MY Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way is set to make a return to the comic world with the launch of a new horror-themed series Paranoid Gardens.
Teaming up with Dark Horse Comics, the famed artiste, best known for his work on The Umbrella Academy, will collaborate with co-writer Shaun Simon on the new series, which is scheduled to be released in July, according to media reports.
“I’m excited to be back with my incredibly handsome and talented brother-from-another-basement Shaun Simon penning a story that’s really special to us, and honoured the masterful Chris Weston joined us to create a visually powerful and emotionally tangible physical object that is this comic.
“I’m now more complete getting to share something we’ve wanted to for a very long time, and working with this fantastic group of individuals in the process,” Way said.
The synopsis for Paranoid Gardens describes the setting as: “Loo is a nurse at the most bizarre care centre around. The staff are not entirely human, and the cases are downright unearthly. Aliens, ghosts, superheroes and other creatures haunt its halls as doctors, patients and the hospital seem self-aware. Loo believes she is been called to this mysterious place despite a recent job failure and rises to the challenge. Along the way, she must overcome corrupt staff, powerful theme park cults, and her own demons and trauma to discover the gardens’ secrets.”
Illustrations for the comics will be handled by Chris Weston, recognised for his work at Vertigo and DC, as well as for contributing concept art to Star Wars: The Last Jedi. The cover art for the first issue will be provided by Motohiro Hayakawa.
Way rose to prominence when he created and wrote the comic book series The Umbrella Academy. The series achieved significant success and was subsequently adapted into a highly popular Netflix television series. This adaptation has spanned three seasons thus far, with a fourth season anticipated for release later in 2024.
“A lot of people at the time, right before Umbrella came out, knew me as a singer in a band.
“I had this long history with comics and kind of making my own and getting published at 15 and using my grandmother’s typewriter. But then I went to the School of Visual Arts in New York City, and my major was cartooning. So I had all these comic book classes, and in my senior year I interned at DC – I interned there for like a year.”
In other My Chemical Romance news, the band is scheduled to perform their 2006 album The Black Parade in its entirety at this year’s When We Were Young Festival, taking place on October 19 and 20.
