With the recent success of the Umbrella Academy television adaptation, Gerard Way’s comic series has fans clamoring for more. And in true Way fashion, he’s pivoted his audience to divert their attention to one sole character of the Hargreeves family: Seance (Klaus for us TV watchers). In this execution of character study, readers are enticed with an adventure uniquely fitting of a character with this type of vibrant personality. It is properly filled with twists and contradictions that allow for a classic, rip-roaring adventure that fights right into the world of Umbrella Academy.
Even more is the sheer level of imagination coming from this series, thanks to Gerard Way and Shaun Simon taking the helm as storytellers. With an antagonist that is a vampiric chimpanzee, readers can already have some fun character interactions from not only this issue, but assuredly the rest of this six-issue series as well.
Taking over art duties is I.N.J. Culbard, who masterfully captures the fun, cartoonish dynamism and acid bubblegum aesthetic that Gabriel Ba cultivated for this series. Even stronger is Culbard’s ability to properly capture a set color palette within each individual page Paired with this is lettering done by Nate Piekos of Blambot. Piekos’ letttering offers such wonderful flourishes to the story pages and allows for these cool means of taking in certain story beats.
In one of the best reactions to an adaptation’s success, Way manages to properly embrace the world of the TV show and channel it back into another successful comic. The book takes certain characterizations from the show and brings it into canon. It is such a joy to be able to get more Umbrella Academy in this medium, building on one of its most innovative characters from the series.
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