Umbrella Academy Dallas #6 (OF 6)

the Umbrella Academy is the big budget action movie Wes Anderson would make if Wes Anderson made big budget action movies. (he could almost use the exact same cast as The Royal Tenenbaums too!)

To continue with the crude Wes Anderson analogy, all of Wes Anderson's quirkerly visual films have a meloncholey and strange quality hard to define or describe. i have the same difficultly labelling why the Umbrella Academy is great. AND it is great.

So with this issue the second volume of the title is concluded on an earth shattering scale and finely inter-personal level. In 1963 on the day of Kennedy's death, Spaceboy, Sance and Kraken confronts the young No. 5 in an attempt to prevent him from stopping the old No. 5 (who is actually the young No.5's past self) from avert the death of JFK. As it turns out the young No. 5 actually wanted to kill Kennedy while the old No. 5 was attempting to prevent the assassination. Eventually young No.5 succeeds in killing JFK by planting The Rumor as  Jackie Kennnedy. As an effect of this method of assassination No.5 atlered time thus stopping two homincidial maniacs from destroying the earth with nuclear weapons in the present.

The family's relationship is further developed also. The previous implication of the Rumor being No. 5's twin is revealed as a red herring with  Spaceboy being his biological brother. The Rumor confess her love for Spaceboy. In response to their role in the Kennedy assassination the family reacts in differing ways in the present. Spaceboy uses it as an excuse to ignore his emotional vulnerability after The Rumor's confession. Kraken lements his time in the Vietnam war. The Rumor seaks the comfort of her sister. No. 5 murders his superior and indulges in ice cream while Sance goes on a bender.

One of my favourite features of this title is Gerard Way's weird ability to place pop art like vignettes though out the book. In this issue, the cliched school science fair is used to fore-shadow No.5's word threatenly destructive exsistance as he reveals a childhood solor-system diorama missing the planet Earth. The family's angst and emotion erupt to the surface when they are forced to share a car ride together, all be it, a car ride though time. In 1963, Hargreeves' unwillingness for social conformity is highligted when reacting to the televised news of Kennedy's death and it's impact on the national identity he remarks that he was unable the family even owned a television set.

Gabriel Ba and Dave Stewart's art matchs the idiosyncratic tone of Way's story. The stylised art creates an atmosphere of slightly awry reality in perfectly recognisable settings.

and i quickly wanted to comment on the design of the actual book. Typography is used in the book to great affect and the refresher page on the front inside cover is really cool.

Josh calls them the Bluthes, i call them the Tenenbaums