The Umbrella Academy: Apocalyse Suite #1 is the first comic in a series of six by musician Gerard Way and artist Gabriel Ba. The series is about a group of superheroes who reunite after many years to save the world from total annihilation but the first book explains the Umbrella Academy’s famous but dysfunctional past. The six children were adopted by Sir Reginald Hargreeves because of their “special” talents and he used them to fight crime. For reasons unknown, the group eventually disbanded and now, twenty years later, they are united once more by Hargreeves death and a mysterious purpose…
I will admit that the only reason I read this comic is because of My Chemical Romance. I was huge fan of the band and a huge fan of Gerard Way. I had not read many comics, just Archie and Garfield and I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of detail that is put into them. Gabriel Ba’s depiction of the characters and of the action is incredible. I love the detail that goes into the background and how you can read the comic and over and over and still find new things in the pictures. Way’s story is also good, although it took me a few reads to get into the characters. There isn’t a lot of background for them yet, so it’s hard to get involved in the story. A lot is implied by the illustrations, not by the dialogue and I thought that there could have been more action with Gustave Eiffel but otherwise I found this to be a really great comic by a very talented artist and writer and it definitely made me want to follow the rest of the series. ( )

I'm not really sure how I felt about this book. I love stories about unexpected superheroes, and these 7 children definitely fall into that category, but this is dark. As grown-ups, they must fact the end of the world at the hands of their mutated sister - who never felt as "special" as her siblings.

Creepy and weird, but cool at the same time. I really liked the art...

For older teens. ( )

Merideth says: O.K. -- I can say that this book was much better than I expected it to be. However, I will be honest, when a rock star writes a comic book, my expectations are set pretty low. That being said, I honestly don't get this book. I get the premise, kind of a dysfunctional X-men, and I think there are moments of greatness here. Way has a sardonic wit that occasionally shines through, mostly in the character of #5. Overall however, I don't think this book is anything special. Way is in such a hurry to get to the reunion of his anti-heroes that he never introduces them properly -- I spent a good half of the book confused as to what Rumor's power was, and I'm still a little fuzzy on Kracken. The schism that broke the family is never revealed, and the ending feels rushed. Ba's artwork suits the story, being full of shadows and angles.

Susan says: This book was very disjointed and confusing for me - ultimately not successful, even though people are wanting to read it. Gerard Way is the lead singer of My Chemical Romance, and I know people want to read it because of him. It is also about superheroes in a sort of Justice League, and that might make it appealing to people who want to read more Marvel stuff. To me it was just confusing. I couldn't see what the backstory of this 'family' - children who were adopted at birth when they were born to mothers who didn't seem pregnant - had to do with the actual story - their sister, who felt neglected by the rest, went off to join an evil villain who wanted to end the world. And I find that that was more of the plot than I even thought I knew. There didn't seem to be much of a connection other than the sister - no one was really explained or drawn out in a way I could follow. So while filled with adventure, I found it sort of empty and unfulfilling. ( )

I hated this book because it's not fair that Gerard Way is not only both an excellent comic book writer and artist, but he's the lead singer of a very popular band. That's just me being jealous though.

The truth is that I thought this was a great read. The art was phenomenal. The story was unique and intriguing. I cared about the characters. I wish I could hate it, but I loved it. ( )

Well drawn, unique graphic novel. It borrows a lot from The Watchmen, mainly in its portrayal of what life would actually be like for those with superpowers/superheroes. I enjoyed the book, but I'm not sure I see what made it voted best graphic novel of 2008 by the scream awards... I can't complain, though, I got it for free. ( )