Why Gerard Way Matters
I’m sitting here listening to My Chemical Romance. Gerard Way has been in my head for a couple weeks now. In case you didn’t know, the former lead singer of MCR is the one responsible for writing the comic book that was turned into the hit Netflix show The Umbrella Academy. He left music and writes a lot of comic books now.
I have a feeling Way and I would get along pretty well. We’re both 41 years old, both into a variety of music, both comic geeks, and both writers. We were both also influenced by the work of Grant Morrison, one of the weirdest individuals in the industry. Morrison’s run of JLA taught me to think bigger. I’m pretty sure Morrison’s run on Doom Patrol taught Way to think stranger. I should note that Way is writing Doom Patrol now, and it’s fantastic.
It was probably around 2003 when I saw My Chemical Romance open for The Used. I was 25 years old, and while I was into that whole scene at the time, I had never heard of them. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t impressed, but it was their first album. Then “Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge” came out. That pretty much changed my whole opinion.
As much as I would love a MCR reunion, I think it’s fantastic that he walked away and found fulfillment in another creative medium. From what I understand, this is what Way always wanted to do. The Umbrella Academy won an Eisner Award in 2008 for Best Finite Series/Limited Series, the most prestigious award in comics for Way and artist Gabriel Ba. This is what propelled the show to be developed and Way to be hired by DC Comics.
It occurs to me that we often mock creatives for veering off into other endeavors than the ones they’re famous for. We roll our eyes at singers who take a stab at acting, at vloggers who write a book. Sure, some of them are doing it as a vanity project or a quick cash grab, but we should all have multiple options. Multiple outlets to express ourselves. Most people would never think the emo king would excel at penning stories about quirky superheroes, but why not?
My Chemical Romance was a great band.
The Umbrella Academy is a great show and comic.
Both can be equally awesome in different ways. Thanks, Gerard.
Oh, check out Doom Patrol, too. So weird.
