I was introduced to the TV version of this comic by my daughter as she was a fan of author Gerard Way's band, My Chemical Romance. I like a bit of quirkiness and so it did appeal. It is about people with special powers, but they are also very dis-functional. My other half assumed it was something like the Lemony Snicket Series of Unfortunate Events stories that we had read to our kids. She found those depressing as the poor kids in them never seemed to get a break. Umbrella Academy is also pretty dark, but fun too.
It is only now that I have seen the source material after that same daughter bought me the first book for Christmas. The core characters are the same and there are parallels in the plot, but it is a very different story.
Brazilian artist Gabriel Bá gives it a great style that does not seek to be totally realistic. Some of the characters are drawn quite simply, as I might expect from the comics I read as a kid, but there is plenty of detail to enjoy.
Please excuse the rough photos as my phone is out of action and I used my webcam. The funeral scene there is in the TV show, but with a very different look.
A lot of characters in the comic did not make it to the Netflix show and lots of new ones were introduced with various sub-plots. They were stretching a short comic into ten episodes per season, so I guess they had to make changes. I am not sure how much Gerard Way was involved in that.
I have yet to read the second volume, entitled Dallas, but the second season was set in that city, so I assume they did not totally divert from the comic. There is a third comic and the equivalent Netflix season will be with us fairly soon. It remains to be seen how long they will milk the characters, but if they can keep the quality up then there is potential. There is still plenty they have not explained.
I have enjoyed both versions so far and look forward to more of each.
This trailer does not give too much away, but gives you the flavour.
