Tag Archives: the umbrella academy: plan b

Mini Reviews: Reborn: Ultimate Impact #1, Of the Earth #1, Odin #1, Sirens Love Hurts #4, Umbrella Academy Plan B #4, Absolute Green Arrow #1

Posted on by
Absolute Green Arrow #1

Sometimes, the staff at Graphic Policy read more comics than we’re able to get reviewed. When that happens you’ll see a weekly feature compiling reviews of the comics, or graphic novels, we just didn’t get a chance to write a full one for.

These are Graphic Policy’s Mini Reviews and Recommendations.

Logan

Reborn: Ultimate Impact #1 (Marvel) – Chris Condon and Stefano Caselli try their darndest (The Spot always looks cool visually), but Reborn: Ultimate Impact #1 can’t beat the clunkiness of a cash-in on the new Ultimate Universe’s success. Honestly, the pieced together name of the title is the perfect metaphor for the first issue itself which throws together Earth-6160 death cultists, Miles Morales and the origin boxes, and a new crop of heroes. It’s lots of plates spinning of a first issue, and most of the characters except for Jersey City’s new “Wonder Man” seem pretty generic, but maybe they’ll grow on us. There just isn’t throughline between the Annihilus stuff and the new heroes except for they have to have someone to punch eventually. Sadly, the once promising Ultimate U ended pretty abruptly (Deniz Camp and company continue to do good work on Ultimates though.), and this is more of the same. Overall: 6.1 Verdict: Pass

Of the Earth #1 (Image) – Of the Earth #1 is pure, pitch black Texas crude atmospheric horror noir from Chris Condon, newcomer Andrew Ehrich, Charlie Adlard, and Pip Martin. Condon and Ehrich use in-universe books and oil company memos to give the comic a true crime vibe while Adlard and Martin lay on the creepy visuals while giving this first chapter a slow burn. Protagonist Tabby is beyond a fish out of water in the aptly named Solitude, Texas where she’s trying to reconnect with family after some time. An extended scene with a dead dog, rental car, and a Duel-esque pickup truck shows that she’s a little too nice and compassionate for this neck of the woods and hints at the horrors to come while being a study of suspense in miniature. I’m here for fossil fuel cryptids, and this unique genre hybrid of a comic centered around a resource that starts wars. Overall: 8.0 Verdict: Buy

Odin #1 (Image) – Marguerite Bennett, James Tynion, Letizia Cadonici, and Jordie Bellaire draw on the real life evil of white supremacy to create a horrifying, psychedelic comic. What starts as undercover journalist Adela infiltrating a Gen Z Nazi/Odinist group goes so wrong as the severe nine panel grids and analytic captions become something more primal and darkly poetic. Let’s just say that crazy stuff happens in the back half of this comic. I love how Cadonici and Bellaire depict the bleak barren nature of the camp site before upending with big red swatches and a loose drawing style. Adela has literally bitten off more than she can chew, and I’m invested in this twisted rabbit hole although the subject matter hits very close to home. Overall: 8.1 Verdict: Buy

Sirens Love Hurts #4 (DC/Black Label) – Tini Howard, Babs Tarr, and Miquel Muerto stick the landing in this feminomenon of a series. It’s so cool to see how Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Black Canary, and Catwoman’s relationship has progressed through the four issues of Sirens Love Hurts culminating in one hell of a beat ’em up against the freaky Big Bad, Horoscope. Howard and Tarr tie up the romantic subplots nicely too with some real talk between Batman and Catwoman and Harley and Ivy. (I love how she writes Batman!) And, of course, the fits are fierce, and the colors from Muerto are immaculate. I could read so many more adventures with this group of friends and creative team lineup. Overall: 9.8 Verdict: Buy

Umbrella Academy Plan B #4 (Dark Horse) – After a bit of a hiatus, Umbrella Academy Plan B is starting to round into zany shape. Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba introduce some mysterious new characters like Jennifer while also fleshing out some old trieds and trues like Klaus, Allison, and Five. The book works when it’s about a dysfunctional family or resisting fascism not so much when it’s about parallel timelines and random one-off supporting characters. There’s even a plot point stripped straight from volume 2. However, Ba and Dave Stewart continue to make this book like gorgeously bonkers, and Way has his moments too like Allison reflecting on her life in the supervillain prison Hotel Oblivion. Overall: 7.5 Verdict: Read

Absolute Green Arrow #1 (DC) – Luigi Mangione meets Jason Voorhees in Pornsak Pichetshote, Rafael Albuquerque, and Marcelo Maiolo’s riveting, all-too-timely take on Green Arrow. Absolute Green Arrow #1 picks up after the events of Absolute Evil with Hector Hammond hiring Dinah Lance and Malcolm Merlyn to investigate the murders of former business partners Oliver Queen and Jubal Slade. Slade is a rapist and pedophile too, and Queen was trying to do the right thing so it complicates Dinah’s relationship to her job. Pichetshote makes her very sympathetic: someone who hates the rich, but takes gigs from them to help cover her father’s healthcare. She’s the perfect entry point to this dark world that’s enhanced by the grit and power of Albuquerque and Maiolo’s visuals. This is the kind of superhero comic I need in 2026 and yet another strong launch for the Absolute line. Overall: 10 Verdict: Buy

Preview: The Umbrella Academy: Plan B #4

Posted on by

The Umbrella Academy: Plan B #4

Writer: Gerard Way
Artist: Gabriel Bá
Colorist: Dave Stewart
Letterer: Nate Piekos
Cover artist: Gabriel Bá

I’ve heard a rumor that immersing oneself in work can sometimes serve as a way to avoid confronting family problems. Allison will discover that sooner or later and she’ll have to face the mistakes of her past. Perhaps that’s what Jennifer’s visions are trying to tell her as well. And maybe the Sparrows should know that no president of the United States is ever safe whenever we have a chimpanzee dressed up as Marilyn Monroe.

The Umbrella Academy: Plan B #4

Preview: Umbrella Academy: Plan B #3

Posted on by

Umbrella Academy: Plan B #3

Writer: Gerard Way
Artist: Gabriel Bá
Colorist: Dave Stewart
Letterer: Nate Piekos
Cover Artist: Gabriel Bá

With the Sparrows running the show, everyone is seeking help to cope with their new reality. Klaus is in a support group. Five is auditioning for a job. Spaceboy is having transcending conversations with his childhood hero, and Rumor is about to have a surprise that might put her world upside down. Between visions from the past and plans for the future, a mother just wants to see her children together again.

Umbrella Academy: Plan B #3

Preview: The Umbrella Academy: Plan B #2

Posted on by

The Umbrella Academy: Plan B #2

(W) Gerard Way, Gabriel Bá (A) Gabriel Bá

With the Umbrella Academy exiled in the Hotel Oblivion, the Sparrows have taken over the city with a strong hand, making sure everyone knows who’s in control now. While Rumor tries to figure out how to beat them, Five and Kraken are done listening to her ideas and prefer going back to the battlefield. Calhoun makes a pitch to the President of the United States on how to deal with this superhero situation, but there’s an election coming and they can’t rush their next move. Where does Vanya fit in on all this? What about those visions? Who’s Deever talking to? Lovely questions with answers coming in every issue.

The Umbrella Academy: Plan B #2

Preview: The Umbrella Academy: Plan B #2

Posted on by

The Umbrella Academy: Plan B #2

(W) Gerard Way, Gabriel Bá (A) Gabriel Bá

With the Umbrella Academy exiled in the Hotel Oblivion, the Sparrows have taken over the city with a strong hand, making sure everyone knows who’s in control now. While Rumor tries to figure out how to beat them, Five and Kraken are done listening to her ideas and prefer going back to the battlefield. Calhoun makes a pitch to the President of the United States on how to deal with this superhero situation, but there’s an election coming and they can’t rush their next move. Where does Vanya fit in on all this? What about those visions? Who’s Deever talking to? Lovely questions with answers coming in every issue.

The Umbrella Academy: Plan B #2

The Umbrella Academy: Plan B #1 is like getting kicked in the teeth after a six year nap

Posted on by

Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba’s The Umbrella Academy is back with its fourth volume, Plan B. The Umbrella Academy: Plan B #1 offers readers of the comics their first extended glimpse of The Sparrow Academy who terrorize and subvert our protagonists every step of the way beginning with Ba’s clever cover for the comic, which features a sort of vandalism of the usual team shot and succinctly tells the story of The Sparrow Academy’s first mission in an airplane seatback diagram meets a school composition book design. There are call backs to The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite #1 with Way and Ba showing the surface similarities between The Umbrella and Sparrow Academies before ripping them apart.

The plot of The Umbrella Academy: Plan B #1 is the comic book equivalent is kicking a dog while it’s down over and over again. Oh, and then let’s rub your cute little face in the mud and treat the characters that you have been spent years connecting with in both the comics and television medium with the utmost of disrespect. Part of the appeal of The Umbrella Academy is the utterly screwed up nature of the book’s main cast, and Way and Ba play on this vulnerability for maximum drama and a colorful action sequence. Seriously, Gabriel Ba and colorist Dave Stewart bring out the bright lights and surrealism to establish the Sparrow Academy’s abilities and personalities through action not exposition. For everything The Umbrella Academy throws at them, there’s a superior countermeasure. And, of course, pulling the strings in the background like it was revealed in Hotel Oblivion is the android Mom, who raised the Umbrella Academy members while Sir Reginald Hargreaves was doing God knows what. A borderline-fascist android antagonist definitely hits home in 2025 in the era of Open AI taking over everything especially with Mom being the original “trad wife”.

Reading The Umbrella Academy: Plan B #1 is like getting kicked in the teeth after a six year nap. Gerard Way lets Ba’s visuals drive the momentum of the comic while giving everyone a much anticipated Umbrella vs Sparrow Academy throwdown that lives up to the hype. I marvel at the book’s powerful approach to fight choreography as well as the smart color choices from Stewart that help keep the long list of combatants distinct. Plus Way and Gabriel Ba’s prose is still as quirky and rhythmic as ever with the Sparrow Academy playing the role of upstart opening band that really should be the headliner in every way. Plan B is a confident return for The Umbrella Academy series, and I’m excited to see how the story plays out of this summer. It could make for entertaining reading while you wait in various lines to see My Chemical Romance on their “Long Live the Black Parade Tour”.

Story: Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba Art: Gabriel Ba
Colors: Dave Stewart Letters: Nate Piekos
Story: 8.0 Art: 9.0 Overall: 8.5 Recommendation: Buy

Dark Horse Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: Zeus Comics – Third Eye Comics – Golden Apple Comics – Kindle

Preview: The Umbrella Academy: Plan B #1

Posted on by

The Umbrella Academy: Plan B #1

(W) Gerard Way, Gabriel Ba (CA) Gabriel Ba
In Shops: Jun 11, 2025
SRP: $4.99

After the mass release of The City’s greatest foes and the chaos that followed in Hotel Oblivion, the Umbrella Academy face their most fearsome challenge to date-their other brothers and sisters. Known only as The Sparrows, they share a different connection to Sir Reginald Hargreeves and Mom. No one knows how to hurt each other more than family, and this powerful, ruthless brood will spare no brutality in favor of their sole objective-control, and the obedient glare that comes with it. A harrowing and action-filled study of ambition, futility, and violence-The Umbrella Academy: Plan B is what happens when those far more powerful tell us what we need.

The Umbrella Academy: Plan B #1

Early Review: The Umbrella Academy: Plan B #1 is like getting kicked in the teeth after a six year nap

Posted on by

Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba’s The Umbrella Academy is back with its fourth volume, Plan B. The Umbrella Academy: Plan B #1 offers readers of the comics their first extended glimpse of The Sparrow Academy who terrorize and subvert our protagonists every step of the way beginning with Ba’s clever cover for the comic, which features a sort of vandalism of the usual team shot and succinctly tells the story of The Sparrow Academy’s first mission in an airplane seatback diagram meets a school composition book design. There are call backs to The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite #1 with Way and Ba showing the surface similarities between The Umbrella and Sparrow Academies before ripping them apart.

The plot of The Umbrella Academy: Plan B #1 is the comic book equivalent is kicking a dog while it’s down over and over again. Oh, and then let’s rub your cute little face in the mud and treat the characters that you have been spent years connecting with in both the comics and television medium with the utmost of disrespect. Part of the appeal of The Umbrella Academy is the utterly screwed up nature of the book’s main cast, and Way and Ba play on this vulnerability for maximum drama and a colorful action sequence. Seriously, Gabriel Ba and colorist Dave Stewart bring out the bright lights and surrealism to establish the Sparrow Academy’s abilities and personalities through action not exposition. For everything The Umbrella Academy throws at them, there’s a superior countermeasure. And, of course, pulling the strings in the background like it was revealed in Hotel Oblivion is the android Mom, who raised the Umbrella Academy members while Sir Reginald Hargreaves was doing God knows what. A borderline-fascist android antagonist definitely hits home in 2025 in the era of Open AI taking over everything especially with Mom being the original “trad wife”.

Reading The Umbrella Academy: Plan B #1 is like getting kicked in the teeth after a six year nap. Gerard Way lets Ba’s visuals drive the momentum of the comic while giving everyone a much anticipated Umbrella vs Sparrow Academy throwdown that lives up to the hype. I marvel at the book’s powerful approach to fight choreography as well as the smart color choices from Stewart that help keep the long list of combatants distinct. Plus Way and Gabriel Ba’s prose is still as quirky and rhythmic as ever with the Sparrow Academy playing the role of upstart opening band that really should be the headliner in every way. Plan B is a confident return for The Umbrella Academy series, and I’m excited to see how the story plays out of this summer. It could make for entertaining reading while you wait in various lines to see My Chemical Romance on their “Long Live the Black Parade Tour”.

Story: Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba Art: Gabriel Ba
Colors: Dave Stewart Letters: Nate Piekos
Story: 8.0 Art: 9.0 Overall: 8.5 Recommendation: Buy

Dark Horse Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Pre-Order: Third Eye Comics – Golden Apple Comics – Kindle

Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá’s superhero series returns stranger than ever in The Umbrella Academy: Plan B

Posted on by

Gerard Way, Gabriel Bá, and Dark Horse Comics present the next harrowing story in the Umbrella Academy comic series, The Umbrella Academy: Plan B! This brand-new Umbrella Academy tale picks up directly after the events of Hotel Oblivion and is co-written by Way and Bá, illustrated by Bá, colored by Dave Stewart, and lettered by Nate Piekos. Issue #1 will feature six variant covers illustrated by a star-studded group of artists including Fabio Moon, Claire Roe, Mike del Mundo, Duncan Fegredo, David Aja, and Jill Thompson. The action-packed story of ambition, futility, and violence begins June 2025.

After the mass release of The City’s greatest foes and the chaos that followed in Hotel Oblivion, the Umbrella Academy faces their most fearsome challenge to date–their other brothers and sisters.

Known only as The Sparrows, they share a different connection to Sir Reginald Hargreeves and Mom. No one knows how to hurt each other more than family, and this powerful, ruthless brood will spare no brutality in favor of their sole objective—control and the obedient glare that comes with it.

Meet the rest of the family on June 11, 2025 when The Umbrella Academy: Plan B #1 (of 6) arrives in comic shops. It is now for preorder from your local comic shop for $4.99.