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.
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, 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.
PHOTO: NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE
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 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 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 Lander, who also owns the Rogues Gallery, a comic store in Round Rock, Texas. "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 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 Ba. "I didn't want this to look like an American comic," 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.
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 Morrison's most noteworthy creations for the team is Crazy Jane, a woman suffering from multiple-personality disorder, each with its own superpower. 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.
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?" Way asked, recalling Clark Kent's Kansas upbringing. "Wouldn't he rather be a farmer?"
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