My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way has exclusively revealed to Kerrang! that he’s in talks with Universal about turning his graphic novel series The Umbrella Academy into a film.

“There’s been a lot of progress on it,” Way tells K!. “Things in Hollywood move slow typically, but the comic was optioned as a film right before the San Diego Comic Convention last July. As soon as I got home from that I started meeting people at Universal and the film got fast-tracked and so recently I’ve been in talking to them about three times a week, first talking about the tone the film might have and then talking about screen writers who are going to work very closely with me when it comes time to do the film.”

As creator of The Umbrella Academy, Way has also hinted that directing is something he’d like to turn his hand to in the future.

“Directing is something I’d be really interested in,” he says. “People ask me if I would act, but acting to me is not nearly as exciting as directing would be. When I was talking to [video director] Mark Webb about the Ghost Of You video I was talking about the idea and I broke it down into shots and he’d said ‘You should really consider making your own videos eventually’. And I think that making videos would be fun and easy, but I’d definitely be interested in directing features. After this record cycle I’d be really interested in trying something like that.”
Source: Kerrang!

Thirty-one-year-old comic author (and sometimes artist) Gerard Way traces his professional comics work back to college, but it wasn’t until 2007 that his name was stamped prominently on one. That’s when he became the creator of the Dark Horse series Umbrella Academy, the first trade paperback collection of which, Apocalypse Suite (read the review here), was released in 2008. And silencing critics who might have thought Way was just another celebrity making a weak attempt at crossing from one medium to another, the author’s quirky superhero series picked up the Eisner Award last year for Best Finite Series/Limited Series, as well as three Harvey Award nominations, of which it won Best New Series.

Way recently talked with GraphicNovelReporter about his background in comics, the influences behind Umbrella Academy (the second series, Dallas, is underway), working with Gabriel Bá, writing on the road, how My Chemical Romance got involved with Zack Snyder and the Watchmen soundtrack, bringing new readers to comics, and why an Eisner trumps a Grammy.

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At the risk of ruining any credibility I may have established over the years, I’m going to admit something most others won’t. I like My Chemical Romance. When taken at face value, they accomplish exactly what they set out to do—which is to churn out catchy, infectious pop-punk. So yeah, I like My Chemical Romance, and I like Leathermouth too. The correlation, you ask? Well, not much in terms of sound at all. Leathermouth is the side project of My Chemical Romance’s guitarist Frank Iero. Iero takes on vocal duties for the band and crafts an impressive debut in XO.

XO is, at its core, a hardcore punk record. Or at least it’s trying to be. Think Black Flag meets Refused with a hint of Every Time I Die thrown in for good measure. Now before the punk purists cry blasphemy, XO does have its flaws. The lyrics are childish, and the attitude can sometimes seem forced, but Leathermouth captures the essence of the aforementioned bands pretty well. XO is loud, raw and in your face. The bass is non-existent, and the treble is full blast. Iero’s shrill shrieks spout unintelligible venom over the wall of sound sometimes getting lost in all the ensuing chaos. The opening riff of “My Lovenote Has Gone Flat” gets the listener going until a snare drum roll sneaks up behind it and the track explodes chugging forward relentlessly for the entire two and half minutes until an intense breakdown closes it out.

Leathermouth’s XO is dirty, it’s abrasive and, most of all, it’s pissed off. Not surprisingly the target audience for this record probably won’t give it a chance because of its dubious connections to My Chemical Romance. Meanwhile, My Chem’s fan base probably won’t be too receptive either since it’s too aggressive for a stereotypical fan. But XO, albeit not perfect, isn’t bad at all. If you’re craving some fast, spastic hardcore punk give Leathermouth a chance, you might be surprised by the punch XO packs.

Source: ArtistDirect

I Cannot Be Fucking Stopped.
posted by Gerard on Feb 11, 2009 11:23pm

I’m three boxes deep into a case of Frankenberry and I’m still not sick of it. I eat a bowl every night after practice. I think I actually like it more than I did as a child…it’s far more mild than I remember. Calming.