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SYFY WIRE The Umbrella Academy

Umbrella Academy: Gerard Way says there will be eight graphic novels when all is said and done

By Josh Weiss
Umbrella Academy Dallas

2019 is shaping up to be the year of The Umbrella Academy. In addition to a live-action adaptation from Netflix, creators Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá are currently serializing a third graphic novel in the series, Hotel Oblivion; Apocalypse Suite and Dallas made up the first two collections.

During a recent interview with Collider, Way revealed that there will be eight volumes when everything is said and done. He also explained how Netflix needed to be filled in on what's to come in the lives of The Monocle's adopted children.

“What I did for [showrunner] Steve Blackman and the writers, in that first writers' room, was to create an eighteen-page document that laid everything out. Even of the graphic novels that haven’t come out yet. Which should equal eight when we’re all done," he said. "So I gave them the blueprint for what happens, because you do want to seed certain things in there for future series, and the hope is that it’s a success so that you do a lot more of these. They’re very curious what Gabriel and I are doing next. We always send them the new comics. They really want to know what’s happening.”

The Umbrella Academy | Teaser [HD] | Netflix

Fans of the comic may still have questions about why all of the Umbrella Academy children were born at the exact same time of different mothers who showed no signs of pregnancy. There's also the mystery of what kind of space alien Sir Reginald Hargreeves is and how Number 6 (aka The Horror) died all those years ago. But don't worry, Way promises we'll receive the answers we so desperately crave.

“As Gabriel and I tell this story and it keeps going on and on and on, that’s how we learn about stuff," the writer/musician continued. "The more we read, the more we learn. We don’t know all the backstory, we don’t know all the secrets. And so these secrets are revealed over time.”

Season 1 of The Umbrella Academy premieres on Netflix February 15. The series stars Ellen Page, Mary J. Blige, Cameron Britton, Tom Hopper, Robert Sheehan, John Magaro, Kate Walsh, Aidan Gallagher, and Colm Feore.

Currently releasing single issues, The Umbrella Academy: Hotel Oblivion goes on sale as a collected trade paperback August 20.