| Schedule: | Every third Wednesday (series 1–2) |
| Limited: | y |
| Publisher: | Dark Horse Comics |
| Date: | 2007–2009 2018–2019 |
| Issues: | 32 (25 plus 6 short stories and a one-shot issue) |
| Superhero: | y |
| Main Char Team: | Spaceboy The Kraken The Rumor The Séance Number Five Vanya Hargreeves |
| Writers: | Gerard Way[1] |
| Artists: | Gabriel Bá James Jean (cover illustrations for series 1 only)[2] |
| Letterers: | Jason Hvam (Internet preview only) Nate Piekos |
| Colorists: | Dave Stewart (cover illustrations for series 1 & 2 only) Nick Filardi (series 3) |
| Creators: | Gerard Way[3] |
| Tpb: | The Apocalypse Suite |
| Isbn: | 978-1-59307-978-9 |
| Isbn Note: | [4] |
| Tpb1: | Dallas |
| Isbn1: | 978-1-59582-345-8 |
| Isbn1 Note: | [5] |
| Subcat: | Dark Horse Comics |
| Sort: | Umbrella Academy, The |
The Umbrella Academy is an American comic book series created and written by Gerard Way and illustrated by Gabriel Bá. It follows a dysfunctional family of adopted superhero siblings with bizarre powers attempting both to save the world and find their place within it. Published by Dark Horse Comics, the comic is released as limited series, typically lasting six issues. Since 2007, three volumes have been published, as have two spin-offs. The fourth volume of the main series is currently in development.
The comic has garnered a close following and has been praised by critics, with the first limited series, Apocalypse Suite,[6] winning of the 2007 Eisner Award for Best Finite Series/Limited Series. A popular television adaptation ran on Netflix for four seasons from 2019 to 2024.[7] In 2019, Dark Horse Comics signed a collaboration with Studio71 to make a card game based on The Umbrella Academy.[8]
The titular team of The Umbrella Academy is described as a "dysfunctional family of superheroes".[9] In the mid-20th century, at the instant of the finishing blow in a cosmic wrestling match, forty-three superpowered infants are inexplicably born to random, unconnected women across the world who showed no signs of pregnancy at the start of the day. Sir Reginald Hargreeves, an extraterrestrial disguised as a famous entrepreneur, adopts seven of the children and prepares them to save the world from an unspecified threat as the Umbrella Academy.
Eventually, the team disbands and the siblings fall out of contact with each other until they meet on the news of Hargreeves' death, and subsequently reunite when one of their own becomes a supervillain.
The Academy's founder, Sir Reginald Hargreeves, was an alien disguised as a wealthy human entrepreneur and world-renowned scientist, and callously training and experimented on the children to make them proper superheroes. As such, he was the result of much of the team's psychological scarring and trauma. He is dead when the Umbrella Academy reunites.
The primary Academy members are Luther Hargreeves/Spaceboy, who possesses super-strength, Diego Hargreeves/The Kraken, who can manipulate the direction of projectiles, Allison Hargreeves/The Rumor, who can manipulate reality by lying, Klaus Hargreeves/The Séance, a psychic who can connect with the dead, and Number Five, a skilled assassin able to jump through time at will, with his travels through the timeline trapping his sixty year old mind in his unageing, ten year old body. Ben Hargreeves/The Horror, possessed tentacles that emerged from his stomach, but he is also dead when the Academy comes back together.
Vanya Hargreeves was officially a part of the Academy, but was drugged by their father and told for years that she had no powers, before she learns she has the power to channel destructive sound waves through her violin.
Way has stated that his biggest influence on this piece of work is his favorite writer, Grant Morrison, and their work on Doom Patrol with DC Comics. He has also cited Pat McEown of ZombieWorld: Champion of the Worms and his favorite artist, Edvin Biuković, and his comic Grendel Tales as other major inspirations.[3]
See main article: The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite. Written by Gerard Way with art by Gabriel Bá, the first six-issue limited series, Apocalypse Suite,[10] was released by Dark Horse Comics between September 14, 2007, and February 20, 2008.[11] It won the 2007 Eisner Award for Best Finite Series/Limited Series, and was adapted into the first season of the Netflix series in 2019.
In the story, the estranged members of the Umbrella Academy are reunited by the funeral of Sir Reginald Hargreeves, their father and leader, whose rigorous training and experiments during their childhoods has left them each emotionally scarred. They then have to band together when their long-lost brother, Number Five, returns from the future and tells them they need to stop an apocalyptic event from coming to pass.
See main article: The Umbrella Academy: Dallas. A second limited series, , was released between November 26, 2008, and April 25, 2009. It was adapted into the second season of the Netflix series in 2020, though elements of it had been adapted in the first season a year earlier.
This story sees the Umbrella Academy having split up once again after saving the world, but while each sibling is distracted by their own problems, the team is forced to reunite when the Temps Aeternalis, an organization that manages the timeline, attack the members and drag them into a time travel plot revolving around the Kennedy assassination in 1963.
Gerard Way was announced to be working on the third limited series, entitled The Umbrella Academy: Hotel Oblivion, in 2009,[12] and Dark Horse initially stated it would release in 2010.[13] However, the comic was not released for years, with Way shifting focus from comics to his music career for a time[14] before continuing work on it with Bá in 2014.[15] [16] [17] [15] [18] Hotel Oblivion was finally released as a seven-issue miniseries between October 3, 2018, and June 12, 2019.[19] Some elements were loosely adapted in the third season of the Netflix series.
In this story, some time after the events of Dallas, Spaceboy and the Kraken travel to space to investigate a discovery of their father's, while Five and the Rumor investigate the titular Hotel Oblivion, a mysterious prison on another planet where Hargreeves imprisoned the Academy's greatest enemies.
In July 2020, Gerard Way revealed that the fourth story arc would be titled The Umbrella Academy: Sparrow Academy,[20] presumably following up on the reveal of another superhero team called the Sparrows at the end of the third volume. In August 2024, Gabriel Bá revealed he was actively illustrating the comic, but was unsure of the release date.[21] Despite the story not yet being completed, it is the main storyline adapted in the third season of the Netflix series, possibly based on an outline by Way.
All Umbrella Academy spin-off series and one-shots are subtitled as Tales from the Umbrella Academy, published intermittently since 2019. These comics focuses on individual characters from the main series, and dives further into their backstories while sending them on new adventures.
The one-shot issue "Hazel and Cha-Cha Save Christmas" was written by Gerard Way and Scott Allie, with art by Tommy Lee Edwards, and was published on November 20, 2019.[22] In it, Hazel and Cha-Cha, two psychotic time-traveling hitmen introduced in Dallas, are sent on a mission to stop a rogue agent from disrupting the timeline.
A six-issue limited series, You Look Like Death, written by Gerard Way and Shaun Simon with art by I.N.J. Culbard, was published between September 16, 2020, and February 24, 2021.[23] The series follows a young Klaus's misadventures in Hollywood after being kicked out of the Academy by Hargreeves.
The hardcover edition includes an additional short story entitled "Letters to Athena" not published elsewhere.
A first short preview story of the series was released on November 2, 2006, on the Dark Horse Comics website.[1] 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.[2] Another story, "Safe & Sound", was published in July 2007 in Dark Horse Presents online on MySpace.[24]
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.[1] 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 Medieval French military commander.
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, released on May 5. 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.[2]
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" 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 , written by Ron Marz and illustrated by Luke Ross.[24]
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 Romani fortune teller in the back seat, and a little girl in the back seat are all aware that The Kraken is on top of the vehicle. After The Kraken stabs the top of the car, the fortune teller, 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 fortune teller 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 fortune teller 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 fortune teller) 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 fortune teller's shoulder and she drops the crystal ball, which shatters on the ground. The fortune teller is shocked to see that the girl is still alive and is surprised by a punch delivered by The Kraken. The next scene shows the fortune teller 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 fortune teller'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's "Something important. Take care of it".
Dark Horse released the eight-page short story on their MySpace, and is also included in the Dallas collections and the MySpace Dark Horse Presents Volume 2 in 2009, collecting the online stories from MySpace Dark Horse Presents #7–12.
The story takes place thirteen years ago, during the group's teenage years. The Monocle is giving a long and boring speech to Diego (The Kraken) and Vanya (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 quit 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. The 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".
The Umbrella Academy is collected in trade paperbacks and limited edition hardcovers. The hardcover editions have larger pages and a few more extra features.
| Title | Release Date | Material collected | Extras | ISBN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Umbrella Academy | |||||
| The Umbrella Academy – Volume 1: Apocalypse Suite | June 18, 2008 (TPB) November 19, 2008 (HC) |
|
ʟɪᴍɪᴛᴇᴅ ᴇᴅɪᴛɪᴏɴ ʜᴀʀᴅᴄᴏᴠᴇʀ:
| (TPB) (HC) | |
| The Umbrella Academy – Volume 2: Dallas | September 30, 2009 (TPB) September 30, 2009 (HC) |
|
ʟɪᴍɪᴛᴇᴅ ᴇᴅɪᴛɪᴏɴ ʜᴀʀᴅᴄᴏᴠᴇʀ:
| (TPB) (HC) | |
| The Umbrella Academy – Volume 3: Hotel Oblivion | September 17, 2019 (TPB) |
|
Limited edition hardcover | (TPB) | |
| Tales from the Umbrella Academy | |||||
| You Look Like Death: Tales from the Umbrella Academy – Volume 1 | 2021 (TPB) |
|
ʟɪᴍɪᴛᴇᴅ ᴇᴅɪᴛɪᴏɴ ʜᴀʀᴅᴄᴏᴠᴇʀ:
| (TPB)9781506725987 (HC) | |
See main article: The Umbrella Academy (TV series). A film version of The Umbrella Academy was optioned by Universal Studios, but never produced. The Umbrella Academy was instead developed into a television series rather than the original film, produced by Universal Cable Productions.[7] Netflix had greenlit a live-action series adaptation of The Umbrella Academy in 2017, which premiered on February 15, 2019, with Steve Blackman serving as showrunner, and Way as an executive producer.[25] [26] The first season adapted the Apocalypse Suite storyline from the comics, focusing on a time-displaced Number Five traveling from the future to warn his siblings of the impending apocalypse.
The series was renewed for a second season, which was released on July 31, 2020.[27] [28] The second season focuses on the Umbrella Academy being sent back to the early 60's but each being separated and living new lives that lead up to the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The series was renewed for a third season, premiering June 22, 2022. The third season focused on the Umbrella Academy trying to stop a paradox created by them arriving in an alternate timeline, along with a new group of superheroes called the Sparrows.
In June 2019, Dark Horse Comics announced a collaboration with Studio71 to make a card game based on The Umbrella Academy.