Johnny Come Lately: The Umbrella Academy

The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite
Written by Gerard Way
Art by Gabriel Ba

Valhallahan
I admit it, I jumped on a band wagon, there were two to jump on and I picked one. I'm now going to daringly leap from one wagon to the other.

Like fucking Zorro.

When I heard Gerard Way of My Chemical Emo fame was writing a comic I was sceptical. More accurately, I was like "what the fudge? Well that's clearly going to be shit". Granted I hadn't seen the book, read the book, or even really listened to the band, but I was outraged (ish). And that was right. Right? Wrong! I had jumped a band wagon. Don't jump band wagons kids, you'll miss out on some cool shit.

And this is some very cool shit.

My rampant prejudice was heightened when all the rave reviews came in, but weakened the more I actually read about the series, and then as I saw more and more of the delightful Gabriel Ba art, I was secretly regretting my vocal derision of the Emo Pretender and his silly book. It was too late now though, I'd made a rash judgement, and what are rash judgements there for if not to be religiously adhered to? Having painted myself into a closed minded little corner, I continued with my life. I finally "got" Casanova and really dug the art; I started reading Daytripper, which is fucking beautiful. Oh man, why'd that popstar's book have to have such great art? Anyway, my birthday rolled around and as luck would have it a friend of great genius (who had no knowledge of the Chemical connection) bought me both Umbrella Academy trades. Oh I could have kissed him! (I may have kissed him, my memory gets a little hazy after about 8pm) Win/win! All the comics and none of the humble pie!
I’ve practically run out of space to actually talk about the book now, as this post has already become a bit of a saga, but to cut a long story short I’m a total convert to the Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba are effing geniuses band wagon. I was well and truly wrong. I'm totally hooked on the mad world they've created here; Maniac monuments, time travelling sociopaths trapped in school kids' bodies, robot-zombie architects, mysterious emotionally crippled benefactors, men with Martian-ape bodies, super-dysfunctional super-families, talking monkeys and an orchestra hell-bent on global annihilation.

You had me at "The Day the Eiffel Tower Went Beserk!"

Now Bring on Umbrella Academy: Dallas.

I'm still not listening to MCR.