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BROADENING COMIC’S AUDIENCE WITH UMBRELLA ACADEMY

Gerard Way: Broadening Comics' Audience with Umbrella Academy
By Gemma Milroy
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Gerard Way, writer of Dark Horse's Umbrella Academy miniseries [the third issue of which went on sale last week], is currently on tour with his band My Chemical Romance. Despite his busy schedule, Way took a few moments to chat with SBC's Gemma Milroy (who interviewed Umbrella Academy's artist Gabriel Bá a few months back) about the project. Special thanks to Dark Horse's Jacq Cohen for facilitating this interview.

Gemma Milroy (GM): With your busy schedule, how did you find the time to develop the Umbrella Academy?

Gerard Way (GW): Well you know it definitely took me a couple of years, I wasn't in a rush per say. I was excited about doing it, but I really wanted to develop it well. I wanted to take my time with it. It started on a tour called Taste of Chaos, which was two or three years, and that's kind of when I started working on it. So I've been working on it for two or three years. And then overall it's been something I've been interested in for a long time so I'd find the time regularly to script it. I have to really work it into my day; it's a bit crazy so I have to block time aside to do it.

GM: In my interview with Gabriel Bá, he said, "Gerard has a very defined idea of what he wants visually." With that in mind, looking over Bá's pages, have there been specific scenes that exceeded your original vision of a scene?

GW: Y'know, he has pretty much nailed it. He really helped shaped the world. I would literally describe things in a couple of sentences and I think right away he knew what the aesthetics were. He knew what the feel of the world was and it's kind of one of these worlds where it's a little bit nostalgic--when wrestling was still real, when the cars were still cool looking, but it's when everything is really kind of pure and things like that.

It has an element of the 1960s to it, science fiction in Europe, and Europe was a big part. I have a distinct vision for sure and for the characters, but a lot of times he'll really reinterpret that sort of thing. He does a great job of it. In issue three, they fight these killer robots called Terminauts and he spent a week redesigning them--just sending over hundreds of drawings of these things to get them right.

GM: What was your reaction when you found out the first issue of Umbrella Academy had sold out?

GW: I was really surprised. I was surprised the day it came out we did a signing and there were a lot of people there. I was genuinely surprised at that and I was surprised at the reviews being amazing, then I was surprised that the fact that it sold out clean in one day. It really blew my mind; I was so excited for that. It was really cool. And I think the fact that people took the comic seriously and did not take my other career into account when they were reading it was really, really awesome.

GM: Your creative pursuits have taken your career in several different directions, have you ever thought you would get back into comic books after your success in your other work?

GW: I had always dreamed about still doing comics, I wasn't sure if I could go back to doing that. I definitely still drew all those years in the tour bus while on tour. I always kept a sketchbook with me. I was always drawing--I was always making art, always coming up with ideas and trying to write stories. So I knew eventually I was going to be able to hopefully do something, but I wasn't sure if I would ever have the time or the ability to go back and do comics. I just went for it because I really wanted something out there. I really wanted a book that I could write every month--be working on something that's just really crazy and fun. That's kind of the world we're really setting up in series one.

GM: How did you come up with such a diverse bunch of characters?

GW: I really just started drawing; I based them initially on what I found visually interesting, and then I assigned them their powers based on that. I knew that I wanted a man who used to have a human body and now has a Martian gorilla body, I knew that for sure. I knew I wanted him to have a jetpack. I knew I wanted his gorilla body to be impervious to the pressure of space, so it's almost like this biological space suit that he was currently attached to and I really like that, and so he was the first character. Then came The Séance. I wanted a character that was very influenced by German silent films as well as expressionism and certain kinds of art and I wanted a character that was very angular, almost like I could picture him being a German interpretative dancer--some kind of oddball like that, like a real artistic kind of oddball. I knew I wanted him to be supernatural but then it just came together with these two characters, and I slowly started to build them. I knew I wanted a chimp and they weren't a family initially either, the family thing came later, the fact that they are adopted, that they were brothers and sisters actually came later. They were kind of initially flung together by fate and then I had figured that they were all adopted because I wanted to explain their birth in a really interesting way, to do something pretty radically different. I wanted that beginning to be almost like a bunch of coincidences happening at once.

GM: With Dark Horse properties like Hellboy seeing success as movies and animated projects, if you were offered a movie deal for the Umbrella Academy would you be interested?

GW: Yeah I'd definitely be interested. I think anyone that makes something like a comic or a book would be interested in it becoming a film. I find that maybe some people are not, but I find it extremely thrilling especially if it was done the right way. I guess the people that aren't excited about it are the people that have had their books made into films. It definitely couldn't be a big Hollywood blockbuster for sure. It definitely couldn't be pitched to the public as that. I guess if it was way more artistic it could be a really interesting film. So yeah, id be really interested in that.

GM: Did you get the chance to help pick the letters that ran in the third issue of the mini-series?

GW: No, [editor] Scott [Allie] picks all that stuff. I totally trust Scott to pick it and they are fun for me to read when the issues come out actually. I enjoy reading the skepticism and then the other people that really enjoy it. It's interesting to read.

GM: Are you pleased that your success and popularity has attracted new readers to comic books, much like Joss Whedon's Buffy comic has drawn in new readers?

GW: That's probably the second most rewarding thing. Probably the initial biggest reason to do a comic, for myself you know to do one. It was to attract people to comics, to bring people to that industry because I have such a love for it. That was the big thing. The first was simply just wanting to tell a story and really have the passion, and secondly that was the goal, to bring readers to comics. And at signings, when I meet a lot of these kids at signings a lot of them its their first American comic book ever read, they have only read manga up until this point.

I just really enjoyed doing this. I'm lucky to have the opportunity with Dark Horse, it's an amazing family. Scott is an amazing editor; he really pulls this stuff together. Scott really makes sure it comes out on time, he really gets the best out of me, I think we already get the best of Gabriel but he really pushes me to get the best out of me. I think it makes the series special, I think everybody involved in it is really special, like [colorist] Dave Stewart and [letterer] Nate Piekos. Dave has turned down much bigger projects so he can keep working on the Umbrella Academy as one of his books and I really love that.

http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/features/119614315432245.htm

My Chemical Romance's charismatic frontman singer Gerard Way explains why the Black Parade is finally over and he's planning a real Christmas this year.

You've just touched down for your Australian tour. Have you brought the full shebang with you?

We have, but we've brought a different shebang. We didn't bring Black Parade 'cos we stopped playing as Black Parade in Mexico (last month); we wanted to end it there. But we've brought a production, lights and pyro.

Was it a case of, if you put on the Black Parade suit one more time you'd scream?

That's pretty much what happened. The whole idea behind it was to make that record really come alive, really play as the band, put our money where our mouth was. To be quite honest with you, 10 shows of that would have proved our point. After a while it was like, we really don't wanna play as another band, we just wanna play as our band. And we don't necessarily wanna play this record front to back, we wanna play other stuff as well.

Without the Black Parade element, how will your Aussie shows work?

We play more of a mixed set. We play a couple of old songs too, and I'm pretty sure we'll be playing a song we've never really played live -- Desert Song -- which is an unreleased song off Revenge. We never had a chance at the time to record it.

My Chem have also had a few personnel problems recently. Who is missing from this tour?

Bob (Bryar, drums) is missing. Frank (Iero, guitar) is back. He went through some personal things at home, had a family emergency, so we lost him for four shows. Bob tried to come out, but his wrists hurt too bad. He flew all the way to LA from home. We met up at the airport before coming over here, and he said, "I'm gonna go home and go to the doctor again''. So we lost Bob. But Tucker, from our friends' band Thursday, is coming out.

You joined Linkin Park on the Projekt Revolution tour. Chester from Linkin Park says he sees a lot of similarities between his band and yours, particularly in the way people are finally coming to realise My Chem are the real deal.

That's an interesting thing to point out, because when a band comes out -- especially a band that has a large cultural impact, especially youth culture-wise -- people assume it's some weird new kind of niche music. But in actuality, kids have consistently throughout the history of music liked rock 'n' roll, and that's ultimately what it is. It takes a few years once a certain band has been out and had that impact for older fans to realise, "Hey, this is really no different from the bands I liked. It has different influences, it looks and sounds different, but it's rock 'n' roll''. There's almost like a hazing period.

Did you go into your shell at first, playing to Linkin Park's fans?

If anything it made us push harder, see how far we could really take 'em, especially with notions of sexuality. We're like, "Cool, they like us; now let's see if we push these sexual boundaries a little more how they're gonna react''. There was an extremely macho vibe in that crowd, and we were practically the biggest cupcakes on that tour, but they seemed to love it. I think they just needed a little razzle dazzle in their lives.

Why are you so big on pushing those boundaries of sexuality? You're a married man now.

Well, that's more of a recent thing (laughs). My wife totally backs the way I am on stage, that's one of the amazing things about her. I have 120 per cent respect for her when I'm on stage, so there are definitely certain things I would never do. But she knows my sexuality, and I know mine, so there's no reason not to push those boundaries. It's with the most noble intentions -- it's to make certain people realise just because somebody is a performer or slightly effeminate, -- even that guy at work or that kid at school -- there's no reason to shove 'em around. So much testosterone has been in rock for so long -- that's why I'm so interested in pushing it. All it boils down to is treating women like second-class citizens, calling people faggots, being borderline racist, if not totally racist. A lot of things are ingrained in the stupidest rock 'n' roll we completely oppose. So one way we can push it is through our sexuality.

Your marriage to Lyn-Z was a bit of a shock. When you spoke to Hit in July, you had just broken off an engagement to another girl. Come September, you were married.

I know! It's one of those situations where you don't know how your life's gonna go, and the minute you actually stop looking for something is when you find it. When I met my wife I was at a point where I was completely OK with being alone for a very long time, free of lousy people. I was very content to spend time with my friends, to work on music, to work on my comics. I was about to pack everything up and move to Portland, Oregon. And literally out of nowhere someone who I'd met four years ago when the band was a baby band, opening for her band, comes back into my life. We just picked up where we left off. It's always when you're not looking for it -- I was totally fine, and then I get hit over the head! It was like getting hit by a truck.

Does marriage mean you're actually able to make a home now?

Completely. I turned basically into a functioning grown-up overnight. I came off tour and started to set up a life. I'm very excited about that -- I actually have a life now when I go home, and it's an amazing life. I love that I have a best friend I can share it with, who I can work with and hang out with.

You spent last December in a hotel working on your comic book. It sounds as though you might have a real Christmas this year.

Yeah, I holed up in a hotel. I flew home for New Year's . . . God, I don't even remember what I did at Christmas, I don't even remember where I was. I definitely wasn't doing anything Christmas-like.

Most of you know that MCR's European tour started here on Slovakia. Now you can watch lil' trailer of the show here....www.rockovajesen.sk it's right on the main page.....and the funny thing is I am in the video and showing my MCR tattoo. I was wondering if anyone could rip that video? I dunno how to do that. thanks! :o) Cali

www.rockovajesen.sk 

Happy Thanksgiving:) my mom brought such a huge turkey that I got scared....haha.....what are you thankful for? Actually I am thankful for my friends, my mom and that my health got better! and for MCR of course...:o) Have a great Turkey:) <333 Cali

My Chemical Romance is as polarizing and uncompromising as a modern band can be. But no critic can question their desire to use their fame to perform good works. The band granted its first wish for the Make-A-Wish Foundation® in 2005. In just a few years, My Chemical Romance has welcomed six teens with life-threatening medical conditions for amazing wishes, earning the band recognition in the Foundation’s Celebrity Hall of Fame.

Wish kids from around the nation have seen the gracious side of My Chemical Romance – they’ve enjoyed hours backstage playing video games, hung out on the band’s tour bus and enjoyed seats that aren’t for sale: backstage and even with the sound crew. Some have gone home with autographed guitars, while others have been able to try on the band’s stage outfits. Singer Gerard Way also makes a habit of dedicating tunes to wish kids and directing the lighting crew to putting the spotlight on them during shows.

Each wish to meet My Chemical Romance has sent a courageous kid home with amazing memories, one-of-a-kind souvenirs and the reassurance that there are people who truly care

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Krystel's story:


Sixteen-year-old Krystel had already enjoyed some surprises on her wish to meet My Chemical Romance and was excitedly awaiting the next part – seeing the dramatic, hard-rocking band perform live.

As she stood chatting with the band’s five members, they took a look at her concert tickets. Almost in unison, they began shaking their heads as if to say, “No, this won’t do.”

Instead of leading Krystel and her entourage to their assigned seats, the band – Gerard Way, Mikey Way, Frank Iero, Ray Toro and Bob Bryar – escorted them to a roped-off area where the crew would orchestrate the show’s sound and lighting. The exclusive viewpoint provided another thrill for Krystal on this amazing wish granted by the band from New York.

After being diagnosed with lymphoma, Krystal told volunteers from the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Georgia & Alabama chapter that meeting the members of My Chemical Romance was her fondest wish. In September of 2007, she was on her way to to spend some time with the band and take in one of their fiery stage performances.

Her day backstage began with dinner and a limousine ride to The Arena at Gwinnett Center for a show supporting My Chemical Romance’s third album, The Black Parade. The band’s manager met Krystel and her family and quickly lead them through the maze of security checkpoints and into the arena’s depths, just outside the dressing rooms of her favorite band. Soon, the dressing room doors opened and the band lined up to greet Krystel.

All five were eager to autograph items for her and ask questions about her favorite tunes. Lead singer Gerard Way even draped her in his black stage jacket.

“I thought Krystel was going to levitate,” a volunteer wish granter said later.

My Chemical Romance completed Krystel’s wish with a complete backstage tour, including the secret ramp where they make their entrance to start each show. Her stage-center view from the production stand gave her a great look at the band’s dynamic show. When she headed home that night in a limo, she had an evening full of incredible sights, sounds and memories hanging out with her favorite band.

By Justin Schmid

Posted Nov 01, 2007 8:39 PM