http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/76/UmbrellaAcademy.jpg/250px-UmbrellaAcademy.jpg

 

The Umbrella Academy is a comic book endeavor by Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance. The comic will feature illustrations by Gabriel Bá, cover art by by James Jean, and colours by Dave Stewart. The six-issue limited series is to be released by Dark Horse Comics on September 19, 2007.

 

Main story

 

The series starts off when the members of the Umbrella Academy, now well into their adult years and disbanded, learn that their adoptive father, Sir Reginald Hargreeves, has died. When news of a world-ending threat is made public, the former team members must put their differences aside and unite to save the world.

Influence

 

Way has stated that the biggest influence on this piece of work is his favorite writer, Grant Morrison of Doom Patrol. He has also said that Pat McEown of ZombieWorld: Champion of the Worm was a big influence on his work. Way has said that Edvin Biuković is his all-time favorite artist and that "his Grendel Tales are like my bible to draw from".

Characters

 

* The Monocle (Sir Reginald Hargreeves) – He is a wealthy entrepreneur and inventor who adopts the member of the Umbrella Academy. He is also of alien origin.

* The Horror – He possesses monsters under his skin from other dimensions.

* The Kraken – He has the ability to breathe underwater.

* The Rumor (Allison Hargreeves) – She has the ability to make lies come true.

* Sagaloo – The Monocle assistant

* The Séance – He has the ability to communicate with the dead and levitate.

* Spaceboy – He is the leader of the Umbrella Academy. His body is that of a Martian gorilla's.

 

Plot

 

The story is only two pages long and contains two main characters, The Séance and a boy. Both are in a laboratory at the Umbrella Academy at 2:54 in the morning and The Séance is connected to a machine. The boy transports The Séance to a mediæval French war via a time machine. The Séance appears on horseback and in armor in the middle of a battle as he gives orders in French to the troops. A soldier comes up to him telling him, in French, that it they must wait for reinforcements. A cannonball explodes and The Séance is back in the laboratory, still in armor.

 

 

Rocker has a new 'toon

ROCK STAR GERARD WAY MAKES HIS DEBUT AS A COMIC BOOK AUTHOR

 

 

First, the bad news: Gerard Way, frontman for the platinum-selling band My Chemical Romance, is, contrary to rumor, not moving to Portland.

 

Not yet, anyway.

 

"It's still an option," says Way, calling from his home base of New Jersey. "But me and my wife decided to stay here for now."

 

Now, the good news: Way's love of comics led the musician to make his debut as a comic book author, for Portland's Dark Horse Comics. Way, the voice behind such hit albums of intense, dramatic pop as "The Black Parade" and "Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge," came up with the idea for "The Umbrella Academy," a comic series about a team of gifted, dysfunctional heroes trained to save the world. And, wouldn't you know it, the world needs saving pretty much right off the bat. The saga of this troubled team swinging into action begins with the first issue in the series, "The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite #1." The comic hits stores today.

 

Way talked about the idea for the series and his background as a comics fan in a telephone interview. Comments have been edited for space and clarity.

 

With My Chemical Romance, you're performing in arenas around the world. You're already expressing yourself. Why turn to comics?

 

I guess because it's two different things. I get to use two different parts of my brain. Writing a great song -- there's nothing that beats that feeling. But with music, once you've written it and put it down, for me as an artist, I'm kind of done with it. Whereas with a comic, I think you're building something. There's nothing more rewarding than holding a physical object that came out of your head.

 

Are you worried that comics aficionados may think this is a vanity project that trades on your fame as a musician?

 

Comics were actually my first gig. I remember when I was about 12 and went to the corner store in my neighborhood, a really dingy store. And I saw an issue of "X-Men," and on the cover was Wolverine being crucified on a big wooden X. It was the most obscene, striking thing I'd ever seen. It blew me away, and I was hooked on "X-Men" right away. I ended up working at comic shops when I was 15 or 16, and I learned about the more cerebral stuff, "Watchmen," "The Dark Knight" and "Doom Patrol."

 

And you majored in cartooning and illustration at the School of Visual Arts in New York City as well as doing an internship at DC Comics. Did that make you more secure about being taken seriously in comics?

 

I felt really secure. Don't get me wrong. I realize that being in a band helped me get over a lot of hurdles in doing this. And there's going to be a lot of skepticism. But in fact, I happened to be a dude who made comics, and happened to end up in a band. Comics was my first craft, and my first talent. Then I wound up in a band that went somewhere.

 

That "X-Men" influence seems to be evident in "The Umbrella Academy," with its misfit band of heroes. Did you intend that?

 

One of the reviews described "Umbrella Academy" as almost an adult version of "X-Men." I thought about doing this as a superhero book but bizarre, and almost cerebral. The heroes don't fight villains so much as fight concepts and ideas.

 

 

Why did you bring the idea to Dark Horse?

 

They're my favorite comic book company, because of their fearlessness over the years. As a kid, they hooked me on the "Alien" comics, because I loved all the "Alien" movies. So when they continued that story in the comics, in a very brutal way, I thought, "This isn't the kind of licensed book I'm familiar with. I'm used to crummy movie knockoffs." And then "The Mask" came along, and "Concrete" and "Hellboy." They were constantly producing stuff that was grown up and yet still had chaos in it.

 

Working with Dark Horse brought you to Portland on a regular basis. What do you think of the city?

 

I love it. It's one of the places I think would be perfect for me. It's very low-key, very artistic, very quirky, it has a lot of personality. I think I'll stay where I am for a year, and then we could go anywhere that we want. So maybe I'll keep checking Portland out.

 

 

http://www.oregonlive.com/living/oregonian....xml&coll=7

 

 

 

 

 

Oooh he is wonderful :wub:

I wonder if you can buy it here anywhere? I'll have to have a look.

Superhero Stylings From Stars of Pop

 

Gerard Way, lead singer of My Chemical Romance, has created a comic book, “Umbrella Academy.”

 

A hulking figure flies through the air of a wrestling ring, elbow aimed at a squid creature. A scientist, who is secretly an alien, adopts a number of children born of mysterious provenance. The Eiffel Tower comes to life and attacks Paris.

 

 

Dark Horse

The hero the Future, of “Umbrella Academy.”

Those scenes are depicted in the first seven pages of “Umbrella Academy,” published by Dark Horse and written by Gerard Way, the lead singer of the multiplatinum New Jersey rock band My Chemical Romance. The surreal opening of the first issue, Mr. Way said, serves as a test: “If you don’t like it or don’t get it, you probably shouldn’t read it.”

 

But for the singer, 30, creating “Umbrella Academy” is a childhood dream come true. The six-issue mini-series, about the adulthood reunion of seven special children who were reared to save the world, is the latest example of comics by a new wave of talent: musicians and their brethren. And the comics they are creating or starring in are as different as the music they are known for.

 

The pop-punk singer Avril Lavigne recently appeared as a character in Del Rey’s first original English-language manga. The two-part series, “Make 5 Wishes,” centers on a young girl whose imaginary friend is Ms. Lavigne, who had approval over the plot, writer and artist. The band Kiss stars in a new series published by Platinum Studio Comics, in which the group discovers warrior spirits within them that are meant to protect the earth. (Again, the artists have creative and editorial approval.)

 

Last month Percy Carey chronicled his life from his childhood days as a performer on “Sesame Street” to his adult nights as the rapper MF Grimm. He also described his turn as a drug dealer and the shooting that left him a paraplegic. “Sentences,” written by Mr. Carey and illustrated by Ronald Wimberly, was published by Vertigo, an imprint of DC Comics, which has also announced plans to publish a graphic novel based on Neil Young’s “Greendale” album. And Dave Stewart of Eurythmics wrote a mini-series, “Walk In,” whose issues were collected in softcover format in July for Virgin Comics, which will also publish a mini-series involving Duran Duran next year.

 

Comics have already been attracting talent from the film, television and publishing industries, so why not the world of music? “A lot of these guys are comic fans from way back,” said Randy Lander, a founder of comicspants.com, which is devoted to comic book reviews. “It’s a lot like the novelists and movie guys who’ve had success in a bigger pond that’s allowed them to come back to what they loved as kids.”

 

Creatively, the fields are not that far apart, given that many musicians tell stories with their lyrics, though they use sound, not visuals, to convey mood and drama.

 

Certainly the comics industry benefits from the press that the crossovers sometimes generate. “It brings in people from outside the medium and people who haven’t been to a comic store since they were a kid,” said Mr. Lander, who also owns the Rogues Gallery, a comic store in Round Rock, Tex. “Every entry point we can get is a good one.”

 

“Umbrella Academy,” whose second issue just went on sale, has received generally positive reviews online. At silverbulletcomicbooks.com, the first issue was the subject of a round-table discussion; one panelist wrote, “For me, comics don’t get much better than this.”

 

For Mr. Way, “Umbrella Academy” was another way to be productive when he wasn’t recording with the band. It also used skills he developed as a student at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. “I had all this creative energy, and I missed drawing terribly,” he said.

 

Though he worked on character designs for more than a year, ultimately the task of illustrating the book went to the Brazilian artist Gabriel Bá. “I didn’t want this to look like an American comic,” Mr. Way said. He was also realistic about the time commitment and feared “the book would always be late” if he were the artist. In the end, he was happy. “I can’t draw nearly as well as Gabriel,” he said.

 

Mr. Way cites several inspirations for “Umbrella Academy,” ranging from the director Fritz Lang to the X-Men to the prolific comic book writer Grant Morrison(“Doom Patrol”). “When I was in high school, working in a comic shop, I discovered his work on the Doom Patrol” he said. “I realized there was this other way of telling superhero comics, almost anti-superhero comics.”

 

Like the X-Men, the Doom Patrol is a team of misfits, mistrusted by the world they seek to protect. One of Mr. Morrison’s most noteworthy creations for the team is Crazy Jane, a woman suffering from multiple-personality disorder, each with its own superpower. Mr. Way said he concentrated on giving his characters equally strange nontraditional abilities. The academy members include a half-man, half-ape and another who is eternally a boy but who can travel in time.

 

Mr. Way said the book was ultimately about being forced to aid humanity and living up to parental expectations. “Did Superman really want to save the world?” Mr. Way asked, recalling Clark Kent’s Kansas upbringing. “Wouldn’t he rather be a farmer?”

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/20/books/20...amp;oref=slogin

Gerard Way

The Umbrella Academy

Price: £2.00

Saturday 14th November, 12-2pm

 

London Megastore,

179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8JR

Gerard Way is world-famous as the lead singer of MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, and now making a name for himself in the tough world of comic book writing. The Umbrella Academy is a six issue limited series (released through Dark Horse), which has met extraordinary praise and massive sales. With a history in the comics, Gerard has brought together a story that fuses the traditional with the utterly contemporary and is captivating from start to finish!

 

 

 

http://www.forbiddenplanet.com/Signings.html

Anyone lives close enough to go there ? :o

Meet My Chemical Romance's Gerard Way

 

Brace yourself for an emo onslaught because My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way is coming to London.

 

 

The singer and artist will be meeting fans and signing copies of his first graphic novel 'The Umbrella Academy' at the Forbidden Planet Megastore in Shaftsbury Avenue.

 

The two hour signing is due to take place on November 14 between 12 and 2pm, a day ahead of My Chemical Romance's live show at London's O2 Arena on November 15.

 

'The Umbrella Academy' - which Way wrote and designed with artist Garbriel Ba and cover artist James Jean -focusses on a central character Sir Reginald Hargreeves; a "World-renowned scientist and inventor, intrepid adventurer, successful entrepreneur, champion cricketer, and closet space-alien." Obviously.

 

An official statement also reveals that the six edition long series tells the story of six other central characters who along with Hargreeves were trained from birth to protect the world.

 

"When the series starts", it reads, "The superheroes have disbanded and gone their separate ways but, after the death of the man who bought them all together, The Monocle, they have to put the past behind them and join forces again to save the world."

 

Entrance to the signing is free.

 

http://www.xfm.co.uk/Article.asp?id=500380

 

Well I am in London the day after to see them live and would so love to go to this but I don't have enough money to spend on two nights in the capital with it being so near Christmas :lol: :(

Awww so sorry to hear that !! I already had it on my Xmas list that i'm gonna give to you :(

The Umbrella Academy’ sallies forth with a funnier shade of black humor

By Jeff Johncox

THE NORMAN TRANSCRIPT (NORMAN, Okla.)

 

I don’t know a lot about Gerard Way, other than he fronts rock band My Chemical Romance, which has had hits with songs like “Welcome to the Black Parade” and “Famous Last Words."

 

Way is the guy in eyeshadow and the unbuttoned band uniform screaming into the microphone during the band’s stage shows.

 

He has a knack for writing thought-provoking songs with prosaic lyrics, if not all of them are quite my cup of tea. I do like a few.

 

Thanks to Dark Horse, I’ve learned quite a bit more about Mr. Way of late.

 

1 — He’s a comic geek.

 

2 — He’s got a wacky and dark sense of humor that, unfortunately, doesn’t get to shine in My Chemical Romance’s emo-riffic songs.

 

And …

 

3 — Way can really write a comic.

 

When Free Comic Day came back in May, one of the more intriguing and popular standouts was Dark Horse’s preview of Way and artist Gabriel Bá’s “The Umbrella Academy.”

 

No one knew quite what to make of the quirky group of superheroes, but it was easy to see the book was going to look pretty. Bá’s art is graffiti meets action figure, and it fits right in with the tone set by Way and the characters of the “Academy.”

 

You may know Bá from other Dark Horse titles like “Casanova,” and his art, combined with Way’s witty dialogue and impossible situations, makes “The Umbrella Academy” look and read like a mash-up of “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen,” “The Uncanny X-Men,” “Nextwave” and “Dr. Who.”

 

And who would have thought this rock star, Way, is actually a much better comics writer than he is a front man. He should keep his night job, although creating a comic is far less lucrative than that music thing.

 

I realize I just spawned a bunch of hate mail from My Chemical Romance fans, but, really, his comic work is quite exceptional, especially for a first-time creator, and far exceeds what the group does musically.

 

OK, tangent done, let’s meet the characters.

 

First, there’s The Monocle, the “Professor X” of the group. Dr. Reginald Hargreeves is an award-winning scientist who takes in a group of seven super-powered children and trains them to save the world.

 

But this is no Xavier Institute, and this guy is really quite an ass.

 

The group did fight together to save the world as children and teenagers, but broke up and have since gone their separate ways. Nine years after their last mission together, Hargreeves has died and the group has been forced to fight together again.

 

Spaceboy, or 00.01, or Luther Hargreeves, is the group’s leader, who had a rocket accident and had to have his head put on the body of a gorilla (that apparently can withstand the vacuum of space). Oh, by the way, he lives on the moon preparing to defend Earth from an alien invasion.

 

The Kraken, or 00.02, or Diego, has become a costumed vigilante and can really use a knife.

 

The Rumor, or 00.03, or Allison, can make whatever she says become the truth.

 

The Séance, or 00.04, or Klaus, can levitate and contact the dead. He’s a bit angsty, with an unusual sense of humor, and wears a lot of black.

 

The Future, or 00.05, doesn’t have a name and left the group when he was 10. We find out later he time traveled to the future, where he saw the end of the world, living to be an old man before he figured out how to get back to the present, where he showed up in his 10-year-old body.

 

The Horror, or 00.06, or Ben, has tentacles sprouting out from him and died while fighting with the group. Spaceboy apparently blames himself, although not much information has been given about his death.

 

Finally, the White Violin, or 00.07, or Vanya, in whom The Monocle could find no particular powers, has been estranged from the “family.” But she has a big part to play in another group that has evil intentions.

 

Add to that a mannequin mother and a talking chimp, and you’ve got “The Umbrella Academy,” probably the most intriguing and fun group of misfits to hit the comic shop in quite some time.

 

Bá’s art is sharp, dark and always entertaining to look at. There’s so much going on in each frame, but none of it seems cluttered. It’s easy to see why he was nominated for an Eisner Award.

 

And then there’s Way, who really has shown a legitimate talent for writing a great comic.

 

This first installment of the “Academy,” called “Apocalypse Suite,” is six issues long, with Issue 5 coming out Jan. 16.

 

But don’t fret, there will be more adventures to come. Way and Bá’s heroes are still getting their feet under them, and it’s as enjoyable a ride as you’re likely to find on the shelves.

DARK HORSE PUBLISHER RICHARDSON TALKS UNIVERSAL DEAL

 

With the release of "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" less than four months away, the two companies bringing the supernatural sequel to the big screen have signed a three-year deal to see if they can't bring more monster hits to the big screen.

Universal Pictures and Dark Horse Entertainment – the publisher of "Hellboy" comics – have inked a production and distribution agreement that establishes a studio home for all of Dark Horse's creative properties going forward.

 

The agreement was jointly announced Friday by Marc Shmuger and David Linde, Chairman and Co-Chairman of Universal Pictures and Mike Richardson, founder and President of Dark Horse.

 

In an exclusive interview, Richardson told CBR News that the news is very exciting and that the deal has been in the works since last summer.

 

"It's a big step for our entertainment company," said Richardson, who launched Dark Horse Comics in 1986, by investing profits from his chain of Portland, Oregon-based comic bookstores.

 

"Last summer, I started thinking about opportunities that would be available to us as far as an entertainment company. And we wanted a home for distribution of our films.

 

 

"Hellboy: The Companion," billed as the definitive guide to the Hellboy universe, will see release coinciding with the opening of the second feature film.

"I talked to [Hollywood super agent] Ari Emanuel, who asked me where I wanted to go and I obviously said Universal since we had such a great experience with ‘Hellboy II.'

 

"It was always my first choice to go to Universal. We have a lot of relationships there and know the people and they get what we do so that was my first choice so we were able to make the deal."

 

Asked which of Dark Horse's creator-owned properties may be in line for film adaptations, Richardson held his cards close to chest.

 

When offered Gerard Way' s popular "Umbrella Academy" series as an option, Richardson answered, "'Umbrella Academy' will obviously be high on the radar of the early projects but again, we've just completed the deal and now we are preparing the first projects.

 

"We will sit down with the studio and see where we go from here." He continued, "Dark Horse is probably at least near the top, if not at the top, since 1986, in the publication of creator-owned material. We publish a lot of creator-owned material every month. So there are continually new projects coming in the door."

 

Dark Horse Entertainment already has a long history as a multimedia conglomerate as the publisher has produced roughly 25 films and television projects in the past 15 years, including hits like "The Mask," "Timecop," "Mystery Men" and the original "Hellboy."

 

 

"Umbrella Academy"

"Most people aren't aware of that because we haven't really hired a PR firm to shove that news out," explained Richardson. "We've been very successful. Not only that but we have around 10 projects in serious development right now. With the staff we have, we've actually done very well but we have offers on a lot of the properties that we just haven't been able to move forward yet. So we are looking to expand. It seemed that a relationship with a studio for a distribution deal was a good thing for us. We are going to be bringing financing to the studio on a group of projects and others will be done in the more traditional way."

 

Richardson, already a firm believer in the strength of his golden army of creators, said the deal with Universal may bring even more top-flight talent into the fold.

 

"I think the type of deal we have will make us more attractive to some people, who are looking to find a home for their properties. And this deal is also going to give us a higher profile in the industry," said Richardson. "I think there's no doubt about that. We already have a great deal of content. And we have a lot of great projects that are already appropriate for film. We've basically never slowed down since the day we started Dark Horse Entertainment. As I say, most people probably don't realize how prolific we have been."

 

Richardson said the deal has little or no affect on "Hellboy II: The Golden Army."

 

"What does something for ‘Hellboy II' is the fact that it is a terrific movie," said Richardson. "We have a brilliant director who is at the peak of his career right now and he's brilliant and the movie's brilliant and I think people are going to be shocked because as much as we liked ‘Hellboy' and as much as I liked ‘Hellboy,' this movie is much larger in scope and goes well beyond anything that the first movie attempted.

 

"We had certain issues that we had to take care of in the first ‘Hellboy' movie, such as introducing Hellboy and creating a sympathetic cast of characters and the world they inhabit.

 

 

"The End League"

"In this movie, that's all out of the way and we can jump right into things. Not only that we have a much larger budget with this film so it's a whole different movie, a whole different scope. It's a big epic movie and if you haven't seen the trailer, you ought to take a look because it's pretty amazing."

 

Richardson has big plans for the "Hellboy" movie franchise, but the mighty dollar will have the final say.

 

"We would hope, of course [that there are more sequels]. ‘Hellboy' is a franchise, so obviously we'd like to keep it going," said Richardson. "Obviously the film's performance is going to have a lot to say about whether or not there is going to be future ‘Hellboy' films. But from all indications, this movie is going to do very well."

 

Attempting one last time for a tease of what comic property may be next in line for a Universal film, CBR News prodded Richardson with Rick Remender's "End League."

 

To which Richardson responded, "There are a lot of projects that we would like to see and some are already at other studios. But a lot of them, for whatever reason, we haven't had the chance to set up yet.

 

"What we do know is who the fans want when we do films and when we do comics," said Richardson. "I guess you would say that we have our finger on the pulse of pop culture, and entertainment culture."

 

http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=13369