This morning, I was watching The Incredibles and something really struck me– Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba’s Umbrella Academy is almost The Incredibles filtered through Uncanny X-Men, Teen Titans and a little Grant Morrison or maybe Matt Fraction thrown in. Brad Bird’s movie The Incredibles is all about family, powers and responsibility and that seems to be where Umbrella Academy is going as well. Both “teams” are coming back together after being apart and need to establish their place in a changed world. For Incredibles, it’s coming back from a Watchmen-like legal situation while the Umbrella Academy is coming back from a more dangerous trap– family dissolution. Even the exaggerated artwork in both is very similar. Fro-zone’s elongated features mimic Sir Hargreeves in issue #1 of UA and Mr. Incredible could be a stand in for Space Boy.
Now I’m not saying that Gerard Way is ripping off Brad Bird because both creators owe a lot to the past, everything from Fantastic Four to Watchmen to Wolfman and Claremont. But it’s a fascinating connection that these two stories have with the focus on family and how their powers set them apart and define them.
Woah. You’re completely right. I honestly never realised that until I was sitting here in English class, goofing off on the computer and came across this.
Now I probably have this weird contemplative look on my face…..