The first two The Umbrella Academy mini-series came out way back in 2007 and 2008. In 2009 at Comic Con, Gerard Way mentioned the third series was going to be called, "Hotel Oblivion," and Dark Horse announced a 2010 release date. Well that certainly didn't fucking happen. If it wasn't for the Netflix adaptation to finally be filmed, who knows if this would have ever come out. But it's here, finally, and it's glorious. Gerard Way of course hasn't been sitting on ass, though. He went to DC and started an imprint and wrote a fairly disappointing Doom Patrol remake. And so if you thought ten years later his magic had disappeared, you'd be wrong. The Umbrella Academy was one of my favorite books back in the day, and re-reading it I realized why. It's weird but thrilling and bold, totally alive and bonkers and jaw-droppingly awesome. The new series (#1-#3 were released in 2018...so yes, the end may be terrible) has the old gang back together (writer Way and artist Gabriel Ba along with colorist Nick Filardi) and so far this is just as good as the superior second series, Dallas. I think the one thing that works wonderfully in the new series is that it's a great story. Since Way had mentioned he was writing #1 way back in 2002 and the "hotel" was mentioned early on by Spaceboy in the first series, the idea and story were probably always there from the beginning. The Hotel Oblivion is where the Academy's father sent all of the evil criminals they defeated. Well of course all of the criminals break out and all hell breaks loose. The bizarreness of the book is always present, but it's not obtuse. Everything works and is understandable, which is definitely a gift of Way, unlike some other writers (ahem, Grant Morrison, ahem) that write weird stories that usually make no sense. The art is wild and loose, the colors are vibrant, the book is fun and super entertaining. This is just a great return to form from everyone involved. It's so nice to see a masterwork return and be just as good as it was. It rarely happens, if ever. Now let's only hope they don't wait another ten years for the 4th series.
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