The Umbrella Academy Volume 3: Hotel Oblivion
Gerard Way, story; Gabriel Bá, art; Nick Filardi, colors; Nate Piekos, letters
Dark Horse Books, 2019

This installment opens with Hargreeves sending a super-villain to the title location: a hotel/prison located in a pocket dimension, which can be reached only via Televator. As the story proper begins it is a few years after Hargeeves' death, and the members of the Umbrella Academy are scattered around the world. Number Five is a hired gun, currently investigating the Perseus Corporation; Rumor is being stalked by her ex-husband; an out-of-shape Spaceboy and The Horror are in Tokyo (from which they board a trans-dimensional craft voyaging to Afterspace); Vanya is still recovering from being shot in the head; and so on. Even the most mundane scenes are full of hallucinogenic detail, like the corporate guard wearing elaborate European royal guard attire, or a rancher riding a giant chicken. Surreal settings like the Hotel Oblivion and Afterspace are way more...surreal, and wildly colorful. The various narrative threads appear unconnected for much of the story, finally coming together in a grand battle between the Umbrella Academy and the Hotel Oblivion escapees. When all seems lost, another Umbrella Academy squad appears. Their introduces himself as Number One. Clearly a setup for the next installment. Like this one, it will be worth reading for Gabriel Bá's art and Nick Filardi's colors, regardless of the clarity of the writing.

You need to be a member of Captain Comics to add comments!

Join Captain Comics

Votes: 0
Email me when people reply –