“The Umbrella Academy” is a rare creative property that is the same but different in its original comic book and its filmed adaptation.

And both forms are high quality and highly enjoyable in their respective mediums.

My “Umbrella Academy” introduction came via the Netflix series. The crux is dozens of children were spontaneously born the same day. A millionaire adventurer inventor adopts seven of the children, hones their unique powers and uses them as a super team of children to protect the world from mystical, inter-dimensional forces. Years later, upon the death of their “father,” the children are reunited as adults and once again must save the world, or at least try.

The first two seasons of the Netflix series are wonderfully done – quirky, dramatic, detailed, funny, epic. A third season is on its way

They are based on “The Umbrella Academy” comic books. The first Netflix season is based on the comics first story arc: “The Apocalypse Suite.” The crux of the comic is dozens of children were spontaneously born the same day. A millionaire adventurer inventor adopts seven of the children, hones their unique powers and uses them as a super team of children to protect the world from mystical, inter-dimensional forces. Years later, upon the death of their “father,” the children are reunited as adults and once again must save the world, or at least try. 

The comic is also quirky, dramatic, nuanced, funny, epic but on a more suggestive level. There are fewer details and dialogue in the comics compared to the Netflix series but the comic is proof that less is more while the show proves that more is more.

“The Umbrella Academy” shines as a comic book and as a TV series. They are the wonderfully the same and oh so wonderfully different.

Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance rock star fame is the creator/writer of “The Umbrella Academy” comic book along with artist Gabriel Ba, with cover art by James Jean.

Comic book or TV series: If you like one, you likely will like the other, even though they are as different as they are the same.