Book Review: Umbrella Academy Volume 3 Hotel Oblivion
Author: Gerard Way
Artist: Gabriel Ba
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
ISBN: 3959811640
Price: £16.99
It's funny the things you find by accident. I'd completely forgotten about buying this, the third volume in Gerard Way's odd dysfunctional superpowered family series. Boasting the reminder on the cover that there's now a TV series based on a mixture of the first two comics miniseries, its somewhat strange to be dipping into something that's been popular enough for that, and yet for which so little actually exists. Say what you like about other Netflix comics adaptations but they draw on rich legacies in both Locke and Key and Titans, though admittedly Happy only had one miniseries as far as I know and that now has several TV seasons under its belt.
I've always felt Umbrella Academy was meant to be the Doom Patrol before Way was ever likely to actually be given that to write, the misfit characters, the cold repressive leader, and the way the series increasingly bizarre villains always seemed to fit that mold far more than anything that a more regular superhero crew might encounter. While Way has been too clever to make the characters simple knock offs, at the same time, its hard not to feel like Space Boy and Robotman would feel as if they were kindred spirits, or as Crazy Jane and Number Seven wouldn't have an affinity. It just feels as if the Umbrella Academy are less apologetic, less hounded, and more conscious of their status than the Doom Patrol, possibly because its clear they can be media darlings just as much as anyone else. In some respects then, this book has always been a more modern take on the classic, and more firmly aimed at young adults who want to be themselves without shame.
This volume focuses on something the team's father, Hargreaves, created before his death, a prison for the worst villains the Umbrella Academy had defeated, the sort who wouldn't be able to be held, r rehabilitated, by normal means. The solution has been to create an extradimensional prison to contain them, throwing away the key in the process. To be fair, while the idea is shocking, its also completely in character for Hargreaves, who has always been depicted as not merely thinking he was above the law but as if the law simply didn't matter, if it got in his way.
In terms of action, the volume feels occasionally disjointed, partly because it begins with the members of the Academy going on individual missions. Space Boy and Kraken go to Japan and then on a daring adventure into space. Number Five is working to kill someone, having become an assassin for hire (I don't know why but that feels so much more satisfying to type than "hitman", even though they mean the same thing). The Rumour is working with Mom to try and help Number Seven through her physical therapy after that whole White Violin thing.
Oh and Number Four, Klaus, is getting high, so no change there.
Somehow, over the course of seven issues, the creative team manage to take all these disparate elements and bring them together to make a story that works, is compelling, funny, and in places horrifying. That they do this, provide some lovely in character moments, and set up the next volume of the comic is quite impressive, and they almost effortlessly add depth to their creation at the same time. If the creative team aren't at the top of their game, frankly comics should watch out for some stunning work in the future. Plus, they obviously had a blast coming up with different characters and making them as weird as possible. As a table top roleplayer, it was nice to look at the back of the book and see that some of the villains had been based on old characters from a GURPS campaign, I must admit.
Ba's visuals are scrappy and occasionally cartoon like. They ;'/fit the atmosphere conjured by Way's writing very well. Dynamic, weird, with an appropriately muted colour palate, they convey the mixed up weirdness in a faded world very well, conveying their own sense of how complicated things are just as much as the script. In places, they do get a bit confusing, but I would tag that as a plus here as it conveys the nature of the book rather than being a case of poor plotting.
This definitely isn't a book for someone fresh to the Umbrella Academy, nor is it a good one to pick up if you've forgotten who most of the characters are (like me). I'd advise reading the first two volumes before you pick up this one
Artist: Gabriel Ba
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
ISBN: 3959811640
Price: £16.99
It's funny the things you find by accident. I'd completely forgotten about buying this, the third volume in Gerard Way's odd dysfunctional superpowered family series. Boasting the reminder on the cover that there's now a TV series based on a mixture of the first two comics miniseries, its somewhat strange to be dipping into something that's been popular enough for that, and yet for which so little actually exists. Say what you like about other Netflix comics adaptations but they draw on rich legacies in both Locke and Key and Titans, though admittedly Happy only had one miniseries as far as I know and that now has several TV seasons under its belt.I've always felt Umbrella Academy was meant to be the Doom Patrol before Way was ever likely to actually be given that to write, the misfit characters, the cold repressive leader, and the way the series increasingly bizarre villains always seemed to fit that mold far more than anything that a more regular superhero crew might encounter. While Way has been too clever to make the characters simple knock offs, at the same time, its hard not to feel like Space Boy and Robotman would feel as if they were kindred spirits, or as Crazy Jane and Number Seven wouldn't have an affinity. It just feels as if the Umbrella Academy are less apologetic, less hounded, and more conscious of their status than the Doom Patrol, possibly because its clear they can be media darlings just as much as anyone else. In some respects then, this book has always been a more modern take on the classic, and more firmly aimed at young adults who want to be themselves without shame.
This volume focuses on something the team's father, Hargreaves, created before his death, a prison for the worst villains the Umbrella Academy had defeated, the sort who wouldn't be able to be held, r rehabilitated, by normal means. The solution has been to create an extradimensional prison to contain them, throwing away the key in the process. To be fair, while the idea is shocking, its also completely in character for Hargreaves, who has always been depicted as not merely thinking he was above the law but as if the law simply didn't matter, if it got in his way.
In terms of action, the volume feels occasionally disjointed, partly because it begins with the members of the Academy going on individual missions. Space Boy and Kraken go to Japan and then on a daring adventure into space. Number Five is working to kill someone, having become an assassin for hire (I don't know why but that feels so much more satisfying to type than "hitman", even though they mean the same thing). The Rumour is working with Mom to try and help Number Seven through her physical therapy after that whole White Violin thing.
Oh and Number Four, Klaus, is getting high, so no change there.
Somehow, over the course of seven issues, the creative team manage to take all these disparate elements and bring them together to make a story that works, is compelling, funny, and in places horrifying. That they do this, provide some lovely in character moments, and set up the next volume of the comic is quite impressive, and they almost effortlessly add depth to their creation at the same time. If the creative team aren't at the top of their game, frankly comics should watch out for some stunning work in the future. Plus, they obviously had a blast coming up with different characters and making them as weird as possible. As a table top roleplayer, it was nice to look at the back of the book and see that some of the villains had been based on old characters from a GURPS campaign, I must admit.
Ba's visuals are scrappy and occasionally cartoon like. They ;'/fit the atmosphere conjured by Way's writing very well. Dynamic, weird, with an appropriately muted colour palate, they convey the mixed up weirdness in a faded world very well, conveying their own sense of how complicated things are just as much as the script. In places, they do get a bit confusing, but I would tag that as a plus here as it conveys the nature of the book rather than being a case of poor plotting.
This definitely isn't a book for someone fresh to the Umbrella Academy, nor is it a good one to pick up if you've forgotten who most of the characters are (like me). I'd advise reading the first two volumes before you pick up this one
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