Reading Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite

People from all sorts of other media come over to comics to do stuff. The biggest example is probably Brad Meltzer, a crime novelist who worked on Identity Crisis, and later, the reboot of Justice League of America and even several issues on Green Arrow. They weren't too bad. I think Damon Lindelof (of ABC'S Lost) was working on an Ultimate Hulk v. Wolverine miniseries, and left it on hiatus for about. . . two years or something.

Anyways, the bottom line is, you never know what you're gonna get with non-comic writers trying their chops at writing comics. That is, unless it's. . .

Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite

by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba

Apparently, Gerard Way is some kind of musician for some band. I've never heard of it and don't plan to.

WHAT IT'S ABOUT: A dysfunctional family of adopted children, all born on the same day to single women with no signs of pregnancy, must band together after their foster father dies. . . in order to save the world! Way fleshes out their relationships with each other while hurling obstacle after obstacle at them.

WHAT I LIKED: The pacing for the story is great! I found it really difficult to let this book go. Plus, the art is simple yet expressive, a lot like Mike Mignola. I love that kind of stuff.

The "Apocalypse Suite" is an orchestra that, when it plays, brings DOOM upon the world. How awesome is that??? I love the concepts that Way uses in this story, and the relationships between the seven children, once they're adults, plays a HUGE role in the story. It kinda reminds me of the Pixar film, The Incredibles. The action is really enjoyable, but the people are important too.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: Hmmmm. . . nothing, actually. Wow, that's pretty surprising, because I am a pretty picky guy.

EXTRAS?: Foreword by Grant Morrison (THE Grant Morrison), afterword from the editor, Gabriel Ba's concept art for some characters, and then some Umbrella Academy short stories featured in the Dark Horse Free Comic Book Day 2007.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Well, it got an Eisner for Best Limited Series '07, and it features covers from James freakin' Jean. People all around the blogosphere have praised it, and count me as another one of them. Believe the hype!