The Umbrella Academy

Volume 1: Apocalypse Suite

The Umbrella Academy was a team of superpowered children who fought evil for much of their childhoods under the tutelage of their guardian and mentor, Dr. Reginald Hargreeves. But the team broke up, and nine years later, the estranged members are reunited by the death of the only parent they've ever known, and the rise of a new and terrible threat.

Volume 2: Dallas

The Umbrella Academy is faced with a number of catastrophic events and the death of a close ally. When a new threat emerges concerning a cabal of assassins, it is up to the Academy to combat the threat, but each member is distracted with their own problems.

Volume 3: Hotel Oblivion

Gerard Way announced at the 2009 San Diego Comic Con that the third series would be entitled The Umbrella Academy: Hotel Oblivion.^[10] It is hinted that this could be the return of Dr. Terminal, as referenced by Spaceboy saying "no one could escape from the Hotel" in Apocalypse Suite issue #3. Dark Horse originally announced that Hotel Oblivion would be released sometime during 2010^[11] but this did not transpire.

Whatculture.com included Hotel Oblivion in its list of comics to look forward to in 2012, though the comic was not released in that year either. In an interview with Newsarama that same year at New York Comic Con, Way revealed that he was writing issue 1.^[12]

In June 2013 Gerard Way composed a tweet^[13] about the certainty of The Umbrella Academy's future, stating that it would be a "really long time" before a release of Hotel Oblivion, as he planned to move away from comics "indefinitely" once the Killjoys series is complete in order to focus his attention on his musical career. He stated in the conversation following his tweet that he would return to comics "when it's right". However, in December 2013 Way composed several tweets^[8][14][15] saying that he and Gabriel Bá would be working on both Hotel Oblivion and the fourth installment of The Umbrella Academy during 2014. In June 2015 he tweeted that he was still actively writing the new series.^[8][16]

On July 21, 2017, Dark Horse announced that Hotel Oblivion will be released in 2018. Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá would be returning.

“Mon Dieu!”

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.^[3] 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 Séance to briefly experience life as a French military commander.

“…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, the title is a line from the B-side track "Kill All Your Friends" by Way's band, My Chemical Romance ("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. It is included in the Apocalypse Suite collection. 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.^[4]

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'. At the bottom of the final page, it states "... Some of the characters you have enjoyed today may or may not be living and/or dead by the next episode", hinting that The Horror dies soon after.

“Safe & Sound”

“Safe & Sound” is an eight-page story published in the first issue of the second volume of Dark Horse Presents in July 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 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 and illustrated by Fábio Moon (Gabriel Bá’s twin brother) and Samurai: Heaven and Earth written by Ron Marz and illustrated by Luke Ross.^[17]

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, 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 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”

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

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 Don't Wanna Kill The President" saying that this gives 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 at a bar, and then with the money they would earn, they could run away from the Umbrella Academy to tour with the band. They agree to meet at the gig that night. At the bar, people are screaming to hear the Prime 8's, but Diego hasn't shown up yet. 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. Vanya, upset at being let down by Diego, is walking down the street and passes by a shop selling TVs. News is shown about a gang arrested by The Umbrella Academy, which they did with the help of Diego. Vanya walks away and gets into a taxi. The driver asks, "Going somewhere important?" Vanya answers, "Yeah, anywhere but here."

Film

A film version of The Umbrella Academy has been optioned by Universal Studios. Originally, screenwriter Mark Bomback was hired to write the screenplay, however in 2010 it was announced that Rawson Marshall Thurber had replaced him and was reworking the script.^[18]

There has been little talk of the film since, and no release date has been set. Recently, in an interview with Newsarama at the 2012 New York Comic Con, Way mentioned that there have been "good talks" and a "really good script", but that it was "kind of up to the universe".^[12]

Television

On July 7, 2015, it was announced that The Umbrella Academy would instead be developed into a television series, rather than the original film, produced by Universal Cable Productions.^[9] On July 11, 2017, it was officially announced that Netflix had greenlit a live-action series adaptation of The Umbrella Academy due to premiere on February 15th 2019, with Steve Blackman serving as showrunner, and Way as an executive producer.^[19][20]

Interviews

• Gerard Way: Flexing His Writing Muscles with Umbrella Academy, Comics Bulletin, August 27, 2007
• Gabriel Bá: Shaping Umbrella Academy's Landscape, Comics Bulletin – Gemma Milroy, September 11, 2007
• Gerard Way: Broadening Comics' Audience with Umbrella Academy, Comics Bulletin – Gemma Milroy, November 26, 2007
• The Umbrella Academy: Superhero kids in a class of their own, Sequential Tart, October 1, 2007
• UMBRELLA ACADEMICS: Way & Allie Talk Umbrella Academy #3, Comic Book Resources, November 19, 2007
• Comic Geek Speak: Episode 327 – Gerard Way Interview, Comic Geek Speak, November 16, 2007
• APOCALYPSE SUITE: Way talks Umbrella Academy, Comic Book Resources, April 22, 2008
• An interview about The Umbrella Academy: Dallas, Newarama, September 22, 2008
• Comics Done Gerard's Way: Umbrella Academy Unfurls..., Geek Monthly Magazine by PJ Hruschak, November 2008, pp. 72–74.

Reviews

• Sunday Slugfest – The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite #1 (of 6) Review and #3, Comics Bulletin
• The Umbrella Academy Dallas Spanish Review @ kopodo

Short stories

• “Mon Dieu!” (Internet preview)
• “Safe & Sound”
• "Anywhere But Here"