Umbrella Academy: Dallas #5 – Review

By Gerard Way (writer), Gabriel Ba (artist), Dave Stewart (colorist)

The Story: After returning from the dead in the last issue, the Seance teleports himself, Kraken, and Spaceboy back in time in an effort to prevent Number 5 from carrying out his mission and assassinating President Kennedy.  When the brothers arrive three years too early however, they are forced to bide their time…in Vietnam.

The Good: If you’ve been following this latest installment of the Umbrella Academy from the start, by now you’re more than familiar with the qualities that have made this such an entertaining title.  Every issue is packed with bizarre and creative ideas, like when Kraken and his squad are ambushed in the jungle by Vietnamese vampires while transporting the mummy of the country’s last great emperor.  You know that Ba’s art is some of the finest, most energized work out there, and is the perfect vehicle for bringing Way’s imagination to life.  And finally, you’ve undoubtedly develop a newfound admiration for Dave Stewart’s brilliant color design.  I can honestly say his work here has been top notch, and is easily one of the reasons I keep buying these comics.  I’ve never followed a colorist’s work before, but in his case I’d make an exception.

The Not So Good: Overall, I’d say Way’s writing on this storyline is not as strong as it was on the first one.  Sure, there are some great ideas present here, but they can only carry so far if there isn’t a strong plot present to strengthen them.  And speaking of the plot (which wasn’t even disclosed until halfway through the story), the idea of the Umbrella Academy trying to prevent Kennedy’s assassination, while not flat out boring, is definitely underwhelming.  I feel like Way is trying to convince me that this is something important that I should be deeply invested in, but I just can’t seem to care enough.

Conclusion: I’m buying this comic for the art, the color, and the little bits of weirdness that are thrown in for good measure, but the story thus far does little to excite or entertain the way I hoped it would, and I question if that will change by the last issue.

Grade:  C

Tony Rakittke

Screamland #1-2 (of 5) – Review

By Harold Sipe (story) & Héctor Casanova (art)

The comic tells the story of present day story of the Universal Monsters, except they’re real people with real problems – trying to work on whatever comes to their hands. For instance, Frankenstein earns his money working for “z class” movies. However, roles are rare because he can’t seem to manage his drinking problem.

One day, he gets a call from Andrea Silverman, his agent, telling him to meet her. Her idea is to cast all the old Universal Monsters making a film adaptation of a Japanese manga dubbed, “MonsterHunter 3000”, based around a girl who gets off on killing monsters. As expected, this sort of thing is highly popular in Japan and Silverman sees a film version as a sure fire hit. With Dracula already on board, Silverman tries to convince “Frank” to do so.

The second issue starts with Frank visiting Dracula’s shrink, something that I never thought I’d see! The rest of the story is dedicated to The Mummy, indirectly, because he’s out of the country with Homeland Security on his trail. Andrea Silverman meets with The Mummy’s business manager, but she’s told that his client won’t be in the movie. Apparently he’s had a rough past, being accused of a murder.

Screamland’s art reminds me of a more detailed version of Ben Templesmith’s work (you decide if that’s a good or bad thing). The cover for #1 is hilarious: Frankenstein posing as a model bare chested in Miami. The story is actually really interesting, too. Growing up watching the monsters movies on Saturday nights, I always wondered what they’d be up to now, even if it’s another medium. I also think it was a smart choice focusing on one monster story per issue. Hopefully, they’ll start the movie before the comic ends! (Grade: B+)

-Daniel Yanez