Umbrella Academy Tops Graphic Novel Sales With Season 2 Release

Fans just can’t seem to get enough of The Umbrella Academy. Only a week after the hit show’s second season was released on Netflix, the graphic novel series that inspired the show is at the top of the charts on Amazon.

The Umbrella Academy comics consist of three volumes, which currently make up the three best-selling comic books on Amazon. The series was created and written by Gerard Way and illustrated by Gabriel Bá. Volumes 1 and 2 were published between 2007 and 2008 by Dark Horse Comics, who also published the subsequent third volume more recently in 2018. Volume 1 is available on Amazon’s website for $10.79, while Volume 3 costs $12.43, and Volume 2 – the inspiration for the show’s most recent season – is $15.99.

The popularity of the Netflix show has done wonders for the comic book series, which was already acclaimed in its own right having won an Eisner Award in 2008. After season one of the show dropped last year, Dark Horse was sold out of their stock of The Umbrella Academy comics in a matter of days, and now demand is rising yet again following the release of the second season. But those who manage to snag a copy will find that the show has a number of significant differences from the source material.

While the basic premise of the show’s first season was taken from the first volume, titled The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite, everything in the graphic novels is much more…extreme. Luther literally has the body of a gorilla (technically, a martian gorilla), Five was genetically altered with serial killer DNA to be the perfect assassin, and the team winds up fighting sentient monuments – several times. Also, the time-traveling assassins Hazel and Cha-Cha from the first season of the show don’t actually appear in the graphic novels until the second volume, and the ghost of Ben doesn’t appear at all. There’s also overall more “superhero-stuff.” For example, the characters all have hero nicknames in addition to their numbers – Luther is Spaceboy, Diego is The Kraken, Allison is The Rumor, Klaus is The Séance, Ben is (or, was)  The Horror, Vanya is The White Violin, and Five is just called The Boy since everyone forgot what his superhero name was after he disappeared.

While Netflix has yet to order a third season of The Umbrella Academy, it seems likely given the show’s popularity, and the fact that there is a third volume in the graphic novel series. In addition, we’ve heard a rumor that author Gerard Way is already working on Volume 4, called The Umbrella Academy: Sparrow Academy, which may release later this year, and prequel revolving around Klaus is also on the way.

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