“The Umbrella Academy” story continues with new tie-in books and forthcoming comics

Get a look at "The Commission Handbook." Plus, showrunner Steve Blackman says creators Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá are working on more stories.

After four seasons, the saga of The Umbrella Academy has come to an end. Well, the Netflix show has, at least. But fans should take heart that there's still more material coming from this offbeat superhero universe.

For one thing, the original comic series by Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance) and Gabriel Bá (Daytripper) is still ongoing, and may end up going in slightly different directions than the show.

“The truth is, Gerard and Gabriel are still working on the next volume of comics and they've told me about them,” The Umbrella Academy showrunner Steve Blackman told Entertainment Weekly recently. “We decided to end after four seasons and they’re going on much longer, so there are deviations."

He continued, "I think the volumes of graphic novels will go even longer than the number of seasons of the show. But I shared with them where we were going this season, and vice versa. Many moments in season 4 came out of their brains. They said, ‘this is where we're going, we'd love you to incorporate this,’ and I was like, great!”

Related: Why the Umbrella Academy comics are still worth reading after binging the Netflix show

This year has also brought two new Umbrella Academy tie-in books — not comics, but actual text-based volumes. Young Blood is an Umbrella Academy YA novel written by Alyssa Sheinmel that tells a story from the characters’ younger days, when they were actually a teenaged superhero team rather than a group of dysfunctional adult siblings with their own problems. And then, published just this week, Umbrella Academy: The Commission Handbook acts as a reference book for the extensive, timey-wimey world of the show. 

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Set after the disappearance of Number Five (Aidan Gallagher) but before the death of Ben (Justin H. Min), Young Blood finds the young Umbrellas seeking some break from the tyranny of their adoptive father Sir Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore on the show). So they sneak off to a nearby college town, hoping for a party where they can act normal without their powers, but instead find “weird earthquakes, weirder partygoers, and a possible new foe.”

Written by Matt Epstein with art by Jon Kutt, Umbrella Academy: The Commission Handbook is an in-universe text for agents of the titular Commission, the paranormal agency that tries to keep the timeline safe from the meddling of time-travelers like Number Five. In the excerpts below, you can see some of what is on offer in this volume.

The Commission Handbook describes some of the organization’s agents, such as the colorful duo Hazel and Cha-Cha who were such a menace in season 1. But there are also infographics and analyses of other characters, such as the alternate-universe Sparrow Academy that took the place of the Umbrellas in season 3. The excerpt below discusses Fei Hargreeves (Britne Oldford), who could generate ravens from her body.

Young Blood and Umbrella Academy: The Commission Handbook are on sale now. There’s no word yet on when we can expect new installments of the Umbrella Academy comic, but fans should take comfort that Way and Ba are still working on it.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.