'The Umbrella Academy': Gerard Way shares 'Apocalypse Suite' prequel comic, will it reveal Klaus' backstory?
Just before the release of 'The Umbrella Academy' Season 2, musician and co-creator of the series, Gerard Way, announces a new comic book that will dive into the history of the characters, starting with everyone's favorite narcotically-inclined necromancer, Klaus. The series will be set just before 'Apocalypse Suite' and will cover the 10-year gap between Klaus' childhood and the events of the comics' first arc. The series will see Klaus in Hollywood, going up against a vampiric drug lord. The comic tells of Klaus' life before the events of Season 1 of the series where he returns home after the death of his adoptive father for a family reunion before the end of the world. Klaus had been kicked out of the Umbrella Academy mansion at 18 by Sir Reginald Hargreeves, and he made his way to Hollywood, where he will immediately begin experimenting with magical narcotics.
“Of all of the siblings, Klaus was always the first one I wanted to explore because I had a lot of ideas about what happened to him in the ten years before ‘Apocalypse Suite’,” said Gerard Way, in an interview with Forbes. “It felt like a big story in itself. Since then, I’ve filled in the gaps on what the other siblings were up to in that ten-year span and I’d like to explore those stories as well. Klaus was always the first, though.” The comic will be co-written by Way's 'Fabulous Killjoys' co-writer, Shaun Simon, and illustrated by INJ Culbard. The co-creator of 'The Umbrella Academy,' Gabrial Ba, will be doing covers for the series. The comic will explore more aspects of 'The Umbrella Academy' universe, specifically what that world's version of Hollywood is like.
"You definitely get to see more of the world, specifically Hollywood, in 'The Umbrella Academy' universe,” Way continued. “Like all things Umbrella Academy, you can’t exactly tell what year it is, but things tend to look classic, or like they did during the heyday or golden age of something, where our first understanding of the place or activity came from. This Hollywood feels like the Hollywood we have seen in old classic films but has that slight alternate reality, and sometimes more modern feeling, that Umbrella Academy things do."
Way also revealed the title of the next volume, 'The Umbrella Academy: Sparrow Academy', though no details about the series have yet been revealed. From the title, however, there seems to be the implication that there is a rival academy, filled with more superpowered people - though whether they're villains or fellow heroes that remains to be seen. Way has revealed, however, that the series will answer one of the most enduring questions of 'The Umbrella Academy'. “The series finally starts to answer the question: ‘What about the other babies born on that day, in that moment?’ The Umbrella Academy siblings are not alone in the world anymore.”
You can watch the trailer for the 'You Look Like Death: Tales From The Umbrella Academy' #1 below.
'You Look Like Death: Tales From The Umbrella Academy' #1 will release on September 16, wherever comics are sold.