June 22, 2005  


I just wanted to congratulate the success of one my friends and fellow SVA alumni, Gerard Way.
(who did a rad Quicken Forbidden pinup in issue #7)

It's been absolutely mind blowing to see Gerard go from the guy who I used to sit next to in Carmine Infantino's class, to omnipresent media celebrity. I often refer to a lot of my friends as being rocks stars, but Gerard has become the real thing!
3 Years ago when I last talked to him on the phone he said he was forming a band with his brother. That band turned out to be My Chemical Romance. Since then they've had a song with massive radio, a video on constant MTV rotation, toured with Green Day and are about to headline the Van's WARPED TOUR this summer. I nearly shit myself when I saw Gerard on my Tee Vee in an ad for Best Buy promoting their new album. I recently googled his name and was just astounded by how many fan sites he has!
When I flew to Canada they had a little article about them in the complimentary magazine. And this month they are on the cover of SPIN, with a really awesome photo shoot that is just so cool. And the best part is that they completely tie in his comic book background and treat the band like they are real-life superheroes. Gerard even gets a side bar to plug his comic book influences. Anyways, long story short I am so freaking proud.
Gerard was always such an awesome guy and I always thought he was destined for greatness. His artwork used to inspire the hell out of me (I kept a drawing he gave me over my work desk for years). He was the first artist I ever met who I realized has a real "hipness" to his style and the way he drew and dressed his characters (one of the things I love about artists like Bryan Lee O'Malley). I used get all these vivid storylines just from looking at his sketchbook and had always hoped that at some point we could collaborate on a project one day!

Even though Gerard ended up doing music rather than comics, the rock persona he's created definitely has the feel of one of his comics. He's like a goth Ziggy Stardust. He drew the album cover for "Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge"-- and designed the T-shirts, merchandise and website, so it's still all very connected to his creative vision--which I love!
Anyways, I got to run into Gerard at MoCCA last week and it was really cool to see that he's still the same nice guy he was back at SVA. I know he's been through some rough patches, but it's inspiring to see him doing something that he loves on such a global level.
And god damn it, ever since I picked up the album, I always have his songs stuck in my head!
So, yeah! Rock and Roll!

3:51 PM

June 20, 2005  
Check out the new "Must List" issue of Entertainment Weekly and on page 110 is Larry Young, founder of AiT/Planet Lar, publishers of the Jax Epoch and the Quicken Forbidden collections--as well as tons of other kick-ass comics like DEMO and Scurvy Dogs. Larry came in at 93 just beating out the band alternative rock darlings, The Arcade Fire!
VERY cool!

12:36 PM

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