Rocker Gerard Way's comic The Umbrella Academy set for Netflix
Hailey McAdams | CBC News | Posted: July 12, 2017 7:37 PM | Last Updated: July 12, 2017
My Chemical Romance's Way is latest rock star-turned-comic book writer
Rock band My Chemical Romance may have called it quits a few years back, but lead singer Gerard Way has been keeping busy as a comic book creator.
Now, his prize-winning series The Umbrella Academy has been picked up by Netflix for development as a 10-episode, live-action adaptation, publisher Dark Horse Comics announced Tuesday.
A collaboration between Way and Brazilian illustrator Gabriel Ba, The Umbrella Academy is set in an alternate universe in 1977, the year Way was born. The series follows a dysfunctional family whose members each boast a unique super-power.
The Umbrella Academy debuted in 2007 as a six-issue limited comic series and ultimately won the Eisner Award for Best Finite Series/Best Limited Series in 2008. Subsequent series have followed.
"I couldn't think of a better place for the vision Gabriel Ba and myself had when creating the comic, and cannot wait for people to experience that world as a live action show," Way said in a statement.
"These aren't the usual superheroes, and this series will embrace the singular tone of the graphic novels — dark yet humorous, supernatural yet grounded in reality," said Cindy Holland, vice-president of originals at Netflix.
The Umbrella Academy is expected to debut on Netflix in 2018.
Way is one of many rock stars who have dabbled in comic arts. Corey Taylor, of Slipknot, Glenn Danzig of Misfits and Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and The Nightwatchman have all written or co-written comic books.