The title of this blog sums up some of the feelings I felt while reading this book/comic/graphic novel quite clearly. And yes the Gerard Way who wrote this is indeed the lead singer of My Chemical Romance (yet you would not think that while reading this comic). Now lets go back a couple years ago to when I was in seventh grade. My Chemical Romance (or MCR as I will now call them, as I don`t want to type their name every time I want to say it) just released their single Helena and I absolutely loved it!!! MCR`s music was something I would listen too constantly for the next year or so, whether the songs be from their albums: Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge or from I Brought You My Bullets, You Bring Me Your Love, I would absolutely eat their music up. then 2006 happened and they debuted their third album: The Black Parade and I absolutely hated it... Okay hate is a strong word so I absolutely disliked it!!!! And the brunt of my displeasure went straight to Gerard Way on the basis that he was the man who conceptualized the bands new direction publicly and musically. That was when I lost respect for a man who`s music I loved for a brief moment in my life. Now lets fast forward to a couple weeks ago, recently I have started reading comic books/graphic novels. It has been a little over a year since I jumped over the deep edge and started reading a whole lot of super hero comics and the more dark/grim indie comic books. I would try almost anything and the moment I`d like something I would follow these books until they ended or in super hero comic`s case until the writer who is writing the current run on the book leaves. So as I searched for new comics I stumbled upon an award winning comic called the Umbrella Academy. At first I was very very skeptical about it as it is written by that very same Gerard Way whose style completely ruined MCR for me. And that being said comics are all about unique story telling techniques and styles that capture and enthrall people I was afraid to pay for a book that I thought was going to be Black Parade in comic form. Well after a couple months of pondering whether or not to buy the 1st trade paperback and my comic book store going on sale to the point I could get both vol.1 and vol. 2 for the price of one, I finally decided to take a risk on the book and buy it, and let me tell you what I found inside it was something I would have never expected. It is a book whose storytelling and visual style are so unique I was literally smiling from the very 1st page to the very last. The last time I had this much fun with any form of entertainment was when I first watched Kick-Ass over the summer, and that is saying something. The characters in this book are all likable, weird and it is obvious Gerard Way has fun writing the characters. I mean if you have the leader of the team be a really strong guy with a body of a gorilla named Spaceboy, and have another member dressed up in goth attire pale skin and all and name him Seance you know you are going to have fun with the book.The story for volume.1 is simple enough 'have an estranged family save the world" has been done millions of times, but never in my life have I had as much fun with that story as I did while reading Umbrella academy. While vol.2`s story is more complicated with time travel and t.v. addiction, it still managed to give me everything I loved about vol.1 and more.
You give me two characters named Hazel and Cha-Cha jacked up with sugar wearing cute cartoon character masks, and make them complete psychopaths, yeah you are winning me over.
All in all I really can`t put into words how much I loved this book, the characters in it, and the stories being told. Umbrella Academy is in no way a deep story, it will never be the greatest piece of fiction you can buy, but it might just be one of the most fun and funny pieces of fiction you will ever read. The story never takes itself seriously and in some occasions blatantly makes fun of itself. And as for the art? I can`t start with how much I love it and how perfect it is for this kind of story. Now I could go on about how good the art is or how fun the story is or how much imagination both writer and artist must have to deliver something like this , and I probably will go o and on for a very long time. So I will end by saying that: if you are a fan of exaggerated violence, colourful characters, and blatantly slapstick humour then you should buy this book. It is well worth the cost, as you will find yourself coming back for multiple reads all while wishing Gerard Way would quit his day job and become a writer full time.
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