The death of their mentor reunites a fractious group of estranged superheroes for a new challenge.
Few comics in recent years have attracted so much critical excitement and popular adoration as The Umbrella Academy. Undoubtedly, one reason for this is that it is written by Gerard Way, lead singer of rock group My Chemical Romance.
Way is by no means a dilletante, idly turning his hand to a quaint medium. Before rock called, Way went to art school, aiming to work in comics and produced original artwork for the series; he has since gone on to write on Spiderman and other comics titles and The Umbrella Academy is now into its second series.
Brazilian artist Gabriel Ba was draughted in to illustrate The Umbrella Academy. His line work is reminiscent of Duncan Fegredo's work on Hellboy, angular, clean and simple, but never terse or mechanical, thanks to its hand-drawn style.
Ba shares with Fegredo the good fortune to have his work coloured by Dave Stewart (who coloured Fegredo's art in Hellboy: The Wild Hunt). Stewart's colouring looks like overlaid cutouts of craft paper in muted tones, with occasional bright hues (as above). The result is textured, atmospheric and stunning.
The story concerns a seven orphaned mutants raised to be a super team, by the eccentric and steely Sir Reginald Hargreeves. Years later, long since estranged from one another, they gather for Hargreeves's funeral, and before long sibling tensions surface. Before long they are saving the world.
The Umbrella Academy is quirky without being affected or mannered. It does not break genres, and it recalls many other comics, but (in its emphasis on family dynamics and emotional relationships) there is a tenderness to its storytelling. This is not to say there is not plenty of action and adventure, but here is a rare example of a comic which - like a great superhero team - is greater than the sum of its parts.
Last week, for the first time in over a month, I went into my local comic shop. Ever the optimist, I always anticipate shelves full of fantastical bounty (despite frequent disappointments), but on this occasion the offerings were truly pitiful.
Of course there were all the classic graphic novels and collections - the ones I keep meaning to get around to: the complete Zot and Bone, various collections of Love & Rockets, Queen and Country and The Age of Bronze - but the regular monthly comics were expensive and boring.
To be fair, they may not be boring comics, but they looked dull. Many of the comics I browsed looked generic, lacking in passion. It seemed like all the artists had been to the same school; lots of competent (some excellent) draughtsmanship, plenty of technical polish, but little style.
And style is important. In comics it might be the most important: it is the story.
I’ve always found that if I respond to a comic’s artwork, I’ll give its story a chance. Conversely, I seldom get into a comic if I don’t respond to the artwork. This means a) the artwork must be good (draughtsmanship competent, style compelling) b) the story must be as good or better than the artwork.
Why is this a big ask? Frank Miller, Dave Gibbons, Paul Pope are all celebrated because of their distinctive styles.
The only ray of light I found, in the gloomy basement of the comic shop, was the new Hellboy comic: The Wild Hunt.
Hellboy has now been running for over a decade. The series has not only produced a couple of interesting spin-offs (BPRD and Lobster Johnson), but sustained it’s high quality on several levels: engaging stories, a rich cast of characters and atmospheric artwork that totally ‘belongs’ to the story.
While Hellboy himself is a great character, who wrestles with questions of fate/destiny, free will and human (er, demon) nature, it is Mike Mignola's amazing artwork that brings this world to life.
Hellboy has managed to stay interesting because of its characters and story and exciting because of its artwork. (It's perfectly possible to present 'dramatic' events in totally dull way. Look on the shelves of the comic shop, if you don't believe me.)
I never thought Mignola could be replaced - he’s such a unique stylist and by far my favourite comics artist - but Duncan Fegredo is faithful to Mignola’s style, without being slavish. Mignola continues to write the stories and the comic is every bit as good as ever.
As for the rest... just as well Drawn posted a list of the best comics of 2008 - which I may investigate - or I’d be really depressed.
