I'm quite certain people are now very curious to see how this all plays out. Are you going to have time in your touring schedule to hit ComicCon this year and do some more explaining?
We're trying to work out some flights, but the plan is I'm going to be there on the Saturday, I believe.
That may be rather nutso for you.
I don't know. The previous year was great, because it was really low-key, it was under the radar, and it was really humbling standing next to Gabriel and James. I've met a lot of people who are interested in the book because Gabriel and James are doing it. That was good for me to see. I feel like I've actually been knocked down a few notches, and I needed that. So I don't know what it'll be like this year. The Free Comic Book Day preview we released got a great response — I think people were so skeptical, but I'm very used to that. It's like a tool in my toolbox now.
There may be skeptics in comic land, but the hordes of fans from your quote-unquote day job might make up for that. There's fervor there for a different reason.
Right. And the idea behind all of this is to get these people into comic stores. Comics are my first love, and I hate seeing an art form that I love suffer. So it's like, Well, I'll do something, it'll bring people into the shops. That's why when I went to Scott, he was like, ''Why'd you pick Dark Horse, why didn't you go to a bigger company?'' And I'm like, Because I want people to read Dark Horse books. Everybody knows who Batman and Spider-Man are, and that's fine. I'd rather go with a mom-and-pop. I'm really proud of the first issue. Free Comic Book Day is nothing compared to the first issue. The first issue is nuts. Every single page is nuts.
This is all very exciting. Do you feel like this is something you've been working toward your whole life and you finally got there, or do you feel more charmed and lucky and blessed with an opportunity?
I never intended to actually get an opportunity to do comics from being in a band. I feel it's just a gift. It's just an opportunity, and I'm very choosy about my opportunities. I'm not an opportunist. Like, I don't have a clothing line.
You really maybe should, Gerard.
[Laughs] Everybody would just look like they were in The Avengers.
Striped fingerless gloves for the world!
Basically, yeah. I won't do that kind of thing, and I'm very careful. Like when someone says, ''Hey, we want you to act in this movie,'' I'll be like... ''No... [laughs], I kinda just like being in a band.'' And that's why we've kept the band so separate from the comic, and I think Scott and Dark Horse have been really good about that. It's not on the cover, it's not on the poster, it's not my comic. It doesn't say, ''Gerard Way's Umbrella Academy.'' That stuff was all very important to me. I want my name right next to Gabriel's. So yeah, I think I'm lucky. I'm blessed. I have an ability to tell stories and I have an opportunity to do that in another way right now. I feel the same way about directing videos, or directing films. I would take those opportunities. Any opportunity where I have to work? It doesn't feel like I'm being an opportunist. If you don't have to work that much — if you design a jacket or something, like I did for Hurley — you do that for charity.
There's gonna be a whole slew of angry jacket designers now.
[Laughs] Yeah.
