire building with one note.

Others

  • Inspector Lupo – A police officer, detective and friend of The Umbrella Academy.
  • Abhijat – The Monocle’s bodyguard and assistant. He also serves as the pilot of the Minerva.
  • Dr. Pogo – A talking chimp associated with The Monocle. Spaceboy's best friend growing up at the Academy. He is killed by Vanya when she is turned into the White Violin.
  • Mrs. Hargreeves (Grace Hargreeves) - Referred to as "Mom" by the members of the Academy. While the Monocle is shown in a portrait in the first issue, with a woman beside him, this is apparently not the children's "Mom," who shows up in the second issue and appears to be an only partially animate plastic mannequin. Little information is given as to her origins.
  • Hazel and Cha-Cha - A pair of extremely violent assassins working for the Temps Aeternalis. They both wear brightly colored cartoon character masks, exhibit maniacal and psychopathic behavior, and have a love of sweets. They die in the Dallas storyline when The Séance possesses Cha-Cha, first killing Hazel and then himself.

Hotel Oblivion

Gerard Way announced at the 2009 San Diego Comic Con that the third series would be entitled The Umbrella Academy: Hotel Oblivion. It is hinted that this could be the return of Dr. Terminal, a reference to Spaceboy saying "no one could escape from the Hotel" in Apocalypse Suite
The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite
The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite is the first comic book limited series of The Umbrella Academy. The series ran for six issues from September 2007 to February 2008. James Jean provided cover art for this series only...

 issue #3. Dark Horse originally announced that Hotel Oblivion would be released sometime during 2010 but it was not, and no other date for the release of Hotel Oblivion has yet been solicited.

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
Free Comic Book Day
Free Comic Book Day is an annual promotional effort by the North American comic book industry to help bring new readers into independent comic book stores. Retailer Joe Field of in Concord, CA brainstormed the event in his "Big Picture" column in the August 2001 issue of Comics & Games Retailer...

 issue. Another story, “Safe & Sound”, was published in July 2007 in Dark Horse Presents
Dark Horse Presents
Dark Horse Presents was the first comic book published by Dark Horse Comics in 1986 and was their flagship title until its September 2000 cancellation. The second incarnation was published on MySpace, running from July 2007 until August 2010...

online on MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....

.

“Mon Dieu!” (Internet Preview)

An Internet preview was released on November 2, 2006 on the Dark Horse website. The story was colored by Dan Jackson and lettered by Jason Hvam. It is included in the Apocalypse Suite collection. The story is only two pages long and contains two main characters, The Séance, appearing as an adult, and Number Five. A time-travel machine causes the The Séance to briefly experience life as a French military commander.

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

The first printed story of the series, the title is a line from the B-side track "Kill All Your Friends" by Way's band, My Chemical Romance
My Chemical Romance
My Chemical Romance is an American alternative rock band from New Jersey, formed in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, guitarists Ray Toro and Frank Iero, and bassist Mikey Way and have a diverse sound incorporating elements of punk, emo, glam metal, and progressive rock...

 ("And you can sleep in a coffin, but the past ain't through with you"). "…But the Past Ain’t Through with You.", appeared in the 2007 Dark Horse Comics Free Comic Book Day issue. The comic book was released on May 5, 2007, Free Comic Book Day
Free Comic Book Day
Free Comic Book Day is an annual promotional effort by the North American comic book industry to help bring new readers into independent comic book stores. Retailer Joe Field of in Concord, CA brainstormed the event in his "Big Picture" column in the August 2001 issue of Comics & Games Retailer...

. It is included in the Apocalypse Suite collection. The comic book also features the début of Pantheon City written by Ron Marz
Ron Marz
Ron Marz is an American comic book writer, known for his work on titles such as Silver Surfer, Green Lantern, Marvel vs DC, Batman/Aliens and Witchblade.-Career:...

 and illustrated by Clément Sauvé and Zero Killer written by Arvid Nelson
Arvid Nelson
Arvid Nelson is an American comic book writer, best known for Rex Mundi.-Biography:Nelson started writing comics while at Dartmouth College, where he also converted to the Baha'i Faith...

 and illustrated by Matt Camp.

Plot


The story begins with Spaceboy, The Rumour, and The Séance finding The Rumour’s body in an alley. The killer seems to be the 'Murder Magician' and his Assistant, who has hypnotized everyone at a talk show. The villains are defeated and the secret is uncovered. The Rumour had been sneaking out to meet up with a juggler and lying about going to the library. Her powers created a double that went to the library; this one was taken and slain. It's revealed the Monocle worked with the Magician to kill the copy to teach Rumour 'a lesson'.

“Safe & Sound”

“Safe & Sound” is an eight-page story published in the first issue of the second volume of Dark Horse Presents
Dark Horse Presents
Dark Horse Presents was the first comic book published by Dark Horse Comics in 1986 and was their flagship title until its September 2000 cancellation. The second incarnation was published on MySpace, running from July 2007 until August 2010...

in July 2007. The second volume of Dark Horse Presents
Dark Horse Presents
Dark Horse Presents was the first comic book published by Dark Horse Comics in 1986 and was their flagship title until its September 2000 cancellation. The second incarnation was published on MySpace, running from July 2007 until August 2010...

(an anthology comic book, which was the first comic ever published by Dark Horse) appears monthly exclusively online on the social networking website MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....

 for free. The title comes from a song Gerard Way worked on with Japanese rock singer Kyosuke Himuro for the movie Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete. The comic book also features stories for the series Sugarshock! written by Joss Whedon
Joss Whedon
Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon is an American screenwriter, executive producer, director, comic book writer, occasional composer and actor, founder of Mutant Enemy Productions and co-creator of Bellwether Pictures...

 and illustrated by Fábio Moon (Gabriel Bá’s twin brother) and Samurai: Heaven and Earth
Samurai: Heaven and Earth
Samurai: Heaven and Earth is a comic book about a samurai and his journey to rescue the woman he loves, published by Dark Horse Comics. The title refers to an oath he swore to return to her ....

written by Ron Marz
Ron Marz
Ron Marz is an American comic book writer, known for his work on titles such as Silver Surfer, Green Lantern, Marvel vs DC, Batman/Aliens and Witchblade.-Career:...

 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 / Formerly of the Umbrella Academy”. The cars occupants, a driver, a man in the passenger seat with a Tommy Gun
Thompson submachine gun
The Thompson is an American submachine gun, invented by John T. Thompson in 1919, that became infamous during the Prohibition era. It was a common sight in the media of the time, being used by both law enforcement officers and criminals...

, 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
Crystal ball
A crystal ball is a crystal or glass ball believed by some people to aid in the performance of clairvoyance. It is sometimes known as a shew stone...

, 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 her she can as soon as her father pays the ransom. The Kraken punches the man with the gun 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 driver then 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 to the one that was destroyed. He hands it in to the Inspector and tells him that it is, “Something important. Take care of it.”

“Anywhere But Here”

Darkhorse released the eight-page short story on their MySpace, and it is also included in the Dallas collections.
Plot

(The story takes place 13 years ago, during the group's teenage years) The Monocle is giving a long and boring speech to Diego and Vanya (The Kraken and The White Violin) who are in a punk rock band called Prime 8's, in which Vanya plays the guitar, Diego plays the bass guitar and an ape called "Body" plays the drums. The Monocle dislikes the band's music and the name of their debut album "I won't shoot the president sir" saying that this give the Academy bad publicity. He gives Vanya a plane ticket to Paris, where she is supposed to study "real" music (Classical), however he is simply trying to separate Vanya from Diego.
In his room, Diego convinces Vanya to play one last gig that night, and then with the money they would earn, they could run away from the Umbrella Academy to tour with the band. Diego says "You don't belong here (The Academy) so neither do I, I'm not cut for this Hero business". They agree to meet at the gig that night.
In the city a bar is filled with people screaming to hear the Prime 8's but Diego hasn't shown up yet and the owner of the bar demands to see the band playing at that moment or he'll send another band on, so Body decides to finish the band and say goodbye to Vanya. Body says he is sorry and that Vanya is "one of the best (Guitarists)", but as Diego didn't show he says its time to call it quits.
Vanya, upset at being let down by Diego, is walking down the street and suddenly hears a television from a Shop where TV-News are shown about a Gang arrested by The Umbrella Academy and they did it with the help of The Kraken. "This is where you belong" says Vanya. Vanya waves down and gets into a Taxi, the Driver asks "Are you going somewhere important?" Vanya answers, "Yeah, anywhere but here."

Collected editions

The series has been collected as a trade paperback
Trade paperback (comics)
In comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...

:

The Umbrella Academy: The Apocalypse Suite (by Gerard Way & Gabriel Bá, includes all six issues from The Apocalypse Suite, extracts from sketchbooks featuring early versions of characters, the short internet preview ("Mon Dieu!") and the story ("…But the Past Ain’t Through With You.") from Free Comic Book Day 2007, limited edition hardcover, ISBN 1595821635, softcover, ISBN 1593079788)

This edition was included on Wizard's "100 Best trade paperbacks and graphic novels published during the Wizard era", ranking it at number 94.

The Umbrella Academy: Dallas trade paperback of Volume 2 of the series (192 pages), was published on September 30, 2009, and includes the story "Anywhere but Here" and nine pages of sketches. (ISBN 159582345X)
A hardback limited-edition version with 232 pages was published on October 21, 2009 (ISBN 1595823441).

External links


Interviews


Reviews


Short stories

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