Mikey Way Online

Yes, yes, more articles on The Umbrella Academy. However, if you don’t read any of these artcles, take this away with you. It’s a quote from Grant Morrison. I can definitely see why Gerard looks up to him so much.

“You gotta remember, in the entire history of the universe, you’re the only you that has ever existed and ever will exist. There’s nobody in existence who is you, and no one can ever see the world the way you see it and can tell the rest of us how it looks. And it might be so different and so beautiful that it changes everything.” — Grant Morrison
Read more: Gerard Way, Grant Morrison Comic-Con Panel, Newsarama.com

Now onto the rest of the articles….

After the catastrophic events of Apocalypse Suite, the Umbrella Academy celebrates victory in the ruins of their former home. One member’s bedridden and mutilated, following the brutal showdown with her siblings that saved the world, and another has lost her voice—a casualty of war—and along with it, all of her power. With another victory under their belts, and seemingly too much free time on their hands, what’s next for this sordid cast of misfit geniuses?

Find out this fall when Dallas hits stands November 26, 2008, carrying a $2.99 price tag, and a special variant cover by the legendary artist Jim Lee.

Read more: All-New Umbrella Academy Arrives This Fall — The Quarter Bin

Way spoke more about his views of his own work and about creativity in general when one audience member asked if The Umbrella Academy was ever likely to cross over into the My Chemical Romance stage shows. Both Way (singer for the MCR) and editor Allie stated that they had tried to keep the band’s name out of most articles or write-ups having to do with the book, and that it was their policy in general to try to let the book stand on its own. Way added, though, that he was as proud of being in the band as he was of creating the comic, and that he was happy to answer questions about one when being interviewed about the other. “It all comes from the same source,” he said. He also mentioned that many of the concepts for The Umbrella Academy that had been left on the cutting room floor eventually made it into their 2006 album, The Black Parade (he specifically mentioned that the original concept of the villainous organization from The Umbrella Academy had been called “The Black Symphony” in the original pitch).

Read more: Gerard Way, Grant Morrison: Born Under a Black Sun — Geeks of Doom

The jewel in the crown are Friday night’s prestigious Eisner Awards, the industry’s Oscars. This year’s surprise winner, was My Chemical Romance singer Gerard Way’s dysfunctional superhero saga The Umbrella Academy, picking up Best Limited Series for its first run – a sweet vindication after more than a few eyebrows were raised when he started the project with illustrator Gabriel Ba.

“A lot of people were probably thinking, ‘He’s not much of an underdog any more, he’s a rock star now so this is easy for him,’” says Gerard. “So I got to be an underdog all over again. I didn’t have it easy.”

Deified in his day job, Gerard used to be able to walk around these things pretty much invisible. Now, all that’s changed.

“At first I would just go to comic conventions and just walk around. Now I make that difficult for myself because I write comics. But it’s so good to have a book that was appreciated. Acceptance was optional, I wanted the work to be appreciated.”

Read more: The Nerd Herd: Welcome to Comic Con — The Guardian

Okay, this doesn’t actually have anything to do with The Umbrella Academy, but it was simply mentioned in this thing about another comic coming out (Tori Amos, anyone?) and I was just amused.

Musicians and a comic book artist working together isn’t such a strange notion these days. I know most of you are aware of My Chemical Romance member Gerald Way having explored the world of comic books with Umbrella Academy as well as singer Claudio from Coheed and Cambria. Now it looks like someone new is hitting the scene. — Star Clipper Blog

Now, this is effing awesome. My Chemical Romance will be the only contemporary artist featured in Watchmen with their cover of Bob Dylan’s Desolation Row. It will be played over the closing credits. If you want the lyrics, Kathleen has posted them in the lyrics section. You’ll quickly discover, as we did, how My Chemical Romance had to find a way to cut it from 12 minutes.

As we reported last week, when Zack Snyder went looking for bands for the “Watchmen” soundtrack, his compass landed squarely on My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way. The singer — who had already contacted the director inquiring about working together — is a lifelong comics fan, having interned at DC Comics and attended art school before starting one of the world’s most popular rock groups.

The band will be covering Bob Dylan’s classic “Desolation Row” over the closing credits, making themselves the only contemporary artists to contribute to the film. We caught up with Way at Comic-Con where he gave us the low-down on his cover, describing his take on the song, his love of the book and more.

Read more: My Chemical Romance’s Gerard Way Goes Punk For Watchmen Dylan Cover — MTV Splash Page

This video was sent to Brandi from her reader Meagan. Remember the “Bauer” drama? Of course you do. Ray is, in fact, the father of a dog named Jack Bauer.

Brandi has also posted an audio recording of Gerard’s Eisner acceptance speech at Comic-Con and also has a transcription of it.

Edit: Frank’s guitar has been unveiled at the Rock Hall of Fame in a Contemporary Music exhibit. Other items include stuff from Paramore, Usher, Good Charlotte, and Phantom Planet. Thanks April!

Another edition of Johnnie’s Random Photos! Also, bare with me as I’m testing yet another new way of doing photos for the site. Brandi is teaching me some new tricks.