Gerard Way has gone from My Chemical Romance to The Umbrella Academy (Picture: Getty Images)

The Umbrella Academy is shaping up to be one of the Netflix hits of 2019, after the first series debuted to a brace of good reviews and fan excitement.

The show follows the adventures of seven children bred to save the world from an unknown threat, with a cast that features the likes of Ellen Page, Mary J Blige, Robert Sheehan and Tom Hopper.

And it’s all based on a comic book series which originally debuted in 2007, written by Gerard Way.


Here’s what you need to know about Gerard – who was pretty well known for other reasons before he turned his attention to The Umbrella Academy.



How old is Gerard Way and how is he best known?

Way and Mary J Blige at the series premiere (Picture: Getty Images)

Gerard, 41, is best known pre-Umbrella Academy as the frontman of rockers My Chemical Romance.

The band, who were together from 2001 until they split in 2013, are best known for such songs as Welcome To The Black Parade – which topped the UK charts for two weeks in 2006 – Famous Last Words, I Don’t Love You, The Ghost Of You and I’m Not Okay (I Promise).

Gerard released his debut solo album Hesitant Alien in 2014 – and he hasn’t ruled out the possibility of an MCR reunion.

Speaking to Billboard about the idea in 2017, Gerard said: ‘I wouldn’t count [a reunion] out, but at the same time everybody’s doing stuff in their lives now that they’re really enjoying.

‘In some ways I don’t really miss it. It had gotten so big it was very unwieldy. It took a toll on my mental life and personal life.

When was The Umbrella Academy first published?

The Umbrella Academy is shaping up to be a Netflix smash (Picture: Netflix)

Way began writing the series in 2007, also illustrating the original – but the art has since been redrawn by artist Gabriel Ba.

The first volume, Apocalypse Suite was released by Dark Horse Comics as part of their Free Comic Book Day issue on 5 May 2007, but the comic’s first official issue was published on 19 September that year.

It’s not Way’s first attempt at a comic book – he previously began a series called On Raven’s Wings in 1993 when he was just 16, but it lasted just two issues.

He also was one of the co-creators of The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys which was published from 2013-2014, and he has written for the Spider-man series Edge Of Spider-verse.

The Umbrella Academy season one is available now to stream on Netflix UK.

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