The Umbrella Academy's Mother and Pogo: The Role of Non-humans and the Elimination of the BackstoryBoth the comic and TV series "The Umbrella Academy" include the a robotic AI that looks and acts like the mother of the Umbrella Academy children and a hyper-intelligent chimpanzee that acts like a mentor/sidekick/Alfred character for the children. The comic series minimizes the role of Mother, however, while it maximizes the role of intelligent chimpanzees. We see chimpanzees all over the Umbrella Academy comic world taking on every role that humans normally do. Why the difference between the two, and why do either of them include these figures in the first place? Why do the children have a robotic mother and a chimpanzee butler? How did these characters come about in the logic of the comic/series and why? What does the elimination of their backstories mean for the TV show/comic series? |