2,701 books
—
6,247 voters
Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “The Umbrella Academy, Vol. 1: The Apocalypse Suite” as Want to Read:
The Umbrella Academy, Vol. 1: The Apocalypse Suite
(The Umbrella Academy #1)
by
,
In an inexplicable worldwide event, forty-seven extraordinary children were spontaneously born to women who'd previously shown no signs of pregnancy. Millionaire inventor Reginald Hargreeves adopted seven of the children; when asked why, his only explanation was, "To save the world."
These seven children form the Umbrella Academy, a dysfunctional family of superheroes with ...more
These seven children form the Umbrella Academy, a dysfunctional family of superheroes with ...more
Get A Copy
Paperback, 184 pages
Published
July 22nd 2008
by Dark Horse Comics
(first published October 17th 2007)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Reader Q&A
To ask other readers questions about
The Umbrella Academy, Vol. 1,
please sign up.
Popular Answered Questions
Community Reviews
Showing 1-30
Start your review of The Umbrella Academy, Vol. 1: The Apocalypse Suite
Sep 20, 2012
Zedsdead
rated it
it was ok
Recommended to Zedsdead by:
Scott
Shelves:
graphic-novels,
review
Great concepts, lousy execution.
The Umbrella Academy is a seemingly-random collection of plot points stapled haphazardly together in a garbled attempt at creating a story. The attempt fails. Rarely has so little been communicated in so many panels.
43 babies are suddenly born to random non-pregnant women. The seven survivors are adopted and raised by a wealthy inventor who is an alien. His alienness is immediately set aside and forgotten.
At age 10 the heroic children do battle with the ...more
The Umbrella Academy is a seemingly-random collection of plot points stapled haphazardly together in a garbled attempt at creating a story. The attempt fails. Rarely has so little been communicated in so many panels.
43 babies are suddenly born to random non-pregnant women. The seven survivors are adopted and raised by a wealthy inventor who is an alien. His alienness is immediately set aside and forgotten.
At age 10 the heroic children do battle with the ...more
2.5 stars
This is one was fast-paced and cool, but at the same time, it teetered on awful.
Does that make sense?
The ideas thrown about in The Apocalypse Suite were interesting and clever, but they were just that - thrown about. It needed to be about double the size of itself to properly tell the story (I think) it was trying for, in my opinion.
Unless, of course, everything and everyone gets some sort of a flashback-y kind of origin that goes quite a bit more in-depth in volume 2. The only way I ...more
This is one was fast-paced and cool, but at the same time, it teetered on awful.
Does that make sense?
The ideas thrown about in The Apocalypse Suite were interesting and clever, but they were just that - thrown about. It needed to be about double the size of itself to properly tell the story (I think) it was trying for, in my opinion.
Unless, of course, everything and everyone gets some sort of a flashback-y kind of origin that goes quite a bit more in-depth in volume 2. The only way I ...more
3.5 to 4 stars
I had been seeing this graphic novel in my Hoopla list for quite some time. I had not been giving it much thought, but it is amazing how seeing that a title is being made into a series on Netflix will move it to the top of your list! I thought this was interesting because I hadn’t heard anything about it other than the cover popping up in passing, so I will be curious to find out what led to interest in making it into a show.
This is the story of a dysfunctional family of adopted ...more
I had been seeing this graphic novel in my Hoopla list for quite some time. I had not been giving it much thought, but it is amazing how seeing that a title is being made into a series on Netflix will move it to the top of your list! I thought this was interesting because I hadn’t heard anything about it other than the cover popping up in passing, so I will be curious to find out what led to interest in making it into a show.
This is the story of a dysfunctional family of adopted ...more
as the back cover states, this is a comic with an arch Victorian sensibility. steampunk superheroes, i love it! in an alternate world, "43 extraordinary children were born..." and seven of them were collected, to form a super-powered super-team. they have powers like time travel and mind control and super-strength and super-agility and the ability to spawn cthulhic tentacles. they are pretty awesome. my favorite is the devious, cold-blooded little killer Number Five, a 10-year old with a 50-year
...more
Umbrella Academy looks like another case of Saga - a comic everyone loves that I didn’t like at all. I honestly don’t know what people see in UA that makes it so beloved. It’s a mix of sci-fi and superhero comics starring a group of weird kids with powers that on paper reads a bit like a Grant Morrison comic - the Eiffel Tower goes “crazy”, one of the characters turns themselves into a living instrument - all of which I should love except Gerard Way has none of the artistry of Morrison.
The plot ...more
The plot ...more
If you:
A) hate comic books
B) love comic book
C) feel indifferent about comic books
D) have never picked up a comic book in your life
READ THIS TRADE PAPERBACK.
This is one of the greatest comic books ever written, drawn, inked, etc. I hate to oversell it, but it's totally true. A group of kids, adopted by a scientist, time-traveling, killing for the good of mankind and having all of the dysfunctional problems kids have. In this installment, we jump back and forth between their childhoods and their ...more
A) hate comic books
B) love comic book
C) feel indifferent about comic books
D) have never picked up a comic book in your life
READ THIS TRADE PAPERBACK.
This is one of the greatest comic books ever written, drawn, inked, etc. I hate to oversell it, but it's totally true. A group of kids, adopted by a scientist, time-traveling, killing for the good of mankind and having all of the dysfunctional problems kids have. In this installment, we jump back and forth between their childhoods and their ...more
Wow!!! I got this TPB since I had read good comments about this Umbrella Academy stuff but without knowing about what was about. Wow!!! I never had read something so creative, original and entertained that it wasn't written by Alan Moore and in my case, it's the best compliment that I can do to a comic book. Gerard Way & Gabriel Ba did a joint work so good, so exciting to read and watch that it's without a doubt one of the true new masterpieces of the modern age of comic books. Even I want
...more
"Our souls are tainted...painted black by the very deeds that make us so wonderfully individual..."
Dark yet hopeful, sinister and yet has a hint of innocence, cruel yet witty, full of love and hate, music, family, neurosis, heros that hate, villains that love, aliens, robots, superheros, war, the eiffel tower, the end of the world, and a full orchestra. This isn't just a comic book, this is an accumilation of a lifetime of talent and pain. If i had not known that Gerard Way had written this ...more
Dark yet hopeful, sinister and yet has a hint of innocence, cruel yet witty, full of love and hate, music, family, neurosis, heros that hate, villains that love, aliens, robots, superheros, war, the eiffel tower, the end of the world, and a full orchestra. This isn't just a comic book, this is an accumilation of a lifetime of talent and pain. If i had not known that Gerard Way had written this ...more
My friend gave me her copies to borrow of this series since she was really excited about the new The Umbrella Academy TV series that has just come out. She really enjoyed the graphic novels and therefore recommended them to me, hoping I'd become just as interested.
This was a nice read although confusing at times since the art style (although unique) was not the easiest to comprehend what was going on in every box. I liked the concept of the story very much but don't think the execution was as ...more
This was a nice read although confusing at times since the art style (although unique) was not the easiest to comprehend what was going on in every box. I liked the concept of the story very much but don't think the execution was as ...more
I decided to do a re-read of this before watching the Netflix show. Before becoming a rock star as the lead singer of My Chemical Romance, Gerard Way ran a comic book shop. His love of early Vertigo comics shows through in his storytelling. This has the same weird strangeness of Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol run. That shouldn't surprise anyone at this point now that Way just wrote a year's worth of Doom Patrol stories himself.
The basic premise is that these kids with superpowers were adopted by ...more
The basic premise is that these kids with superpowers were adopted by ...more
The art is stylish and compelling. The story was difficult for me to follow and keep up with what was going on. They didn't do a lot of connecting dots so the story moves fast and I had to simply flow with it. I had to fight to keep up.
I can't say that it was an enjoyable story. There was no joy in it, simply pain and angst. The hero's were hard and burnt out and the world burned around them.
I might continue on with this one.
I can't say that it was an enjoyable story. There was no joy in it, simply pain and angst. The hero's were hard and burnt out and the world burned around them.
I might continue on with this one.
Years ago, an unrevealed number of children were spontaneously born to women who weren't pregnant. Reginald Hargreeves, aka The Monocle, gathered all of them he could find, 47 of them, and formed the Umbrella Academy. Why? To save the world!
I picked this up because people said it's a lot like Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol. While I thought it was, it reminded me more of The Royal Tenenbaums. There are sequences were the academy members were youngsters but the series is mostly about them as adults ...more
I picked this up because people said it's a lot like Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol. While I thought it was, it reminded me more of The Royal Tenenbaums. There are sequences were the academy members were youngsters but the series is mostly about them as adults ...more
I found Netflix's The Umbrella Academy joyous and silly and energetic and fun. The source material absolutely pales in comparison.
Literally pales: the lack of diversity in the comic, compared to the show, is just one of many profound bummers one gets to experience by coming to this in reverse order.
But there's also:
--comparatively moronic character motivations
--the characters reduced to thinness and blandness all around
--Allison rendered utterly useless
--Diego rendered unsympathetic (and his ...more
Literally pales: the lack of diversity in the comic, compared to the show, is just one of many profound bummers one gets to experience by coming to this in reverse order.
But there's also:
--comparatively moronic character motivations
--the characters reduced to thinness and blandness all around
--Allison rendered utterly useless
--Diego rendered unsympathetic (and his ...more
Oct 22, 2009
Danielle The Book Huntress (Back to the Books)
rated it
really liked it
Recommends it for:
quirky superhero fiction fans
Recommended to Danielle The Book Huntress (Back to the Books) by:
Gemma
This one's been in my tbr pile for a long time, and I finally got around to reading it.
I don't follow the music group My Chemical Romance, but I did see one of their videos, and I found it visually appealing. I can definitely see the artist in Gerald Way from that video sequence, and it carries over to this graphic novel.
The story takes the concept of superhuman abilities and the onus to protect humanity at one's personal cost and examines it closely. In this case, it focuses on seven children ...more
I don't follow the music group My Chemical Romance, but I did see one of their videos, and I found it visually appealing. I can definitely see the artist in Gerald Way from that video sequence, and it carries over to this graphic novel.
The story takes the concept of superhuman abilities and the onus to protect humanity at one's personal cost and examines it closely. In this case, it focuses on seven children ...more
3.7 stars. I don't care about Gerard Way and his music but the artwork is undeniably lovely.
and this:
Now, you have my full attention, nothing is more exciting than destroying the world.
Well, the setting is refreshing, the artwork is doubtlessly lovely with a pink-ish color tone (the coloring and the style do look really European to me), the story is exciting enough. However, aside from a few main characters e.g. Spaceboy and Vanya, the rest of the ...more
and this:
"Can I interest you in destroying the world?"
Now, you have my full attention, nothing is more exciting than destroying the world.
Well, the setting is refreshing, the artwork is doubtlessly lovely with a pink-ish color tone (the coloring and the style do look really European to me), the story is exciting enough. However, aside from a few main characters e.g. Spaceboy and Vanya, the rest of the ...more
Honestly I judged this one by the cover and it was a lot better than I thought. 7 quasi siblings raised by a scientist reunited by his death and pending disaster. Hope to continue reading the series.
Somewhere between 3 and 4 stars. I’m going to create a new shelf called « awesome garbage » and it will be for craptastic stuff like this graphic novel.
Despite my intense dislike for Gerard Way and his stupid band, I ended up with a copy of “The Umbrella Academy” after getting sucked into a Netflix vortex, which included the first season of the show. I wasn’t aware that the former My Chemical Romance frontman was behind what I immediately dubbed “Emo X-Men”, but as soon as I knew, some nostalgic ...more
Despite my intense dislike for Gerard Way and his stupid band, I ended up with a copy of “The Umbrella Academy” after getting sucked into a Netflix vortex, which included the first season of the show. I wasn’t aware that the former My Chemical Romance frontman was behind what I immediately dubbed “Emo X-Men”, but as soon as I knew, some nostalgic ...more
I wanted to get this read before the Netflix show comes out right away. It also helped that Comixology had a sale. :P
I admit that I originally never bothered with this comic mostly because the writer is a rock star and usually when something like that happens it's just a cash grab.
Turns out I really enjoyed it. Truth be told, I wasn't even really aware what the premise of the book was, but when I saw the shows trailer I immediately became intrigued.
*Shrugs*
I can be a snob just like everyone ...more
I admit that I originally never bothered with this comic mostly because the writer is a rock star and usually when something like that happens it's just a cash grab.
Turns out I really enjoyed it. Truth be told, I wasn't even really aware what the premise of the book was, but when I saw the shows trailer I immediately became intrigued.
*Shrugs*
I can be a snob just like everyone ...more
I probably would have loved this more if I read it before I saw the show. Yes, I’m guilty of loving the show more than the source material.
However. I did enjoy the story here and the look of the comic. Of course, there’s a bit of a different plot line and I really liked getting more detail than we got in the show.
Volume 2, here I come.
However. I did enjoy the story here and the look of the comic. Of course, there’s a bit of a different plot line and I really liked getting more detail than we got in the show.
Volume 2, here I come.
[4.5 Stars]
The art, the story...shitting my pants.
World: The art, what can I said about Ba's art, it's stylish, it's beautiful, it's melancholy and small and intimate...and then guts and blood fly everywhere. It's just so beautiful. I loved his work in the Mignolaverse and I love it here. Those splash pages, soooo good. The world building is phenomenal, it's doesn't hand hold, it's doesn't info dump, but rather just pulls the reader into the world and let's them see and learn about the world and characters ...more
World: The art, what can I said about Ba's art, it's stylish, it's beautiful, it's melancholy and small and intimate...and then guts and blood fly everywhere. It's just so beautiful. I loved his work in the Mignolaverse and I love it here. Those splash pages, soooo good. The world building is phenomenal, it's doesn't hand hold, it's doesn't info dump, but rather just pulls the reader into the world and let's them see and learn about the world and characters ...more
This was my first Gerard Way comic. I'm about to pick up Doom Patrol so wanted to give this a whirl. With spunky art, a way out there yet interesting story, is Umbrella Academy worth checking out? Yes. However, it's not without it's flaws.
What I liked: The art was alive and fun. The world itself was interesting. The action is top notch and can be brutal as fuck. I enjoyed the interaction between most character and the world building they do with dialog alone. It's not easy. I also enjoyed the ...more
What I liked: The art was alive and fun. The world itself was interesting. The action is top notch and can be brutal as fuck. I enjoyed the interaction between most character and the world building they do with dialog alone. It's not easy. I also enjoyed the ...more
If you told me a year ago that a member of the hit band My Chemical Romance could pen a comic-book worthy of an Eisner nomination, I would have scoffed at the idea. But I relented when – after many a recommendation within comic literary circles – I picked up this first volume of the Umbrella Academy during my comic shop’s twice-yearly clearance sale. And what a smart purchase this was.
A musical prodigy in his own right, Gerard Way blew me away with his deft story-telling, not to mention his ...more
A musical prodigy in his own right, Gerard Way blew me away with his deft story-telling, not to mention his ...more
Umbrella Academy starts off with a bang - hilarious, imaginative, and wicked smart. No unnecessary exposition - e.g. instead of a bunch of talking to explain why the Academy disbanded (like in most comics), there's a newspaper headline in a frame on a wall in a single panel. And to tell how Number One turned into what he did, there are three panels that use newspaper clippings and a from-behind-perspective shot that very quickly tell us what happened and why (skipping what others would drag out
...more
I didn't love this... which is a shame because I like Gerard Way.
I bought this about 6 months ago and I just started reading it when my coworkers started talking about the Netflix show. I like the art, for the most part. I just wished it'd been a tad more dramatic when the characters were having arguments.
The premise is pretty interesting. I'm a sucker for superhumans and teams made up of different personalities and abilities.
Where this lost me was the writing, sorry to say. I like the plot ...more
I bought this about 6 months ago and I just started reading it when my coworkers started talking about the Netflix show. I like the art, for the most part. I just wished it'd been a tad more dramatic when the characters were having arguments.
The premise is pretty interesting. I'm a sucker for superhumans and teams made up of different personalities and abilities.
Where this lost me was the writing, sorry to say. I like the plot ...more
It's a very jumpy story arc that moves very, very quickly. If I hadn't seen some of the show, I would have had a pretty difficult time following what was happening. I'm curious where the story and characters will go next though, so I'll be sticking around with this one for a little longer!
I really liked it but i like i just like the show a lot better
4.5
sooo good. kinda confusing at first (kinda hard to keep everything straight) but it’s very good!
sooo good. kinda confusing at first (kinda hard to keep everything straight) but it’s very good!
3.5 stars
I'm finding it exceedingly difficult to review this. Mostly, because I'm constantly comparing it to the TV Show -which is absolutely unfair.
However, I do want to make a review that makes it justice. So, here is my best attempt at it.
The Umbrella Academy has all these messy characters and is dark enough to capture my attention and keep it. With a superhero vibe that doesn't quite fulfill itself in a very common, superman-ish kind of way.
We have these characters that were born ...more
I'm finding it exceedingly difficult to review this. Mostly, because I'm constantly comparing it to the TV Show -which is absolutely unfair.
However, I do want to make a review that makes it justice. So, here is my best attempt at it.
The Umbrella Academy has all these messy characters and is dark enough to capture my attention and keep it. With a superhero vibe that doesn't quite fulfill itself in a very common, superman-ish kind of way.
We have these characters that were born ...more
yes I am one of those turning up here to the cry of "...bECAUSE I WATCHED THE NEFLIX SHOW I--" Hm, hi, it's me. And now I officially have so many questions about the show. The first being, did Mr. Netflix read the comics or...? I'm guessing no.
now the show, i liked, but i had a lot of issues with it. Mainly lack of plot and how s l o w it was. The comic on the other hand it's utterly absurdism, which I didn't expect, because the show was more about damaged adults working through suppressed ...more
now the show, i liked, but i had a lot of issues with it. Mainly lack of plot and how s l o w it was. The comic on the other hand it's utterly absurdism, which I didn't expect, because the show was more about damaged adults working through suppressed ...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All the Books!: The Umbrella Academy | 8 | 19 | Aug 12, 2019 10:42PM | |
| Time Travel: The Umbrella Academy | 16 | 28 | Jun 17, 2019 04:25AM | |
| As a way to resolve this gay pretty | 1 | 25 | Oct 28, 2015 11:57PM | |
| Graphic Novel Rea...: Optional May 2014 Book Discussion / (Official 10th Book Club Discussion): The Umbrella Academy, vol. 1: Apocalypse Suite by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá - October 2012 | 11 | 126 | Nov 28, 2012 09:14AM |
Readers also enjoyed
Gerard Arthur Way (born April 9, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and comic book writer who served as frontman, lead vocalist, and co-founder of the band My Chemical Romance from the time of its formation in 2001 until its breakup in 2013. He is the author of the Eisner Award-winning comic book series The Umbrella Academy (now a Netflix original series) and The True Lives of the
...more
Other books in the series
The Umbrella Academy
(3 books)
1 trivia question
More quizzes & trivia...
“Don't ever let the media tell you what your body is supposed look like. You're beautiful the way you are. Stay beautiful, keep it ugly.”
—
89 likes
“We're ganna we like to actually um, kidnap them in a van, and tie them up, and leave them somewhere dangerous...that's the SUPRISE!”
—
50 likes
More quotes…
