The Umbrella Academy Vol. 2: Dallas

Written by Gerard Way
Art by Gabriel Bá

Having just read the first volume of Umbrella Academy, the over-the-top superhero saga drawn by Gabriel Bá and written by some rock star who has become a bit of a comics darling, I quickly decided to read the second volume. 

Dallas would never be able to stand on its own, as very little is introduced or explained here, but it is a pretty enjoyable replacement for Grant Morrison's wonderful Doom Patrol run.

In this book, the surviving members of the team are all in worse places than they were at the start of the series (there is a general sense of lingering injury, depression, and discontent).  Number Five, the member of the team who has returned to the present after a lengthy sojourn in the future, has some unfinished business that soon embroils the whole team in a plot to assassinate (or protect) JFK in Texas in 1963.  The plot is hard to follow, but it does allow for a number of very cool moments.

As with the first book, the main appeal to me was Bá's artwork.  It's interesting how, on a title like Daytripper, he keeps such tight control over his characters' environments, but with this book, he's able to really go wild.  There are very interesting designs, and crazy scenes, like the one where Kraken and Spaceboy fight vampires and a giant mummy in the middle of the Vietnam War.

I'm not sure if this title is going to continue, but I'll definitely be on board for any future installments.

The Umbrella Academy Vol. 1: Apocalypse Suite

Written by Gerard Way
Art by Gabriel Bá

When this series first started, I was interested because of the involvement of Gabriel Bá, as it started just after his stint on Casanova ended.  I read the Free Comic Book Day story though, and immediately lost all interest in the title.  It was not that good a story.  Then, when the mini-series started, it received nothing but accolades in the comics press, and I figured it would be worth checking out some day.

This is a really good book.  Way has written this as a mash up of Morrison's Doom Patrol, and JMS's Rising Stars.  Seven children were born at the same time to women who weren't previously pregnant, and they were raised by a cold-hearted ideologue, who molded them into a family of disfunctional superheroes.

The team is reunited after years of separation in the event of their "father's" death, and their being together causes an old threat to resurface.  This leads to some more sibling rivalry, and the team's betrayal by their "normal" sibling, who has been previously without powers.

The characters, like Spaceboy, whose head is attached to the body of a giant gorilla, are quite original, but the plot is not.  Way's writing is smart, but his plotting is more than a little conventional.  Bá's art is incredible though, and the book has a nice flow to it.  I look forward to reading the second trade.

Myspace Dark Horse Presents Vol. 2

by many people

I mentioned when I reviewed the first book in this series how much I enjoyed the original Dark Horse Presents, and I was very pleased to hear that it is set to return soon.  It was a reliable source of new ideas and creators, as well as short stories from established series or properties.  I didn't always love what was in it, but I usually found something positive in each issue.

This volume of the Myspace on-line revamp didn't work for me as well as the books I remember.  I found that most of the stories in this book were facile and shallow, and they did little to encourage me to pick up related titles, or seek out some of the creators.

There was still a fair amount to like in this book, such as Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá's brilliant 'Wonder Twins Activate'.  I know I'm a huge Moon and Bá fan, so it's no surprise that I would single this story out for praise, but it's a very cool story designed to help explain their collaboration process.  In contrast, Bá's 'Umbrella Academy' story (with Gerald Way) did nothing for me.

I also liked John Arcudi and Steven Young's 'A Going Concern' which is basically Jonah Hex played by a cockroach, but I couldn't figure out what the hell his horse was supposed to be, and it made me hate the story by the end of it.  Gilbert Hernandez's 'Manga' was cute, but short.

Lately I've been working my way through the Mignola-verse, so I was pleased to see a BPRD story by Arcudi and Davis, and while it was good, it was fairly inconsequential.

By far the prettiest and most impressive art in the book belongs to Francisco Ruiz Velasco, with 'Legion of Blood', a flying-alien version of the first world war.  I hope this is something that is going to be developed into a longer project, as it was quite good and visually stunning.

The final piece that impressed me was a Conan story (normally I hate Conan) written by Tim and Ben Truman.  What made this special is that it had artwork by Marian Churchland (read Beast), with lettering by Brandon Graham!  It's a very cool-looking story.

One story that seemed to have a lot of potential but then quickly lost me was the Hobo Fet story by the Matkinson Brothers and Jon Adams.  There was a lot that could have been done with this story, but it fell flat.  Another disappointment was the two-page Rex Mundi story.  Nothing happened, and it just served to remind me that I miss this title.

Anything else in this book doesn't really feel like it's worth mentioning.  There are some things that I know people like - Milk & Cheese, Steve Niles - but it left me cold.  I have Volume 3 on my reading pile - I hope it's more consistently good.

Myspace Dark Horse Presents Vol. 1

The original Dark Horse Presents is a title that I remember with great fondness. It was somewhat of a mixed bag - the quality varied quite a bit at times, and so did my interest in what was on offer in any given issue, but for the most part, the series contained some great comics, and introduced me to some titles and creators that I went on to enjoy a great deal.

I like the idea of revitalizing the series, but am not a huge fan of on-line comics. There's something about sitting in front of the computer screen that doesn't work for me, so I was pleased that the inevitable print version has come out.

This book, like the original series, is a very diverse anthology, of mixed quality. I loved Whedon and Moons' 'Sugarshock' story - it's very silly, but enjoyable. I'm also always up for a FEAR Agent story, so that went over quite well for me.

One of the most interesting stories was 'A Circuit Closed' by Ezra Claytan Daniels. Unlike many of the other parts of this book, it doesn't appear to be promoting another series, and is instead the type of story that I loved in the old DHP (and Cheval Noir, the European version). It's a little confusing, but ultimately a great comic.

I must say that I was disappointed in the silliness of the Goon, and found the 'Gear School', 'Umbrella Academy' and 'Empowered' stories didn't do much to encourage me to pick up the related trades. I hope in future the editors at MDHP focus more on telling good stories, and not line-wide advertisements in short story form (which I admit is often what the original DHP was).