The Umbrella Academy. Volume 2, Dallas

Much like when I read The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina after watching the Netflix series, I can’t help but wonder what I would’ve made of The Umbrella Academy comics had I read them before watching the new show. These two experiences have turned out to be an unintentional, but interesting exercise in doing the exact opposite of what I usually do – which is make sure to read the source material first. My primary motivations for doing so are to allow my own imagination to form images of the characters, scenes, and surroundings without outside influence and because the source material usually holds so much more information than a TV or movie adaptation. And those motivations are usually validated by watching a thing after first reading the thing. But in the cases of Sabrina and now The Umbrella Academy, I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find that their adaptations improved upon and elaborated on the source material. I will continue reading the comics, both because I need to do something while waiting for season 2 and because I’m interested in the many adventures of this curious family. But I love how the show added so much emotional depth to the characters and, also like Sabrina, made those characters a more diverse bunch.