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Tales from the Umbrella Academy #1
Tales From The Umbrella Academy: You Look Like Death
Roughly ten years before the events of Apocalypse Suite, 18-year-old Séance gets himself kicked out of the Umbrella Academy. With his allowance discontinued by Hargreeves, he takes to a place where his ghoulish talents will be appreciated––Hollywood. After a magical high on a vampire-drug-lord’s stash, Klaus needs help, and doesn’t have his siblings there to save him.
176 pages, Paperback
First published March 30, 2021
58 people are currently reading
1636 people want to read
About the author
Gerard Way
229 books4,541 followersGerard Arthur Way (born April 9, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and comic book writer who served as frontman, lead vocalist, and co-founder of the band My Chemical Romance from the time of its formation in 2001 until its breakup in 2013. He is the author of the Eisner Award-winning comic book series The Umbrella Academy (now a Netflix original series) and The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys. In January 2014, he announced via Twitter that he and artist Gabriel Ba will begin work on Umbrella Academy Volumes 3 & 4 in late 2014/early 2015. His debut solo album Hesitant Alien was released on September 30, 2014. Way lives in Los Angeles, California, with his wife Lindsey (bassist of Mindless Self Indulgence) and their daughter, Bandit.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 254 reviews
July 18, 2022
Set 10ish years before Apocalypse Suite, Look Like Death follows Klaus as he heads to Hollywood to get involved with Hollywood Gods, Vampire monkey crime lords, and spider demons. I didn’t enjoy this as much as I thought I was going to, but that definitely had to do with no Bá art on the book. I thought INJ Culbard did a serviceable enough job, but that’s all it is at the end of the day. His sketches in the back are pretty interesting though. The best art in this book are the chapter breaks by Bá himself, which just proves how much he is missed, even if Culbard and Lee Edwards have done good work on these Tales.
Alexander Perthans (go check out his reviews, they are great and way shorter than mine) made a great point in his review for this that Gerard Way & Shaun Simon, who wrote this mini together, put zero effort into writing Klaus at points since they tend to think he was cooler than he actually is. Now he may be out of line, but he is right on the money. If I wasn’t reading all of Klaus’ dialogue in Robert Sheehan’s voice, I doubt I would’ve enjoyed this nearly as much, so just be aware of that going in. Speaking of Robert Sheehan, he does the introduction for this book and it is fucking amazing, but that shouldn’t be surprising to anyone. The dude is just Klaus toned down a bit, so it was nice seeing what the character genuinely means to him.
Even though this wasn’t as fun as I’d hoped it be, it was still a good enough time that I’d recommend to anyone who’s been enjoying the UA books. It honestly might be worth it for show fans to check out just for the introduction by Sheehan. The story itself is just okay since Way & Simon do what they do best: Throw tons of random shit at you, explain none of it, and cross their fingers it works for the readers and they care. INJ Culbard does a serviceable enough job on art duties and I’m cool with guest artists coming on for some Tales, but I hope Bá gets to draw a Five one eventually.
This library edition has a decent amount of extras including Culbard’s sketches and an afterword from Simon. The best part of this was the bonus story. Yes, the bonus stories are back! This one is an 8-page Klaus story set directly after the miniseries, and it is exclusive to hardcovers editions.
“Letters to Athena” ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
Best UA short story yet. I liked this even more than the Murder Magician one. Way and Simon actually write a coherent and emotional story about the love between a mother and her daughter. INJ Culbard is still doing the art on this and it works well enough for the story at hand, but, as I mentioned earlier, hope he doesn't do anymore of these Tales. Surprisingly, the story itself was the most consistent and in-depth aspect of this short, with Way and Simon, as mentioned before, doing a killer job with the script. I almost teared up at one point and the ending made me laugh. This is an easy recommendation for any UA fan, so pick up the hardcovers if you want to read this story, because you are missing out if you just get a trade or read digitally.
Alexander Perthans (go check out his reviews, they are great and way shorter than mine) made a great point in his review for this that Gerard Way & Shaun Simon, who wrote this mini together, put zero effort into writing Klaus at points since they tend to think he was cooler than he actually is. Now he may be out of line, but he is right on the money. If I wasn’t reading all of Klaus’ dialogue in Robert Sheehan’s voice, I doubt I would’ve enjoyed this nearly as much, so just be aware of that going in. Speaking of Robert Sheehan, he does the introduction for this book and it is fucking amazing, but that shouldn’t be surprising to anyone. The dude is just Klaus toned down a bit, so it was nice seeing what the character genuinely means to him.
Even though this wasn’t as fun as I’d hoped it be, it was still a good enough time that I’d recommend to anyone who’s been enjoying the UA books. It honestly might be worth it for show fans to check out just for the introduction by Sheehan. The story itself is just okay since Way & Simon do what they do best: Throw tons of random shit at you, explain none of it, and cross their fingers it works for the readers and they care. INJ Culbard does a serviceable enough job on art duties and I’m cool with guest artists coming on for some Tales, but I hope Bá gets to draw a Five one eventually.
This library edition has a decent amount of extras including Culbard’s sketches and an afterword from Simon. The best part of this was the bonus story. Yes, the bonus stories are back! This one is an 8-page Klaus story set directly after the miniseries, and it is exclusive to hardcovers editions.
“Letters to Athena” ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
Best UA short story yet. I liked this even more than the Murder Magician one. Way and Simon actually write a coherent and emotional story about the love between a mother and her daughter. INJ Culbard is still doing the art on this and it works well enough for the story at hand, but, as I mentioned earlier, hope he doesn't do anymore of these Tales. Surprisingly, the story itself was the most consistent and in-depth aspect of this short, with Way and Simon, as mentioned before, doing a killer job with the script. I almost teared up at one point and the ending made me laugh. This is an easy recommendation for any UA fan, so pick up the hardcovers if you want to read this story, because you are missing out if you just get a trade or read digitally.
April 17, 2021
Klaus gets his own miniseries with an introduction by the actor who plays him. Set 10 years before Apocalypse Suite, Klaus gets kicked out of the house, making his way out to Hollywood. There he hooks up with an aging starlet who supplies Klaus with drugs in exchange for channelling dead actresses into her for her auditions. There's a bunch of other randomness typical of Gerard Way: vampire chimp drug dealers, the gods of Hollywood, spider demons. It's always in that infuriating way he has of just having the weird things appear with no explanation, you just have to accept it or move on. The art by INJ Culbard is serviceable if nothing to write home about.
January 27, 2021
I'm not the biggest fan of the Umbrella Academy series, but I keep coming back because of Gabriel Ba's art, and I keep hoping Gerard Way will finally stop trying to become the new Grant Morrison, and stop pebble dashing his stories with randomness.
So here we have a spin-off, telling us a story about 18-year-old Klaus getting kicked out of the Academy. Which one is Klaus again? Ah yes, the floaty one who can channel ghosts. The book isn't drawn by Ba, and Culbard does a pretty good job, although Ba has drawn issue covers, which only makes it more apparent that Culbard doesn't really scratch the UA art itch.
There's a sort of story, which as usual is less concerned with actually telling a good story, and is more preoccupied with jamming in every random idea Way and co-author Shaun Simon have had.
Klaus gets kicked out of the Academy, and floats to Hollywood, where there's a vampire chimp who wants his money, and Klaus frolicks around with a has-been movie star who gives Klaus heroin in exchange for Klaus pouring dead actress' ghosts into her body, so she can restart her career. Also Klaus' heroin use gives him access to the Void, where spirits hang around, and furniture hunts down demons.
The thing about Klaus is, that Way and Simon seem to think he is much cooler than he actually is, in an effortless way I mean, and it feels like a bit more effort in writing the character would've been a good idea.
I liked the vampire chimp, though.
(Kindly received an ARC from Dark Horse Books through Edelweiss)
So here we have a spin-off, telling us a story about 18-year-old Klaus getting kicked out of the Academy. Which one is Klaus again? Ah yes, the floaty one who can channel ghosts. The book isn't drawn by Ba, and Culbard does a pretty good job, although Ba has drawn issue covers, which only makes it more apparent that Culbard doesn't really scratch the UA art itch.
There's a sort of story, which as usual is less concerned with actually telling a good story, and is more preoccupied with jamming in every random idea Way and co-author Shaun Simon have had.
Klaus gets kicked out of the Academy, and floats to Hollywood, where there's a vampire chimp who wants his money, and Klaus frolicks around with a has-been movie star who gives Klaus heroin in exchange for Klaus pouring dead actress' ghosts into her body, so she can restart her career. Also Klaus' heroin use gives him access to the Void, where spirits hang around, and furniture hunts down demons.
The thing about Klaus is, that Way and Simon seem to think he is much cooler than he actually is, in an effortless way I mean, and it feels like a bit more effort in writing the character would've been a good idea.
I liked the vampire chimp, though.
(Kindly received an ARC from Dark Horse Books through Edelweiss)
April 3, 2021
Maybe the Umbrella Academy TV show has spoiled me, but I just can't seem to get the comics as much as I feel I should. My issue with the main series is that for a book about a family, they spend a lot of time apart - so I thought that a solo series about one of the characters might be able to avoid that problem, which it does, but it has its own share of issues instead.
Klaus heads to Hollywood when Reginald slings him out of the Academy, and the other characters refuse to help him for fear of repercussions. Dad of the Year, that guy. There, Klaus runs into an aging movie starlet, a vampire chimpanzee, the Gods Of Hollywood, and a bar he can only get to if he's drugged up to the point of death.
I think the problem I had with this is that Klaus doesn't seem to learn anything at all. He ends the series in a different place than he starts, but it doesn't feel like he earned the revelation that Reginald is a dick and he can do better on his own. He doesn't face that, nor does he deal with his drug addiction, or the fact that his powers scare the hell out of him. In fact, he needs to be high in order for the endgame of the plot to work.
Gerard Way and Shaun Simon do the Grant Morrison thing of throwing story beats at the reader without fully explaining them, assuming that you'll just get on board with the weird and get on with it, but because not everything's weird, it instead feels like the characters are stupid - no one's asking why there are vampire monkeys, or why someone keeps mutating into a spider, because they're so wrapped up in their own issues to even consider other people.
The artwork's pretty good though - I'm not a massive fan of the Ba/Moon combo on the main book, but INJ Culbard's visuals are clear and crisp, and his way of depicting different locales within the same scene by altering the colour palette is really effective.
There's nothing outwardly wrong with this book - if you enjoy the other UA comics then I'm sure you'll get a kick out of this, and since it takes Way years and years to put out the main book, this will likely tide you over for now. But it has more problems than you'd expect when you start to pick at the surface - and this is coming from someone who really, really wanted to like this more than I did.
Klaus heads to Hollywood when Reginald slings him out of the Academy, and the other characters refuse to help him for fear of repercussions. Dad of the Year, that guy. There, Klaus runs into an aging movie starlet, a vampire chimpanzee, the Gods Of Hollywood, and a bar he can only get to if he's drugged up to the point of death.
I think the problem I had with this is that Klaus doesn't seem to learn anything at all. He ends the series in a different place than he starts, but it doesn't feel like he earned the revelation that Reginald is a dick and he can do better on his own. He doesn't face that, nor does he deal with his drug addiction, or the fact that his powers scare the hell out of him. In fact, he needs to be high in order for the endgame of the plot to work.
Gerard Way and Shaun Simon do the Grant Morrison thing of throwing story beats at the reader without fully explaining them, assuming that you'll just get on board with the weird and get on with it, but because not everything's weird, it instead feels like the characters are stupid - no one's asking why there are vampire monkeys, or why someone keeps mutating into a spider, because they're so wrapped up in their own issues to even consider other people.
The artwork's pretty good though - I'm not a massive fan of the Ba/Moon combo on the main book, but INJ Culbard's visuals are clear and crisp, and his way of depicting different locales within the same scene by altering the colour palette is really effective.
There's nothing outwardly wrong with this book - if you enjoy the other UA comics then I'm sure you'll get a kick out of this, and since it takes Way years and years to put out the main book, this will likely tide you over for now. But it has more problems than you'd expect when you start to pick at the surface - and this is coming from someone who really, really wanted to like this more than I did.
June 19, 2024
This is a fun Umbrella Academy comic that features Klaus being forced to make it on his own after he's kicked out of his home and his allowance is cut off. It's like a superhero comic written in the world of William Burroughs, rather than that of Edgar Rice. There are lots of drugs and vampires and drugs and a big, weird spider and other such adult content. It's not for kids; for example, "Anyone have a breath mint? My mouth tastes like a urinal... after happy hour." isn't a line you'd be likely to find in a Ms. Marvel or TMNT book. The art from I.N.J. Culbard isn't as good as what we grew used to from Gabriel Ba, but it serves the narrative pretty well and gets the job done. There's an interesting (If only semi-comprehensible) foreword by Robert Sheehan, the actor who stars as Klaus in the television series. I enjoyed it and learned to be cautious in amusement parks after dark.
May 28, 2021
For a network that has so staunchly committed itself to quantity over quality, Netflix really surprised with the Umbrella Academy. They just took a random comic series and turned it into a superlative tv show, ok to be fair season one is superlative, season two not quite, but still…most impressive indeed. It might have made the series famous enough to merit spinoffs, so there they go, telling tales out of school...literally.
The tv show has certainly made the comic famous enough for our library system to finally acquire some digital copies. And because this book was the first one available and being a prequel required nothing going in, I downloaded it immediately. After all, Klaus is easily one of the best characters on the show. And this graphic novel is all about Klaus, who doesn’t really look like the actor who plays him and indeed does look closer to something dead, ghostly pale and permanently floating around barefoot.
The story takes place a decade prior to the events of Apocalypse Suite (tv show season one) and features Klaus age 18 freshly kicked out of the academy, who ends up in Tinseltown of all places entangled with vampires, actors and other kinds of monsters. The story is somewhat wacky (or maybe just comparing to the show’s flow), but the art is fun and I mean, what sort of a person resists a story about a lovelorn vampire chimp. Not this reader.
The foreword, appropriately and affectionately wacky, is provided by the actor who plays Klaus. Excellent actor…stylistically interesting writer.
The art is very good, fun, vivid, exciting. Even the alternate cover art in the supplemental materials is excellent.
So yeah, overall a quick entertaining read. Different from the show, but should appeal to the show’s fans who are able and willing to appreciate alternative perspectives. This may be one of those unicorn occurrences of the show being superior to the source material. A very infrequent thing indeed. But further reading is required to come to any definitive conclusions.
This and more at https://advancetheplot.weebly.com/
The tv show has certainly made the comic famous enough for our library system to finally acquire some digital copies. And because this book was the first one available and being a prequel required nothing going in, I downloaded it immediately. After all, Klaus is easily one of the best characters on the show. And this graphic novel is all about Klaus, who doesn’t really look like the actor who plays him and indeed does look closer to something dead, ghostly pale and permanently floating around barefoot.
The story takes place a decade prior to the events of Apocalypse Suite (tv show season one) and features Klaus age 18 freshly kicked out of the academy, who ends up in Tinseltown of all places entangled with vampires, actors and other kinds of monsters. The story is somewhat wacky (or maybe just comparing to the show’s flow), but the art is fun and I mean, what sort of a person resists a story about a lovelorn vampire chimp. Not this reader.
The foreword, appropriately and affectionately wacky, is provided by the actor who plays Klaus. Excellent actor…stylistically interesting writer.
The art is very good, fun, vivid, exciting. Even the alternate cover art in the supplemental materials is excellent.
So yeah, overall a quick entertaining read. Different from the show, but should appeal to the show’s fans who are able and willing to appreciate alternative perspectives. This may be one of those unicorn occurrences of the show being superior to the source material. A very infrequent thing indeed. But further reading is required to come to any definitive conclusions.
This and more at https://advancetheplot.weebly.com/
September 18, 2020
I wish the other issues were out already.
June 15, 2021
The fact that sometimes this storyline is borderline incomprehensible...and is still lots of fun is pretty impressive
May 26, 2021
Have you ever dozed through a TV show - you remember specific scenes and moments but can't put the plot together from what you saw? This book is that in written form.
The book felt motivated more by an audience interest in the character from the Netflix series rather than from anything that stood out about Klaus in the graphic novels. Here we get a young Klaus getting kicked out and having adventures in Hollywood. There are basically three stories here, loosely related to each other, that come together at the end in a sort of depressed raspberry of a climax. Vampire turf wars with a monkey, a Sunset Boulevard-style has-been actress who borrows ghost abilities to perform, and a bar in purgatory with a sad sack drinker never really piqued my interest, and I honestly don't recall the ending even after reviewing it. There may be some people who would enjoy this, but it didn't do much for me.
The book felt motivated more by an audience interest in the character from the Netflix series rather than from anything that stood out about Klaus in the graphic novels. Here we get a young Klaus getting kicked out and having adventures in Hollywood. There are basically three stories here, loosely related to each other, that come together at the end in a sort of depressed raspberry of a climax. Vampire turf wars with a monkey, a Sunset Boulevard-style has-been actress who borrows ghost abilities to perform, and a bar in purgatory with a sad sack drinker never really piqued my interest, and I honestly don't recall the ending even after reviewing it. There may be some people who would enjoy this, but it didn't do much for me.
July 24, 2024
CW: drug abuse, violence, blood, injury detail, death, child abuse, (implied) child murder/child death, spiders
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
I love Klaus.
And also there's a vampire monkey, so what more can you want?
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
I love Klaus.
And also there's a vampire monkey, so what more can you want?
December 17, 2024
It was okay! I love Klaus, and I think he's genuinely an interesting character with cool powers and a lot of baggage that I appreciated being explored more. The Void was also an intriguing concept and was one of the more memorable parts of the comic. Viv's character was interesting too, and I found her obsession with channeling younger, iconic actresses reflective of society's thoughts on women celebrities. :P
I guess I just missed my fav, Rumor. 💔
edit: OMG! I can't believe I forgot, but the scenes with Hargreeves and younger Klaus were DEVASTATING! I love you, Klaus... you deserve better!!!!
I guess I just missed my fav, Rumor. 💔
edit: OMG! I can't believe I forgot, but the scenes with Hargreeves and younger Klaus were DEVASTATING! I love you, Klaus... you deserve better!!!!
October 29, 2025
Klaus gets kicked out (again) and goes on an adventure in Hollywood with vampires and a washed up old actress acts as his safeguard.
I have only watched the Umbrella Academy show, this is my first time reading an Umbrella Academy comic.
I didn’t really care about Shivers, the Vampire chimp. I did like Vivian Clarke.
If I’m being honest, I could barely understand what was going on, but I liked the art.
Also, what do you mean Klaus is 18-years-old??
I have only watched the Umbrella Academy show, this is my first time reading an Umbrella Academy comic.
I didn’t really care about Shivers, the Vampire chimp. I did like Vivian Clarke.
If I’m being honest, I could barely understand what was going on, but I liked the art.
Also, what do you mean Klaus is 18-years-old??
November 22, 2021
So fun, and I loved the colors.
November 28, 2021
This book had everything I found the main series to be lacking. A coherent story, decent character development and multiple stories that interweave into a single satisfying finale.
April 24, 2021
This book worked really well for me. It's an Umbrella Academy spin-off that focuses solely on Klaus and his life away from the rest of the family.
I think it really benefits from having a singular main character, as opposed to a number of them in the primary series. It's still batty enough to fit in alongside the other UA books but it's smaller scope helps it maintain narrative coherence from start to finish in a way that I felt like the main series sometimes struggled with. Maybe that comes from (I assume) Gerard Way helping plot but leaving the scripting to Shaun Simon? Way always feels like he's got the Morrison dial turned up to 11 and while You Look Like Death is certainly weird, it's never hard to follow.
Ba is one of my favorite artists, so he's missed of course. But Culbard did the trick for me here too. It looks and feels like an Umbrella Academy book. I think if you like the Umbrella Academy you'll like what's here, and I think it's contained enough that you might even enjoy it if you have no prior experience with the series. I hope we continue to get more spin-offs in the same vein as You Look Like Death.
I think it really benefits from having a singular main character, as opposed to a number of them in the primary series. It's still batty enough to fit in alongside the other UA books but it's smaller scope helps it maintain narrative coherence from start to finish in a way that I felt like the main series sometimes struggled with. Maybe that comes from (I assume) Gerard Way helping plot but leaving the scripting to Shaun Simon? Way always feels like he's got the Morrison dial turned up to 11 and while You Look Like Death is certainly weird, it's never hard to follow.
Ba is one of my favorite artists, so he's missed of course. But Culbard did the trick for me here too. It looks and feels like an Umbrella Academy book. I think if you like the Umbrella Academy you'll like what's here, and I think it's contained enough that you might even enjoy it if you have no prior experience with the series. I hope we continue to get more spin-offs in the same vein as You Look Like Death.
January 9, 2022
This whole story was like a supernatural fever dream. Like I went on the rollercoaster of the abandoned amusement park infested with vampires - dark, liminal, confusing at times (though maybe it was just the headache...or the pain in my neck), but in the end surprisingly fun and thrilling.
Number Four / Seance is one of my favorite characters from the Umbrella Academy so it was great to read a whole arch revolving around him. My other fav, Allison, got a mention and an appearance as well. Just can't hate that.
Number Four / Seance is one of my favorite characters from the Umbrella Academy so it was great to read a whole arch revolving around him. My other fav, Allison, got a mention and an appearance as well. Just can't hate that.
August 10, 2024
ladies, gentelmen and my beautiful human beings, Gerard Way and Shaun Simon ate once again and left no crumbs.
I won't lie, I didn't enjoy that much volume three of The Umbrella Academy. but this, oh boy THIS WAS PERFECTION FOR ME.
voodo! ghosts! afterlife! vampires! demons! Klaus my favourite umbrella boy! hollywood! drugs! what else can I wish for!?
I am so happy this is my first book of the year (shesh it doesn't matter it's a comic it counts as a book as well), I loved every single page of this little story and I am so glad I got to find more about comic Klaus' past.
I won't lie, I didn't enjoy that much volume three of The Umbrella Academy. but this, oh boy THIS WAS PERFECTION FOR ME.
voodo! ghosts! afterlife! vampires! demons! Klaus my favourite umbrella boy! hollywood! drugs! what else can I wish for!?
I am so happy this is my first book of the year (shesh it doesn't matter it's a comic it counts as a book as well), I loved every single page of this little story and I am so glad I got to find more about comic Klaus' past.
April 5, 2021
A standalone Klaus story. Fans of Gabriel Ba's art will be disappointed, as this is not that. However, the overall experience of the world of the Umbrella Academy remains as Hargreeves kicks Klaus out of the ancestral home and forces him to find his way. Klaus enters into a tale of vampirism, demon-possession, Hollywood, more talking chimps, prostitution and drugs and monsters, and it is every bit the funny-but-melancholy tale you need from UA.
February 11, 2022
The images kept me to the end, otherwise, the plot is very lacklustre. Klaus is a deuche.
March 6, 2021
After a much shorter hiatus than that between Dallas and Hotel Oblivion, the UA is back with a spin-off! This time sans mainstay artist Ba, and with Way's Killjoys cowriter Simon. Does it compare favorably to the three series that came before it? The short answer: Ehhhhhh...sorta.
Taking place some time before Apocalypse Suite, Klaus, 18, gets kicked out the family home for his drug-addled shenanigans (and perceived influence on his siblings). He drifts into Hollywood with a drug-dealing vampire chimp called "The Shivers" after him for stolen drugs. Faster than you can say Sunset Boulevard, he shacks up with a has-been actress named Vivian Clarke who trades him smack in exchange for using his powers to harness the acting talents of long-dead Hollywood stars. With the Shivers closing in however, and Viv manifesting a hitherto unkown dark side, it isn't long before the walls begin to close in on our gaunt hero!
Now, for long-time fans of the series, I feel there's a lot to dig here. You get a fair bit of insight into Klaus, especially into how awful a dad Hargreeves was. There's some universe-expanding stuff, such as Klaus's regular visits to the Void (Think the UA version of Purgatory). Plus, while I didn't necessarily feel like they all fit, much of the supporting cast are entertaining characters in their own right. Except for Sage. Rarely does a character so annoy me with how oaf-ish and pointless they seem to be.
On that note, where this tale falters for me in the main, is in meaning much. There's a lot of disparate elements in it, which isn't new when it comes to UA, but didn't quite gel for me in this arc. Vampire underworlds, Gaiman-esque cliques of pop-culture gods, and secret demon identities abound. I kept finding myself thinking they were really nailing that old-school Vertigo comic feeling...and at other times lamenting how hard they seemed to be trying to nail that feeling. UA was born out of Grant Morrison/Vertigo-worship, but also came out at a time where I personally felt the market was starved for those kind of comics. A decade later, after who knows how many supernatural detective comics, YLLD spinning Klaus into ironic Hellblazer for the Hollywood crowd feels pretty far from novel. Especially when most of the character arcs feel more akin to extended jokes than genuine transformative experiences.
On the art front, Culbard has his moments. While very different from Ba, I found Culbard's style worked well for the LA setting, and Klaus's POV. Less so when most any action occurred. More than once a character would be reacting in shock to Klaus's powers, or lashing out, or killing another character, and I was left kinda like "What?!" about the panel. On the flipside, I think the book owes Culbard for his talent with facial expressions. I'm not sure I would have found the characters populating this book half so compelling if not for how much personality Culbard imbued their faces with. Still, definitely preferred his work in Everything. I think surreal scifi/horror may be a better fit than supernatural sorta-superhero books for this guy's work.
All in all, a fun, but perhaps unnecessary spin-off. If you're a diehard fan of the main series, and a Klaus fan, you could do worse. Hell, you might even eat it up and wish there was more. At the least the book won't insult your intelligence, and is entertaining. I just wish it were a meal of more substance. If I'm cynical it feels a bit like a pitch for giving Klaus his own ongoing supernatural detective series. Truly, I hope that doesn't come to pass. Or if it does, I hope that Way and Simon spend a LOT of time asking themselves why they want to tell that kind of story, rather than embarking on it as a seeming lark.
Taking place some time before Apocalypse Suite, Klaus, 18, gets kicked out the family home for his drug-addled shenanigans (and perceived influence on his siblings). He drifts into Hollywood with a drug-dealing vampire chimp called "The Shivers" after him for stolen drugs. Faster than you can say Sunset Boulevard, he shacks up with a has-been actress named Vivian Clarke who trades him smack in exchange for using his powers to harness the acting talents of long-dead Hollywood stars. With the Shivers closing in however, and Viv manifesting a hitherto unkown dark side, it isn't long before the walls begin to close in on our gaunt hero!
Now, for long-time fans of the series, I feel there's a lot to dig here. You get a fair bit of insight into Klaus, especially into how awful a dad Hargreeves was. There's some universe-expanding stuff, such as Klaus's regular visits to the Void (Think the UA version of Purgatory). Plus, while I didn't necessarily feel like they all fit, much of the supporting cast are entertaining characters in their own right. Except for Sage. Rarely does a character so annoy me with how oaf-ish and pointless they seem to be.
On that note, where this tale falters for me in the main, is in meaning much. There's a lot of disparate elements in it, which isn't new when it comes to UA, but didn't quite gel for me in this arc. Vampire underworlds, Gaiman-esque cliques of pop-culture gods, and secret demon identities abound. I kept finding myself thinking they were really nailing that old-school Vertigo comic feeling...and at other times lamenting how hard they seemed to be trying to nail that feeling. UA was born out of Grant Morrison/Vertigo-worship, but also came out at a time where I personally felt the market was starved for those kind of comics. A decade later, after who knows how many supernatural detective comics, YLLD spinning Klaus into ironic Hellblazer for the Hollywood crowd feels pretty far from novel. Especially when most of the character arcs feel more akin to extended jokes than genuine transformative experiences.
On the art front, Culbard has his moments. While very different from Ba, I found Culbard's style worked well for the LA setting, and Klaus's POV. Less so when most any action occurred. More than once a character would be reacting in shock to Klaus's powers, or lashing out, or killing another character, and I was left kinda like "What?!" about the panel. On the flipside, I think the book owes Culbard for his talent with facial expressions. I'm not sure I would have found the characters populating this book half so compelling if not for how much personality Culbard imbued their faces with. Still, definitely preferred his work in Everything. I think surreal scifi/horror may be a better fit than supernatural sorta-superhero books for this guy's work.
All in all, a fun, but perhaps unnecessary spin-off. If you're a diehard fan of the main series, and a Klaus fan, you could do worse. Hell, you might even eat it up and wish there was more. At the least the book won't insult your intelligence, and is entertaining. I just wish it were a meal of more substance. If I'm cynical it feels a bit like a pitch for giving Klaus his own ongoing supernatural detective series. Truly, I hope that doesn't come to pass. Or if it does, I hope that Way and Simon spend a LOT of time asking themselves why they want to tell that kind of story, rather than embarking on it as a seeming lark.
April 20, 2021
With every subsequent Gerard Way comic book I read, the more I adore his style. While Umbrella Academy: The Apocalypse Suite baffled me the first time I read it, You Look Like Death is now definitely my speed.
It follows Klaus, the lovable junkie brother of the Umbrella Academy who can communicate with the dead. Having been kicked out by his perpetually-disappointed father Sir Reginald Hargreeves, Klaus drifts into Hollywood in pursuit of a good time. This takes the form of The Void, a pleasant limbo destination, but he can only visit it via certain potent substances. Cue Vivien Clarke, fading star, who wants to commune with the acting greats long enough to secure a film, in exchange for Klaus's chemical bliss. Meanwhile he has provoked the fury of The Shivers, a vampire chimpanzee mob boss, after stealing his drugs. From there the plot goes in some fairly zany directions.
Way has an uncanny knack for drawing together a lot of fantastic nonsense and turning out a wildly ingenious story. This time he has the help of fellow comic writer and musician Shaun Simon though I couldn't say who chose what uniquely fun element for Klaus's solo adventure. Regardless the rich illustration of I.N.J. Culbard gives everything attractive form and colourful coherence.
I enjoyed this quirky Tinsel Town séance and was glad to get to know Klaus in isolation. I recommend Tales from the Umbrella Academy: You Look Like Death to fans of Umbrella Academy (comic and TV series) and anyone who wants to jump into a good madcap comic.
It follows Klaus, the lovable junkie brother of the Umbrella Academy who can communicate with the dead. Having been kicked out by his perpetually-disappointed father Sir Reginald Hargreeves, Klaus drifts into Hollywood in pursuit of a good time. This takes the form of The Void, a pleasant limbo destination, but he can only visit it via certain potent substances. Cue Vivien Clarke, fading star, who wants to commune with the acting greats long enough to secure a film, in exchange for Klaus's chemical bliss. Meanwhile he has provoked the fury of The Shivers, a vampire chimpanzee mob boss, after stealing his drugs. From there the plot goes in some fairly zany directions.
Way has an uncanny knack for drawing together a lot of fantastic nonsense and turning out a wildly ingenious story. This time he has the help of fellow comic writer and musician Shaun Simon though I couldn't say who chose what uniquely fun element for Klaus's solo adventure. Regardless the rich illustration of I.N.J. Culbard gives everything attractive form and colourful coherence.
I enjoyed this quirky Tinsel Town séance and was glad to get to know Klaus in isolation. I recommend Tales from the Umbrella Academy: You Look Like Death to fans of Umbrella Academy (comic and TV series) and anyone who wants to jump into a good madcap comic.
December 25, 2020
The four stars are for Klaus and Klaus alone — and maybe for Viv, because she wholly reminded me of Gloria Swanson as she portrayed Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard! Y’can’t tell me you didn’t see it.
I’m always amazed at the sheer difference of my darling drug-addicted sexy walking Ouija Board, Klaus, from comic to screen. While I adore the characterization both ways, I wish we could get even a GLIMPSE of the power Klaus has in the comics in the show — and he uses it for good!!! He is a precious ANGEL! And the world doesn’t deserve him! And Reginald sure as hell doesn’t! I’m with Robert Sheehan in the foreword of this: I just want to cuddle him and help some of that trauma go away....
Now, without going into spoilers, this comic is batshit. Good batshit? Yes, but you have to have some sort of semi-organized chaos for me to not get lost every other page. Just as I was settling into a side storyline, I was Number Five Time-Jumped into another, and it really threw me for a loop. Less is more, in my opinion.
Regardless, I really enjoyed reading this. I’m starting in on the comics slowly but surely because I know all of them are, in fact, just as batshit as this one, but no doubt that each and every volume is a wild rollercoaster ride filled with childhood trauma and rich backstories that I’m so glad Gerard was able to get out into the world.
Final verdict: if you’re a fan of Klaus Hargreeves, The Séance, Number Four, then this is a must read for you!
I’m always amazed at the sheer difference of my darling drug-addicted sexy walking Ouija Board, Klaus, from comic to screen. While I adore the characterization both ways, I wish we could get even a GLIMPSE of the power Klaus has in the comics in the show — and he uses it for good!!! He is a precious ANGEL! And the world doesn’t deserve him! And Reginald sure as hell doesn’t! I’m with Robert Sheehan in the foreword of this: I just want to cuddle him and help some of that trauma go away....
Now, without going into spoilers, this comic is batshit. Good batshit? Yes, but you have to have some sort of semi-organized chaos for me to not get lost every other page. Just as I was settling into a side storyline, I was Number Five Time-Jumped into another, and it really threw me for a loop. Less is more, in my opinion.
Regardless, I really enjoyed reading this. I’m starting in on the comics slowly but surely because I know all of them are, in fact, just as batshit as this one, but no doubt that each and every volume is a wild rollercoaster ride filled with childhood trauma and rich backstories that I’m so glad Gerard was able to get out into the world.
Final verdict: if you’re a fan of Klaus Hargreeves, The Séance, Number Four, then this is a must read for you!
Read
March 7, 2021Even beyond my general failure to click with the TV Umbrella Academy, I found its take on Klaus a difficult character to like, Robert Sheehan pushing his wastrel charm to the point that the character became that guy you can see why your friend's dating, but know it will end very badly. Still, I seemed to be a minority within a minority on that point, so no wonder if he now gets his own prequel in the comics continuity. Gerard Way is only co-writing, with usual amanuensis Shaun Simon, and INJ Culbard's rather more measured strangeness replaces Ba's work on the Academy series proper. The story follows Klaus after Sir Reginald kicks him out, using his powers of communication with the dead to make friends in Hollywood, and if none of it feels massively essential, and the middle feels a little meandering in that way which has afflicted some of Way's previous comics too, no story featuring a vampire chimpanzee drug kingpin can altogether be accounted a failure.
June 30, 2021
This is such a joy to read if you’re a fan of the umbrella academy. As it is a spinoff from the main three comics you probably could get away with reading it having not read those and just having watched the Netflix show but it is crucial that you have some awareness of the umbrella academy. From vampires to demon spiders and Hollywood this comic encapsulates Klaus and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I love the artwork and this universe and will read anything from it. It also includes a foreword by Robert Sheehan the klaus of the Netflix show which captures the characters essence and is a joyous surprise for fans! Would recommend!
December 13, 2024
Super weird seeing an Umbrella Academy series not in Gabriel Ba’s art style, but I.N.J. Culbard’s designs grew on me much more than I expected, even thought they don’t have the same intense sense of identity.
Story wise, I really liked the more focused look that this took at Klaus, gave the story room to breathe where all three of the main-line series try to cram so much in that all of the sun-plots feel undercooked.
Story wise, I really liked the more focused look that this took at Klaus, gave the story room to breathe where all three of the main-line series try to cram so much in that all of the sun-plots feel undercooked.
October 19, 2023
Another strange and bizarre trip to the academy, this time looking at Klaus’ backstory before the events of Apocalypse Suite. It gives a better understanding of Klaus, hopefully they do more like this with the rest of the characters. Looking forward to giving the Netflix show a shout now I’m all caught up.
May 27, 2023
Podobało mi się na pewno o wiele bardziej niż trzeci tom podstawowej serii. Kreska jak zawsze na wysokim poziomie, historia była ciekawa, no i Klaus jest na tyle dobrze zbudowaną postacią, że całość była interesująca.
October 24, 2023
I enjoyed this one a lot more than the last but not as much as the first two. Klaus as a character was one I found very interesting so seeing him live his life and be used by others in this setting made for a pretty interesting story.
January 1, 2024
This was missing something that I can't quite put my finger on. I definitely miss Gabriel's art and I think a lot of the punch for me from the main series comes from the interaction between siblings which is entirely lost here. I love Klaus but he's best as a part of the whole.
September 3, 2024
In the show, Klaus is probably my favorite character. I really enjoyed this story about just Klaus, and the foreword is by Robert Sheehan, who played him in the show! Once again, Gerard is a genius <3
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