They’re back! If you only know Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá’s The Umbrella Academy from the Netflix series, you’ve missed out. The TV series may be gone, but as long as Way and Bá keep having ideas, the comic goes on. After all, having a TV series was only Plan B when you’re a dedicated comics creator.
And so… The Umbrella Academy: Plan B will hit comic stores real and virtual in June of 2025. Giving more focus to the Sparrows (which in honesty seemed out of left field and underdeveloped in the Netflix series), the comic continues a tradition of weirdness that isn’t just for its own sake. Or maybe it is, but with their original vision that weirdness rocks.
From Dark Horse Comics:
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 (Paranoid Gardens, Doom Patrol) and Bá (Two Brothers, Daytripper), illustrated by Bá, colored by Dave Stewart (Paranoid Gardens, Bowling with Corpses and Other Strange Tales from Lands Unknown), and lettered by Nate Piekos (Black Hammer: Spiral City, Minor Threats). 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.
“Telling this story with Gabriel would become, as it is today, such a special part of my life,” said Way. “This is not only because we would evolve as artists— but because we had the opportunity to grow up over a pretty crazy adventure together. Each chapter of this story seems to form and coalesce into its own organism— sometimes as a screaming baby on a subway car, other times a bird kicked out of its nest— and it’s because of this I am just as excited for Plan B as I was when we went on this trip together with Apocalypse Suite.”
“I haven’t felt this excited about our story since the early days of Apocalypse Suite,” added Bá. “This is Umbrella Academy at its finest. ”
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.
Before this all started, all I knew was that my students loved this band My Chemical Romance, so when the Dark Horse booth at Comic-Con had Gerard Way signing, it was a must do. He still looks pretty much the same. Like his output, I have expanded.
Comic-Con 2007… it’s been 18 years?
Side note: In directing a high school production of Macbeth, I liberally borrowed from comics — Boom Studios’ Clive Barker’s Hellraiser for the imagery, and instead of the parade of future kings that torment Macbeth’s vision, I had Banquo’s ghost sing “The Black Parade.” It’s a fond memory and Gerard, I thank you for the inspiration.
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In addition to running Fanboy Planet, Derek has contributed stories to Arcana Comics (The Greatest American Hero) and Monsterverse Comics (Bela Lugosi's Tales from the Grave). He has performed with ComedySportz, City Lights Theater Company and Silicon Valley Shakespeare, though relocated to Hollywood to... work in an office? If you ever played Eric's Ultimate Solitaire on the Macintosh, it was Derek's voice as The Weasel that urged you to play longer. You can buy his book "I Was Flesh Gordon" on the Amazon link at the right. Email him at [email protected].
