November 5th, 2006 - Sneak Preview of the Umbrella Academy
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| MandyMutilated Thinking Happy Thoughts  Age: 32 Gender: Female Posts: 441 | i dont know if anyone has found this or read this already but im gonna still post it here (i know its long and im sorry).... SCOTT ALLIE & GERARD WAY ON THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY Announced at San Diego, Gerard Way of the rock band My Chemical Romance is taking a step into comics with The Umbrella Academy coming from Dark Horse in 2007. The big picture? As Dark Horse describes, The Umbrella Academy is about seven extraordinary, maladjusted individuals and their plight to protect the planet. When the former team members become aware of a new world-ending threat, they must put their personal and inter-personal problems aside and unite the super-group once more to do what they were born to do-save the world. The miniseries will feature art by Gabriel Bá. So - does the rock star (and former DC Comics intern) have what it takes to make it in comics? Way and his Dark Horse editor Scott Allie had a conversation about that very issue for Newsarama. Newsarama Note: This interview was conducted just before San Diego Comicon 2006, as Gerard Way was finishing final tracking on My Chemical Romance's new album, and days after Gabriel Bá had been hired as the interior artist on Gerard's series for Dark Horse, The Umbrella Academy. Scott Allie: When the proposal for Umbrella Academy first came to me from a big rock star, I was skeptical, and I think it might have sat a little while on my desk. I'm probably not the only person who's gonna be a little skeptical of a rock star slumming in comics-but you've actually got the background for it. You interned at DC. How did that go? Gerard Way: It was a great experience. I was in SVA at the time, in New York City, and I worked in DCU editorial. Joey Cavalieri helped get me the internship, and Andy Helfer got me my first paying gig doing a page in the Paradox/DC book The Big Book of the Weird Wild West. It was really tough, actually, and I worked forever on it. I spent as much time as I could up at Vertigo because some of my favorite books at the time were being made there, like Preacher and Kill Your Boyfriend. Allie: So what would you say to skeptics about you doing this series? Gerard: I've dealt with skeptics my whole life, especially with the band. We were a wild card and an underdog from the minute the band formed. I wouldn't imagine this project being any different. I just believe in it a great deal and want to deliver something honest, pure, and sincere. I know the battles I'll have to face with this book and being a comic book writer. I know I will have to deliver the best book I can to be taken seriously … but after all, this was my first passion. Allie: The thing that grabbed me about the pitch was that it seemed like a really intelligent, sort of post-punk approach to superheroes, a la Grant Morrison, but it packs more fun than a lot of the books that do this. Are you deliberately doing a book in that vein, the Doom Patrol, Invisibles vein? Gerard: I have a wide range of influences with my writing, lyrics, and comics. Most of these influences are cinematic--Terry Gilliam, David Lynch, Jean Pierre Juenet, Akira Kurasawa, Wes Anderson--others are from comics. Grant Morrison is probably my favorite. That guy has more ideas in his pinky than most people do in a lifetime, and he doesn't mind tossing all of them into just one issue. His run on Doom Patrol and Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums were two of the biggest influences for the series, along with my experience from being in a rock band on the road. Allie: Describe the painful artist search we've been through. I don't think I can verbalize it. Gerard: [Laughter] It wasn't that painful … maybe a little. It took a long time to find someone that could bring a certain style and weirdness to the book … it's pretty far removed from a normal super-hero book, so it needed the right artist, it needed an almost European look. It took three months to find the right artist. Allie: Through the whole search, every time I mentioned someone to you, it seemed like you ran right out to the comics shop. Do you hit the stores a lot? Gerard: There are a lot of great comic shops in Los Angeles, and while making the record, I had a little time to read comics. Secret Headquarters in Silverlake is great. That and House of Secrets in Burbank were the two I would go to. We always hit comic shops on the road as much as possible, though. Allie: What do you read on a regular basis? Gerard: The Walking Dead is great, and Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men is enjoyable as well. I've read Hellboy since it started, and I hopped onto Fables when they started making trades. I also love The Goon. Anything by Grant Morrison … anything at all. And I am still waiting for another Al Columbia comic to come out. Allie: Are there other writers besides Grant who hang over your shoulder as you're working on Umbrella Academy? Gerard: The other writers that have inspired any writing I do, lyrics included, have always been Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Garth Ennis, and Frank Miller. Allie: So after all that commiserating about an artist for the comic, the first guy we asked, we got. Gabriel Bá. Did that bring a sense of relief, or did all the months of procrastination linger, and did you feel like we still could have wrung our hands over it some more? Gerard: I knew from the minute I saw this story he did called Firemen [in Image's 24/7 anthology] that he was the guy. I hadn't seen anything like it before. It had this strange kinetic energy, yet a strong European sense. After I checked out Casanova [from Image], I knew for sure. I can't wait to see him draw the characters. I think you get a lot more from Gabriel than you would from most artists, because he isn't afraid to be who he is. He is unique. Allie: Before Bá, you brought James Jean in on covers-thank you very much. You guys met through a magazine gig he had, right? Gerard: [Laughter] Yeah … we had won a bunch of the readers' poll awards for Spin magazine, and they commissioned James to draw me as a half-elven ranger-it was pretty funny. Little did Spin know that James Jean is my favorite cover artist ever, next to Brian Bolland, so I contacted James when I moved out to Los Angeles to make the record … we met and got along great. I brought the project up to him, and he was very interested. We work on a bunch of things together now. I love him. Allie: How was it seeing your characters drawn by someone else for the first time-by James? Gerard: It was one of the biggest moments to me in my life, and to see them drawn by one of my favorite artists of all time made it even more special. I was floored … he nailed even the most subtle personal issues between the characters-that's why he's the best. It was the moment I realized it was really happening, like when we photocopied our first show flier as a band and passed them out. Allie: James is definitely a surer sign of success than photocopied show fliers … So, I saw a sketch of James's cover, then pencils, then the final painted cover, and I never asked for any changes. Was there more back-and-forth between you two that I wasn't aware of? Gerard: None at all. He nailed it right away. He works so tight that when he does the sketch, you kind of know what you are going to get … then you get the finished work and it blows you away, exceeding any expectations you had from the rough. Allie: Gabriel's Brazilian. Nervous about the language barrier? Gerard: Nah … I don't think it will be a problem. He seems very excited about the book, and I try to be a good communicator. Allie: I've worked with a bunch of Brazilians, so I'm not worried. Gerard: Me neither. Allie: Have you read any of Gabriel's stuff? Gerard: Just Casanova, which I loved. I can't wait to read his De Tales and would love to check out Firemen when I get a copy of 24/7. ALLIE: We're doing six issues of Umbrella Academy, with the idea of continuing it in one-shots and miniseries after that. You compared that model to Sin City and Hellboy-is that why you brought this to Dark Horse, because we sort of defined that model? GERARD: Absolutely. Dark Horse built that model and made it work. And it's how I have always enjoyed reading comics. I feel like you tell a story when you have one to tell … and you guys not only agree with that, you invented it. I have a funny little belief that too much continuity can ruin a comic. I'm sure I will go into that more someday, but it might get me in trouble. [Laughter] I can comment for sure that every time I pick up a Hellboy comic, I like the fact that each time we see him in a different era. And I've been a big fan of Dark Horse Comics since I read the Aliens series as a kid. Most of the comics in my collection are Dark Horse comics. ALLIE: You read [Mignola's] The Amazing Screw-On Head, right? That was the first thing I thought of when I read the pitch for Umbrella. GERARD: I loved that comic. So many crazy ideas thrown into one book. It was for sure an inspiration for the book, as was most of Mike Mignola's work. I'm a closet Abraham Lincoln fan, as well. ALLIE: Does Umbrella Academy have an end, or would it go on in miniseries and oneshots forever? GERARD: Everything that's great should have a proper ending. I feel this way about everything I do. I do, however, think there are a lot of stories to tell about these people-so hopefully it will go on for a while, yet never get boring. I want to shake things up a great deal each time you visit the world in a new series. ALLIE: If this is big, and DC calls to have you write Legion of Super-Heroes, are you gonna do it? GERARD: [Laughter] Probably not. I don't know much about Legion. ALLIE: What if they offer you Doom Patrol? GERARD: Only if I could do The Umbrella Academy full time, and they let me make the book as weird and awesome as Grant Morrison's-if that's even possible-if they let me take a big risk on it. More importantly, if I have the time. I think I have a full plate with the band and the comic. ALLIE: I edit Joss Whedon's stuff at Dark Horse, and, like you, he had some success in some other popular art form before coming to comics. Joss's Serenity comic for us was hugely successful, our biggest comic book hit of the year, around the time of the fairly successful movie. Retailers said that that book did more to bring new people into the shop than any other book. We're sort of hoping you and Umbrella Academy will have a similar effect-but what else do you think publishers can do to bring new people, or to bring back disillusioned people, to the stores, besides bring in people from more popular art forms? GERARD: This is a huge subject and probably the makings of a heated debate. [Laughter] But I think the main thing publishers can do is take risks … it worked for our record label regarding our band. We were the biggest long shot to come out that year, and it worked so well because they believed in it. I think finding new talent instead of clones is a big part of things as well. How long was Paul Pope self-publishing before he got a big break? A long time. Guys like Paul Pope are standing on a line somewhere at a convention at a portfolio review, only to be told things from an editor like "Anime is really hot this year. You should look at more anime if you want to get work." This kind of thinking doesn't push the medium at all. ALLIE: My Chemical Romance is recording an album right now. It's slated for later this year, probably going to be huge, bigger than the last one, and you're going to tour and be all over the world-while me and Gabriel are sitting in our hovels slogging out the books. Why now? It's been a couple years since your last studio album, right? Why wait until you're knee deep in the next one to make this other massive commitment? GERARD: The interesting thing about the time between records is that it's a great time to work on new songs, but also other creative projects. Lots of people keep journals, because all you do is travel and play the shows. The Umbrella Academy is kind of like a journal, in a strange way. I made sure the bulk of the plotting and design work was done before we moved out to Los Angeles to make the record, so I could immerse myself in the record without compromising either project … waiting for you guys at Dark Horse to say "Yes!" [Laughter] So now that the record is actually finished, it's back to the road, and lots of downtime to write. ALLIE: We're going to meet for the first time at the San Diego Convention, when we announce the book. I'm looking forward to it. What's your take on comic conventions? I know you've done New York shows, but have you done San Diego? GERARD: This is my first time at the San Diego Comic-Con. I'm really looking forward to meeting everyone at Dark Horse, as well as Gabriel, and seeing James again. I love comic conventions, even though most of the time I stood in a line to have a portfolio reviewed, never really finding my niche. I do have a lot of fun seeing everyone expressing themselves through costumes … all for the love of comics. I like the idea of people getting together to celebrate something … it's kinda like a rock show. ALLIE: You need to go to Dragon Con if you want to see people express themselves. Now, you told me you've talked up comics to your fans in the past, but I kind of let that go by, because I couldn't figure out what you meant. What's that mean? GERARD: Basically, a lot of fans wonder about our backgrounds in the band. Whenever they ask me about mine I always talk about comics, how much they influenced me, how much I loved them. We have actually turned a lot of MCR fans into comic-book fans, even suggesting books to read … so it's a part of our lives. ALLIE: How natural a crossover do you think it is for them to come over to comics? They're a pretty colorful bunch, right? GERARD: We have the best fans in the world. They are creative, smart, independent, and well read. Most of us are outsiders that found a common bond, much like fans of comic books. Over time, we developed into these pseudo anti-heroes ourselves, because we always stood for something. I think this was something that came from reading comics from when I was a boy. Thinking about things this way, it seems very natural for our fans to cross over to comics, if they haven't already. ALLIE: What about non-MCR fans? Why should comics readers who've never even listened to "Helena" buy Umbrella Academy? GERARD: I think the beauty of the book is that there is no connection between the band and the comic. Obviously, as a lyricist and a writer there are themes that appeal to me, things I want to say that may be similar, but I don't think you need to know anything about the band to enjoy the comic. I think The Umbrella Academy is something very different to a comic reader. It has the trappings of a superhero comic, but none of the preconceptions, none of the archetypes or the clichés. It's definitely a post-punk superhero comic. I chose Dark Horse because I felt it would allow me the freedom to tell stories in new and more daring ways, with characters that may have not been allowed by another publisher, and I felt I would be encouraged to take risks. ALLIE: Well, I have to admit, I never listened to "Helena" before I bought Umbrella Academy, and I'm shelling out a hell of a lot more than $2.99 … GERARD: Ha! Wait till the second series. I have this idea to print each issue on burning zeppelins … but I think we can get them at cost. and the photos that were with that article:   |
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