Gerard Way wasn’t being taken seriously enough as a graphic artist and was living in his mother’s basement when 9/11 happened. He was on commute from Jersey to New York where he worked at a job he wasn’t feeling fulfilled with and was battling depression, drug and alcohol abuse and was at one point suicidal. He witnessed the towers fall and began My Chemical Romance as a result. He slayed the music world (personal opinion) and wrote The Umbrella Academy while on tour. The Umbrella Academy is amazing so he won an Eisner for his work and slayed the comics world too. The adaptation that hit Netflix today could be a complete flop, but I’m thankful it exists at all. Gerard’s original dream was not to be a famous musician leading the “Black Parade” – it was to create comics. If that isn’t motivation to keep following your passions then I don’t know what is.
I’ll keep writing.
So check out the show today, or tomorrow, or sometime in the near or far future. More importantly, check out the graphic novels and know that they were written and designed by some awkward guy who didn’t give up.
On a side note can we PLEASE adapt the Killjoy comics into a TV series or film too? The music videos were energetic and amazing and there needs to be more. Bonus points if you cast the originals…and have them form a band…and tour the world…and geek out in blogposts about Star Wars toys, Trans Ams, dogs and Frankenberry cereal again.