Umbrella Academy: How Allison Hargreeves Dies In The Comics

Death is a possibility that every hero has to accept when they embark on the dangerous career of saving the world, and Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba’s The Umbrella Academy has recognized this from the start, beginning its story with one member dead and another missing in time. But apparently before the flawed superhero family ever lost Number Six, aka the Horror, the first member of the Umbrella Academy to die in the field was Number Three, aka the Rumor.

The short story titled “…But The Past Ain’t Through with You” – which was featured in the 2007 Dark Horse Free Comic Book Day issue – takes place before the super team’s disbanding, and sees Spaceboy and the Séance arrive at a murder scene. Their sister Allison is the unfortunate victim, but even with Allison alive and present alongside her adopted brothers, this dead doppelganger raises some unsettling questions as Klaus confirms it is not an alien or a clone: it is truly Allison.

Fortunately for the Umbrella Academy, a villain known as the Murder Magician proudly admits on national television that he and the Assistant are responsible for killing the Rumor, an act which has granted him notoriety and accolades within the criminal underworld. When the Umbrella Academy learns of his claims, they go to confront him and learn that he has used his newly purchased Murderbot to kill his audience. Although the members of the Academy are able to defeat the murderous robot and the Murder Magician, the Assistant is startled to find the Rumor pursuing her, believing that they had already killed her.

When the Academy’s father the Monocle arrives at the scene, he asks how the Rumor is still alive. Spaceboy explains that it’s because of her powers. Unlike in the popular television show, where Allison’s powers are comparable to telepathy, her comic incarnation can actually influence reality. It is revealed Allison had been ignoring her responsibilities to the Umbrella Academy to enjoy a romance with a Polynesian knife-thrower and when she told the others she had been at the library, her powers resulted in the creation of another Allison.

To make matters worse, the Monocle reveals that not only was he aware of Allison’s narcissistic behavior but that he was the one who tipped Murder Magician off to her presence at the library, not knowing he was endangering the double instead of the original Rumor. As members of the Umbrella Academy angrily react to their adoptive father’s manipulative and traumatizing behavior, Sir Reginald Hargreeves coldly states that this was simply to teach Allison a lesson and leaves.

What’s crucial to understand is that because of the nature of Allison’s powers, her double wasn’t merely a clone. Spaceboy says, “But she told us she’d been at the library – and what Rumor says… always turns out to be true.” Allison’s phrasing matters hugely, tweaking the very nature of reality, and by implication her powers had to literally echo back through time to create another Allison. Moreover, that Allison had to meaningfully be Allison, as opposed to a fake copy or illusion. While the Umbrella Academy know that a version of Allison is safe before they ever see the body, they seem to miss the fact that in every sense, the person lying dead at their feet is their sister, however reality had to be rearranged to make that statement true. Readers may be happy that the Umbrella Academy didn’t have to process another huge trauma in their lives, but the fact is that Allison Hargreeves, aka the Rumor, was killed by the Murder Magician… it’s just that another version of her is still walking around.

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