Compilations | 1st Appearance | Origin Story | Main Publication History | Secondary Publication History | Key Storylines | Media Source Material | Key Issues
by snowbi-wan, updated Jun 2019
The UMBRELLA ACADEMY is a series of comic book mini-series from writer Gerard Way (lead singer of My Chemical Romance) and artist Gabriel Bá, published by Dark Horse Comics, the first in 2007 (an Eisner Award Winner). The story is about a dysfunctional 'family' of superheroes, superpowered infants imaculately conceived and born to random women. The story takes place in an alternate history where John F. Kennedy was never assassinated and the year 1977 is the present. Sir Reginald Hargreeves, aka The Monocle, an extraterrestrial disguised as a famous entrepreneur, adopted the only surviving seven superpowered children, and prepares them to save the world from an unspecified threat as the Umbrella Academy. A televison adaptation of this highly regarded, engrossing, action-drama aired on Netflix beginning in Feb 2019.
Compilations
In modern comic publishing, it's common (and expected) for individual comic book issues to be collected into compilations of trade paperbacks and/or hardcovers, as well as other special compilations. Unlike the individual source issues, the collected editions typically stay in print for long periods and are less 'collectible.' If individual issues are out of reach or are not of interest to you or if you just need reading copies, the following collected editions of Umbrella Academy comic books are the most recent in-print editions and are the perfect alternative to get started right away with Umbrella Academy. The following compilations are presented in a chronologically-based suggested reading order with softcover editions before any hardcover editions (unless the only in-print editions are hardcover--these are integrated into the softcover list).
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| Cover | Release Month | Series / Number / Storyline | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Quick View | Feb 2011 | UMBRELLA ACADEMY [2008-TPB] VOL 01: APOCALYPSE SUITE 2ND EDITION ($17.99 COVER PRICE), CURRENT PRINTING |  | Go to Amazon | |
 Quick View | Feb 2010 | UMBRELLA ACADEMY [2008-TPB] VOL 02: DALLAS 2ND EDITION ($17.99 COVER PRICE), CURRENT PRINTING | | Go to Amazon | |
 Quick View | Jul 2019 | UMBRELLA ACADEMY [2008-TPB] VOL 03: HOTEL OBLIVION CURRENT PRINTING | | Go to Amazon | |
 Quick View | Aug 2019 | UMBRELLA ACADEMY LIBRARY EDITION [2019-HC] VOL 01: APOCALYPSE SUITE | UNAVAILABLE | $33.99 | |
 Quick View | Sep 2019 | UMBRELLA ACADEMY LIBRARY EDITION [2019-HC] VOL 02: DALLAS | UNAVAILABLE | $33.99 |
1st Appearance
The first appearance of a character/team in comic book form is often the most valuable issue featuring that character/team. It's a nice place to get started in Umbrella Academy, if it's within your budget. Umbrella Academy first appeared in a preview in Dark Horse's 2007 Free Comic Book Day issue in May. The first regular issue appeared in Sep 2007. Both issues command accute interest with collectors who apply varying levels of significance between the appearances.
- FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2007 [UMBRELLA ACADEMY / PANTHEON CITY / ZERO KILLER] [2007] (1st preview appearance of Umbrella Academy)
- UMBRELLA ACADEMY: APOCALYPSE SUITE [2007] #1 (1st regular appearance of Umbrella Academy)
Main Publication History
Series beginnings are always great places to get started in comic books. Here is the Main Publication History for Umbrella Academy comic books.
- FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2007 [UMBRELLA ACADEMY / PANTHEON CITY / ZERO KILLER] [2007]
- UMBRELLA ACADEMY: APOCALYPSE SUITE [2007] #1-6
- UMBRELLA ACADEMY: DALLAS [2008] #1-6
- UMBRELLA ACADEMY: HOTEL OBLIVION [2018] #1-7
- HAZEL AND CHA CHA SAVE CHRISTMAS: TALES FROM THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY [2019] (1st UA spinoff)
- YOU LOOK LIKE DEATH: TALES FROM THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY [2020] #1-6
Media Source Material
If you've enjoyed non-comic media for Umbrella Academy, this section describes the comic book source material for some of the most popular non-comic media. An adaptation of Umbrella Academy premiered on Netflix in Feb 2019. While the show does change some of the details of the storyine, the plot and results are a faithful interpretation of the comic book source material.
Key Issues
A key issue can be an acceptable place to get started with Umbrella Academy, but they are more of a collector's checklist, as they can carry high price tags. The issues listed in this section are predominantly non-variants (i.e. main covers).
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- FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2007 [UMBRELLA ACADEMY / PANTHEON CITY / ZERO KILLER] [2007] (1st preview appearance of Umbrella Academy; 1st issue of this series)
- UMBRELLA ACADEMY: APOCALYPSE SUITE [2007] #1 (1st appearance of Umbrella Academy)
- UMBRELLA ACADEMY: DALLAS [2008] #1 (1st issue of this series)