Near miss!

I almost missed one of the most fun comics I have ever read. Since september I have been seeing this mini-series called The Umbrella Academy come out. I don't know why, but in my brain I kept on passing over the book, never giving it a second glance. I assumed it had something to do with Resident Evil and their Umbrella Corporation. Boy was I wrong.

I was watching old videos of Comic Book Club when their mention of The Umbrella Academy finally got my attention. Partly, because they said that their was a hero whose super power was that what ever rumor she said became a reality, and partly because they mentioned Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance. I have no shame in admitting my emoness and saying that I am a huge My Chemical Romance fan. I have been listening to the band since 2003. I think that Way(their lead singer) is a genius, his lyrics are always thought provoking and he is quite adept at turning a clever phrase.

So I go into pick up my comics on Friday and almost leave the store, when I remember that My Chemical Romance comic. I ask Mac(owner of my comic shop)

ME: Do you have The Umbrella Academy?

MAC: Which one?

ME: All of them.

I purchased the first 5 issues of The Umbrella Academy and my mind was blown. I fell in love with this book on page 1 of issue 1.

This picture says it all. It sets tone wonderfully. The matter of fact way a wrestler is about to give an atomic elbow to a giant space squid. The perspective of the camera some where in the center of a crowd, giving the reader a feeling of this type of event being in the common man's perspective. The purple blood, and the tentacles of the space squid jutting straight up like he's in fear. I want to learn more about a universe where an event like this can take place. I don't want to go into to much detail explaining the plot and characters because the comic does it a million times better than I can, and there is a certain ere of mystery around these character's past that I don't want to disrupt. I will only say that the loss of the space squid causes spontaneous births in women who show no sign of pregnancy. Seven of these babies are adopted by an eccentric, and wealthy inventor. Who claims the children will save the world. He does not give the kids name but labels them 00.01 thru 00.07.It then jumps ten years later and we get to watch five of the kids take on a rampaging Eiffel tower. (that's right the eiffel tower is the bad guy in the first issue.)

 

After the kids save paris and eat ice cream, it jumps to the present where we get to meet Spaceboy who is agent 00.01 and sometime in the past had to get his head put on the body of an ape.

If that is not the essence of comic book cool, I don't know what is. The first issue is epilogued with a fake encyclopedia page explaining the twisted history of the eiffel tower and setting up a plot thread for the next issue.

This is the first comic I have ever felt priviliged to buy. I am happy to be at the ground floor on this comic and urge everyone not to miss it. Its is one heck of an adventure.