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    Umbrella Academy

    Team » Umbrella Academy appears in 31 issues.

    Dr. Reginald Hargreeves adopted seven special children and formed a superhero team called the Umbrella Academy.

    Short summary describing this team.

    Umbrella Academy last edited by gravenraven on 09/24/23 01:36PM View full history

    Origin

    On the same day a wrestler defeated a space alien, forty-seven special children were born from mothers who had shown no sign of pregnancy. All but seven died. These seven were rescued by Reginald Hargreeves, and trained in the use of their powers to save the world.

    The children made their first public appearance at age ten when the Eiffle Tower gained sentience and began destroying Paris. Rumor cleared the civilians away and they soon discovered that, as Spaceboy suspected, that Robot Zombie Gustav Eiffel was behind the tower attack. Kraken killing Gustav with a knife (which would become his signature weapon) caused the tower to launch into space. Spaceboy opined to Hargreeves that he too would one day like to travel to space.

    Later, President Kennedy requested the Academy's help to stop the rampaging Lincoln Memorial. Reginald Hargreeves agreed, in exchange for nuclear missiles. The monument was eventually taken down by a giant, sculpted John Wilkes Booth that Rumor called into existence. [As seen in Dallas]

    Creation

    The Umbrella Academy was created by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá.

    Major Story Arcs

    Anywhere but Here

    As teenagers, Vanya and Kraken had a band called the Primm-8s. As usual, Kraken was quick to anger, and got them into trouble continuously. Hargreeves demanded that the band disband, but Vanya and Kraken refused. They went to perform one final time....but Kraken never showed up. He had gone to fight crime with his siblings. Vanya left the country heavy-hearted, wanting to be 'anywhere but here'.

    …But the Past Ain't Through With You

    Rumor died once. The Academy (with Rumor!) found her body, sawed in half, in an alley. Séance confirmed that it was Rumor by the psychic impressions. Not sure what was happening the Academy dropped the case to stop a rampaging sea-serpent that was upset because plushies were being made in its likeness. But that was not the end of the dead-Rumor. A villain called the Murder Magician took credit for her death on a talk show. The Academy showed up to stop him, destroying his murder-bot, and killing his assistant. Spaceboy explains what had happened: To get out of patrol duty, Rumor had said she was studying at the library. Since everything she said became truth, a duplicate Rumor was at the library. This duplicate was captured and killed by the Murder Magician.

    Apocalypse Suite

    For a time, the Academy split up. Until Reginald Hargreeves died.

    Spaceboy heard the news from his moon-base. He had long ago accomplished his dream of going into space, though he had been badly injured in the process. Hargreeves saved him by attaching his head to a Martian gorilla body. Upon hearing the news of Hargreeve's death, Spaceboy goes back to Earth for the funeral. At the old mansion, he meets Rumor. Rumor had long since hung up the costume, and started a family. However, her husband had divorced her, and she felt lost.

    Before the funeral, a surprise guest arrived: 00.05, the Boy had come back from the future, still ten years old, after 60 years of calculating how to travel back in time. There was going to be an Apocalypse, and he had to stop it. Still, this had to wait until after the funeral.

    Meanwhile, Vanya Hargreeves found an invitation for a performance. She went to the Icarus theater, and the Conductor told her about his plans to destroy the world with the music he wrote. He just needed her to play it. Vanya left, disgusted.

    As with most family events, the funeral ended in squabbling between Kraken and Spaceboy. This time, Spaceboy was going to finish Kraken for good. Only a fire on the horizon stopped him, and Kraken got away. Spaceboy, Rumor, and the Séance went to investigate. Several Terminauts were destroying a carnival. They had been programmed to attack if ever the Umbrella Academy reformed. Seeing the robots terrified Rumor, whose arm had once been devoured by the robots' creator, Dr. Terminal. She went into shock, and was not much help in rescuing the children from the blazing carnival. In another part of the carnival, Kraken was also helping. The chaos was such that no one noticed Vanya coming to meet her family again. Kraken, furious that she would show her face after all these years, drove her off. She returned to the Orchestra Verdammten.

    Rumor, Séance, Spaceboy, and Kraken returned home. The Boy found Hargreeve's monocle, which allowed him to see things how they really were. He passed out from the strain of using it.

    While the others were returning home, Vanya's powers were being unlocked by the Conductor. The powers Hargreeves had never told her about because they were too dangerous. Driven insane by the pain and the power, Vanya killed the Conductor with a note, and led an assault on the Umbrella Academy mansion. With a note, she sliced the statue of the deceased Horror in half. With another, she killed Pogo. Then she left, inviting the team to see her at her recital.

    No rest for the weary. Spaceboy immediately went out on patrol. Rumor asked the Séance if he would be going to sleep, but he replied that he would go as well...he had been eating speed and every time he closed his eyes he saw centipedes. Kraken also was preparing to take down Vanya.

    Rumor, Spaceboy, 00.05, and Séance prepare. They send Séance off on a special mission and head to the Icarus Theater. Kraken was already there. Before Rumor could fight, Vanya, the White Violin, cut her throat with a note. Spaceboy rushed her to the hospital. 00.05 and Kraken held their ground against the murderous orchestra. Then, the Séance arrived, with a children's orchestra, a composer, and several Ubu tribe members. They played a melody to counteract the Apocalypse Suite while Séance, pretending to channel Hargreeves, took on Vanya. He distracted her, making her feel inadequate, and remorseful. Séance revealed to the others that he had just been acting, fairly gleeful. 00.05 put a bullet in Vanya's head. Before she passed out, she revealed that the music could not be stopped. The moon exploded.

    The Séance caught the 40,000 ton piece of moon, saving the world. Rumor and Vanya both lived, though Rumor could not speak and Vanya could not move and was completely amnesiac. Returning home, the Academy discovered that the mansion had been crushed by the Eiffel Tower. No one was sad.

    Mon Dieu!

    During the brief lull, 00.05 tested a time-travel device on Séance, accidentally sending him into the middle of the French Revolution. He is returned home moments later, with a perfect knowledge of French.

    Dallas

    Several weeks after Vanya's plans had been thwarted, the Academy was much changed. Rumor was bitter and resentful, Spaceboy never left the TV and had grown fat. Séance was a celebrity, and 00.05 was in serious trouble. Only Kraken was as he had been.

    Several members of the Temps Aeternalis tried to kill 00.05. He defeated them handily but not before one of them managed to call for re-enforcement...Hazel and Cha-Cha. Hearing this, 00.05 said they were all doomed.

    Rumor wonders what is going on with 00.05, who had been acting strangely. She tracks him down and makes him tell her the full story.

    00.05 had been captured by the Temps Aeternalis while returning to the past. They had altered him, splicing his DNA with that of famous killers, and training him. He eventually escaped them, and returned to the present, but they were hunting him. As they talked, 00.05 noticed a puppy at a pet store, and bought it.

    As Rumor and 00.05 ate lunch, 00.05's commander caught up with them. He was an intelligent goldfish. And if 00.05 did not help kill President Kennedy, there would be consequences...the Temps Aeternalis had captured 00.05's mother before he was born. They also drew Rumor into the plot....since 00.05's mother was also Spaceboy's. They were twins.

    00.05 and Rumor went with the Temp Aeternalis.

    While Rumor was investigating, Hazel and Cha-Cha were on the hunt. They found Séance, who was drunk and high at Pogo's grave. Hitting him in the head with a baseball bat, they took him in for interrogation. Séance was trapped. He could not use his powers with shoes on, and Hazel and Cha-Cha had promptly put shoes on him. He managed to project his astral self through the TV, alerting Spaceboy that he needed help. Spaceboy set out to find him, but was too late...Hazel and Cha-Cha had killed Séance with a shot to the head...but not before obtaining Reginald Hargreeves' nukes.

    Séance found himself in heaven, where he met God, who appeared as a giant cowboy. God didn't like him, and told Séance that Lucifer wouldn't either. So Séance was going back to Earth. Oh, and he needed to get revenge like a man.

    Spaceboy arrives at the hideout only to find Séance's body. He is tazed by Hazel and Cha-Cha, shutting down his systems. All of a sudden, Hazel shoots Cha-Cha in the head. Then he shoots himself. Séance comes back to life, yelling to God if that was manly enough for him? Then he resets Spaceboy's systems, and tells him not to worry, he disarmed the nukes with help from a dead scientist.

    Then, Séance dug up Pogo's grave. He had learned about 00.05's planned assassination of the president, and they were going to stop him. In Pogo's grave was a dead Temps Aeternalis agent. Séance used the chronometer to send himself, Spaceboy, and Kraken back in time. As soon as they left, the world blew up. Séance hadn't properly defused the nukes.

    Séance had also miscalculated the time, sending them several years too early. Not knowing what to do, they head to Vietnam. Spaceboy goes into the jungle for some thinking, while Kraken leads a military squad. Séance raises some money and builds a televator.

    It's time to stop 00.05. Séance collects Kraken and Spaceboy, and brings them to his strip club. He didn't want to run a strip club, but it was the only way to make enough money for the televator. He hands his child to his Vietnamese wife, and gives her his sunglasses. Then Spaceboy, Kraken, and Séance are off to Dallas.

    They are a little late. They save 00.05 from the double-crossing Temps Aeternalis agents, but Rumor (disguised as Mrs. Kennedy) has told Kennedy that his head was going to explode. It does. The group heads back to the present. Spaceboy is furious that Rumor would kill just to save him. But when they return...everything is exactly the same. Except not exploded. By killing Kennedy, 00.05 ensured that Hargreeves would never get the nukes. His goldfish boss appears with ice cream. Fed up, 00.05 eats the goldfish. Séance says that was the straw that broke the camels back, and goes to a bar. Spaceboy goes back to the forest. Rumor makes peace with Vanya.

    Members

    Reginald Hargreeves aka The Monocle: Reginald Hargreeves is an alien posing as a human. He invented the televator, levitator belts, chimpanzee intelligence boosters, and a new type of cereal. Reginald Hargreeves was the founder of the Umbrella Academy, which he created to save the world. From what, he never said.

    Luther Hargreeves, 00.01,- aka Spaceboy: Leader of Umbrella Academy, he has the head of a human and body of a Martian gorilla. Luthor is stubborn. He is in love with the Rumor. Spaceboy has super-strength. He wears a jetpack and carries a laser pistol.

    Diego Hargreeves, 00.02 aka- The Kraken: The Kraken does not believe in following orders. He is constantly fighting with Spaceboy. Kraken is one of the few members of the Umbrella Academy who did not retire from super-heroics before Hargreeve's death. Kraken is able to hold his breath for an unlimited time. He also has incredible skill with throwing knives.

    Allison Hargreeves, 00.03 aka- The Rumor: The Rumor retired from super-heroics early, and started a family. After her divorce, she returned to the Umbrella Academy where she started a relationship with Spaceboy. Anything the Rumor says becomes truth.

    Klaus Hargreeves, 00.04 aka- The Séance: The Séance makes the other Umbrella Academy members wary since they never know what he is going to do next. He has had drug addiction problems, and checked himself into the Shinyview mental institution at one point. The Séance has the powers of telepathy, telekinesis (levitation), contacting the dead, summoning the dead, and returning from death.

    The Boy, 00.05: The boy has no name other than his number, 00.05. When he was ten he ran away to the future, where he discovered that the world had ended. He traveled back in time to warn the others, and was altered by an agency dedicated to preserving time. He has a dog, Mr. Pennycrumb. The Boy is able to travel forward in time, which can be manifested as 'micro-jumps' which make him appear to be going at super-speed. He is also a master assassin and ruthless killer.

    Ben Hargreeves, 00.06 aka- The Horror: He was able to channel monsters from another dimension. Ben was killed in an unknown scenario, though Spaceboy believed he should be blamed.

    Vanya Hargreeves, 00.07 aka- The White Violin: Originally, Vanya thought she had no powers. She became alienated from the rest of her adoptive family. After Hargreeve's death, she fell into the clutches of the Orchestra Verdammten, where her powers were unlocked. She is able to destroy anything from a monkey to the moon with the music from her violin.

    Netflix Series

    Netfilx's The Umbrella Academy
    Netfilx's The Umbrella Academy

    A ten-episode Umbrella Academy series was released on Netflix in February of 2019.

    Season 1 combines elements of Apocalypse Suite and Dallas, as well as adding in new material.

    In Season 2, the team go back in time, and get caught up in the assassination of JFK.

    Cast

    • Elliot Page as Vanya Hargreeves
    • Tom Hopper as Luther Hargreeves
    • Emmy Raver-Lampman as Allison Hargreeves
    • David Castañeda as Diego Hargreeves
    • Robert Sheehan as Klaus Hargreeves
    • Aidan Gallagher as Number Five
    • Mary J. Blige as Cha Cha
    • Cameron Britton as Hazel
    • Adam Godley as Pogo
    • John Magaro as Leonard Peabody
    • Colm Feore as Sir Reginald Hargreeves
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