I made it one of my life goals to snag an interview with Gerard Way. Not only because I am a huge fan of the band, but also because, I have to admit, I find Gerard one of the hottest front men today. I was able to grab a few minutes with Way at the 2006 Comic Con International to talk about his new comic book with Dark Horse Comics.

Suburban Horror: I know you are a huge comic book fan. What are your biggest influences for "The Umbrella Academy"?

Gerard Way: The biggest influence for the Umbrella Academy is Gram Morrison’s Run on Due Patrol. But also cinematically - I love Geney films, City of Lost Children, AmÈlie, and Delicatessen. So I was thinking if you had this world like Delicatessen or a Geney film and you had super-heroes in that what would it look like, what would they talk like, what would their problems be. And so I tried to make a comic based off that. It’s almost like if a superhero comic was an art house film – that kind of thing. But Gram Morrison’s Due Patrol was really inspiring.

SH: So you did the story line. Did you do any of the artwork?

GW: I designed all the characters. I did wrote the story, broke down the issues, designed the characters, and now they are handed off to Gabriel (B·) and James (Jean). They interpret them their own way.

SH: Why did you choose Dark Horse? I'm a huge Dark Horse fan...

GW: I’m a huge Dark Horse fan. I love Hellboy. I love what they've done for year. One of the first comics I was into when I was 16 was the Aliens comic because I was really psyched that there was this really violent black and white comic based off of one of my favorite movies. I followed a lot of Dark Horse Comics. I like what they've done for the industry – just like their approach to things. I like how they’ll only put out a new Hellboy series when (Mignola) writes one. I think they have a European sense about them – put it out when it’s done. They are more graphic novel oriented. I’ve always been a fan of Indies too, and they are one of the biggest Indies.

SH: Is it hard balancing between the two careers?

GW: At times it can be. It’s just a matter of timing and when you choose to do what. When I wrote the bigger part of "The Umbrella Academy" I was on tour, and I had a lot of time to kill on tour. Making a record, not as easy. You have zero time to kill. We just finished the record. The proposal was handed in before we started making the record so that was all handled. Made the record, so now I’m all freed up again to write it.

SH: Do you have any other plans? Is it meant for a sequel?

GW: Yeah. It’s the kind of series where it’s supposed to run like Hellboy. Six issues are done, and then the next story starts at issue one. Maybe the next series has two issues, who knows?

SH: Besides the unveiling of your series, what else are you excited to do here at Comic Con?

GW: I’m excited to see a lot of my friends from New York that might be out here. I’m excited to see kind of what going on. I keep up on comics, but I’m really excited to see whether any of my old friends from DC comics are here.

SH: Oh yeah you worked for DC comics!

GW: Yeah I was an intern. I’m excited to see those people and to see if I run into anyone from New York.

- Magic Stick Mish