IF YOU KNOW anything about Crazy Davis by know, it’s that he loves comics!
Sci-Fi, Superhero, even Tintin comics! Big or small, I’ve read ’em all.
Well, almost all of them. Until last week or so, the Umbrella Academy series was one of them.
But I’m very glad to say that now I have indeed read every issue available of the Umbrella Academy comic book series and it was a blast from start to finish. So now, and only now, do I feel like it’s only right to give that new Netflix series a try. How bad could it be?
…
Yeah it’s fine, I suppose.
I’d like to clarify first and foremost that I haven’t finished the series yet. Hell, I’m not even up to Season 2. So no spoilers, y’hear? Otherwise I’ll bar you for life from me carpet shop. And trust me when I say you don’t wanna miss the deals I’ve got coming up this summer!
Where was I? Ah yes, the Umbrella Academy. The series. The TV series! Always a pleasure to see a comic get the television adaptation over a movie, for reasons I have made abundantly clear beforehand. But if I’m being honest with myself, I think I went into the show with measured expectations and as such, I haven’t strictly been blown away thus far.
Now before you raise your pitchforks, let me make my stance clear: I don’t hate this show. I’m enjoying it quite a bit and I’m interested to see how it’s gonna progress. I think I’m about seven or so episodes into Season One and it’s very intriguing.
However, when it comes to being a comic book adaptation and bringing to life the aspects of the comic book I so readily enjoyed, it skips a few beats that make me a teensy bit irritated. Not enough to write off the show, but enough to compel to make a stand and say some things from the comic I really wish the show decided to include.
I gotta say it, but the Academy’s costumes in this show are pretty lackluster. It’s barely a step up from the whole X-Men bundled up in black leather phase from the early 2000’s. The Academy’s costumes in the comic are iconic silhouettes that make distinct visual statements about their characters. Spaceboy AKA Luther AKA Number ONE is basically Soldier: 76 with Winston’s body, The Kraken, or ‘Diego’, as the show hasn’t used his badass codename from the comics yet, has a striped shirt with a skull and crossbones, long blond hair and a fierce set of stubble. Furthermore, Diego’s power in the comics is that he can hold his breath indefinitely, making him a gritty, knife-throwing Aquaman, to quote Gerad Way (the original writer of the series, who also co-created Peni Parker & SP//dr!). I much prefer the comic incarnation of the character. The show’s portrayal of him is good, but I feel there’s more that could be done with him.
I certainly feel that way about Allison AKA Rumour AKA Number Three. So far I’ve only seen her use her power once in the bank robbery scene, whereas she uses it frequently and bodaciously in the comics when she uses it to defeat the Lincoln Memorial, which sprung to life and began attacking Washington:
Funnily enough, this was only the second monument the Umbrella Academy kids destroyed. But it wouldn’t be the last president that Rumour would assassinate…
A choice that the show made in establishing her as the celebrity and most glamourous of the Academy is something I’m warming up to, but again, I think her depiction in the comics is a more realistic trajectory for her character. She also is divorced from her husband and has lost custody of her daughter, but she’s more downtrodden and listless in the comic, which I think is more on par with her actions of manipulating her husband with her power.
I could go on about the things neglected from the comics but I’ll change my tune for your sake and talk about the stuff from the show I really like.
I believe Klaus is a better character in the show than he is in the comics. I also just realised that this is the second show Robert Sheehan has been in where he can talk with dead people. Does anyone remember Misfits. Now that was a ‘superhero’ show with a different tune. Anyhoo, Klaus is great in this show. He’s vibrant, complicated and very sympathetic. It was a neat choice to have him be the only one to travel back to Vietnam, as in the comics he, Diego and Spaceboy are stranded with him. Five is basically the same but a tad older, which is an understandable choice and Vanya seems to be getting a lot more attention than she’s given in the comics. She’s pretty much just the villain of the comic book’s first arc and judging by the title of the Season One finale, I look forward to seeing how the show portrays the “White Violin” herself.
What’s left to say? Umm… I like Pogo, the chimpanzee butler. He’s also got an expanded role from his comic book counterpart it would seem. And the circumstances of Ben’s death and his powers very much intrigue me. Looking forward to more of Ben AKA Number Six AKA The Horror. I just love his power. Being able to release an eldritch abomination or two would really drive up sales down here.
So with all hat said and done, I think I’m done wagging my chin about the Umbrella Academy. It’s time to jump back in and binge it! I hope you enjoyed what I had to say about the series and I reckon if you like it too, why not give the comic book a try?
Stay out of the Rain,
CD
PS: Recommended Reading
The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite
The Umbrella Academy: Dallas
The Umbrella Academy: Hotel Oblivion
WORLD OF MADNESS 