In the words of psychochip or Tab:

First of all, Boneyard Press is pulp slash comics that most comic shops don’t stock. I visit upwards of 5 different comic shops (I’m counting the Coliseum of Comics chain as 1) in the greater Central Florida area (radius of about 150 miles around Orlando) for HI duties, and only one of them carries this stuff, and that’s a porn shop that sells comics on the side so that they don’t have to call themselves an “adult” store. (I don’t go there much) Maybe Acme keeps some of it in the back room with the smut comics, but it’s certainly not front of house material. I can see it as something that a young, impressionable Gerard, who was enthralled with horror movies, would see as cool half his lifetime ago. It would be resume fodder for an aspiring writer. Read the Hart guy’s musings on his blog. He’s like the Howard Stern of comics. He knows he publishes smut and worse, he’s proud of it. He throws out a bunch of big name artists and writers like they’re best buddies, but you don’t see him going after them the way he’s going after Gerard. Why? Simple. They don’t have as much money or as much clout in music, which makes insanely more than comics (and believe me, comic artists are VERY WELL paid if their contracts are written well).

Secondly, I looked into this “On Raven’s Wings” that this guy is claiming is Gerard’s first published work. I’m going to assume, due to lack of any credits on the cover, that it’s an anthology. Maybe Gerard did a short story that may have been included in it, I don’t know. But he didn’t get cover credit, so even if it were in a comic shop somewhere, a teenie couldn’t spazz out “zomg! Jerald madee diz comxi! I haz to haz it bcuz i lurvez hem and wzomg!” Not to mention, if this guy is that pissed about it, you would think he would take it out of the vault, dust it off, and republish it with “WITH A STORY BY GERARD WAY OF MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE” on it so that the fans would go nuts and buy it. Of course, he’d have to ensure that Gerard got his proper share of royalties, depending on how his contract was written (or if it’s even in effect, Gerard being a minor at the time, or if it had a perpetuity clause, which given the work, I highly doubt it) but that’s neither here nor there.

Thirdly, Gerard has never claimed TUA as his “first published work.” It’s been advertised as his first series, which is correct. If this guy can find a piece of advertising that says that, I will take that back, but every advertising piece I’ve seen touts it as “a new superhero team conceived by” or “a new comic series written by” GERARD WAY OF MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE. (and that pisses me off. Let the work prove itself on its own merit. It can stand on its own without the constant references to a band which has nothing to do with the story.)

It’s common knowledge that he interned at DC, and I know people who remember him working there. DC published a short comic that he had drawn (I wish I could remember the name, it escapes me, but it was a western-style comic) as part of another anthology. Throw in The Breakfast Monkey (which I’m sure Cartoon Network has sitting in a vault of rejected ideas somewhere) and that puts three things ahead of Umbrella Academy, and nobody sees DC with their panties all in a bunch (then again, I’m not entirely sure DiDio even gives a shit about it, since Gerard interned under a different editor) nor do you see Cartoon Network climbing through their vault to revive Breakfast Monkey.

We all know that when someone gets famous, dirty little secrets come crawling out of the woodwork, people who used to treat you like shit are all of a sudden your best friend from high school, and nothing in your life is sacred (i.e. Team Let Gerard Shit In Peace). It sounds to me like, here is this guy with a piece of Gerard’s very early work, who wants his fifteen minutes of fame. More than likely, he just wants to get his crap publishing house in the news for some free publicity.

And just for shits and giggles: You don’t see Kevin Smith going out of his way for this Hart guy either, because now that Kev’s working for Marvel, I’m sure that he wants to forget the quick cameo that he gave to this jackass in “Chasing Amy” — proudly wearing his “Marvel Can Suck My Cock” tee-shirt. Sorry, honey, Marvel can’t publish every little piece of trash that crosses their desk. Try to take rejection with a little bit of dignity, or at the very least, with a little bit of maturity.

Gerad way looks completely different! I wonder why a fued would occur over something so small…

It’s ALL a major wank. Hart’s stuff doesn’t impress me (doing low quality shock for shock’s sake), nor does Way’s series (and yes, I am a longtime comics fan).

But the worst of it is the above fanboy defense, which ran longer then the actual article! If it IS a fanboy, that is…

Whoever this “blake’s infinity” is, he’s obviously either Way himself, one of his lackeys or some uber-rabid fan, because he’s cutting and pasting his above “defense” tirade in other places on the web, an example here as Ripley27:

http://answers .yaho o.com/question/index?qid=20080 225222326AAibi6A

Boring, people, and just plain sad. Anybody realize a major election is going on? And one that could truly screw us all if we waste our time with nonsense like this, as the above “blake” so obviously is.

I’m sick of where our country is headed, and where the heads of too many of our citizens are so obviously stuck. Pull them out now, fellow Americans, and use those minds for something more constructive before it’s too late. Believe me, it’s much more important than music and comics.

just had to say that blake’s infinity has given the most eloquent and intelligent response to this whole matter that i have seen come along since it started. if more people thought the way you do, maybe this wouldn’t get as blown out of proportion as it seems to be getting.

I think Gerard Way should give Boneyard Press and Hart Fisher credit.
When On Raven’s Wings was published in 1994 his name was credited as Garry Way and he was 16 but nonetheless it was him. I don’t know why Gerard doesn’t mention Boneyard Press or Hart Fisher in his interviews at all. It looks fishy to me. If Gerard Way doesn’t have any guilty conscience and really wanted to thank Hart for believing in him, why not mention his name or his company’s name in his interviews??
And yes, many interviews and articles list the Umbrella Academy as Gerard’s DEBUT comic book. It is same as saying it’s his first. Dark Horse or Gerard themselves may have not advertised it as his first but they haven’t denied those articles claiming the Umbrella Academy as Gerard’s debut comic, either. And where did those magazines and media get the idea that it’s his debut comic? Dark Horse or Gerard must have told them so! Honorable thing to do is for Dark Horse and Gerard to correct that The Umbrella Academy is not actually his debut or first but On Raven’s Wings through Boneyard Press is. How hard is that??
And this blake guy, did you even take a look at On Raven’s Wings??? There is credits inside the cover. It’s not an anthology. It’s Gerard’s book. He’s credited as Author, jackass! Do the research first before making any claims.
Boneyard Press is hardcore. And many people(including people at Marvel) don’t like them. That’s why many comic stores don’t carry them. They will never be main stream but that’s why I like them.
Boneyard Press rocks!

no talent hack fanboy – Way will get his

First of all, Hart is a washed-up mean person who feels he needs to waste his time going after Gerard! I’ve looked into this, and Gerard was a 16 year old innocent kid who thought it was neat to have something of his put into print. I have known Gerard for a very long time. He was a sensitive kid then and grew up to be a sensitive man. I think that just the idea of him unintentionally harming someone would devisate him let alone doing it on purpose! Get real, Hart and for God’s sake, leave Gerard alone. He’s a good, pure hearted guy, and for your to cash in on the hard work that he and his band-members did is deplorable. I have two words for you: Grow up!

Signed,

A very close friend of Gerard

author. eat something poisonous. honestly. Black PR is PR too and all of us completely understand it.

Way to throw insults into a professionally written article. How does calling someone “pudgy” make them less credible and you look good? Stop being a bully and stick to the point!

Gerard Way is undeserving of Britney Spears-esque treatment. Get over yourself.

“pudgy” is a kind word for what he looks like.

I’d personally say he looks like Shamu who had escaped from Seaworld.

It’s not an insult if it’s the truth.

re: Zotz | 2/27/2008, 8:12 pm EST

“It’s not an insult if it’s the truth”

Yes, well, I see.

The “truth” is you might wanta try to think things through before you begin typing.

If someone’s an asshole, and someone else were to call him an asshole, that’s still an insult. Especially if he gets pissed off and punches the messenger in the face.

I love how you link to this nutters livejournal.

Also, who buys a comic because it’s the authors first anyway?

Some people will do anything for free press.

Okay, this guy is an idiot, I’m sorry, but he is. I have been a fan of MCR for 7 years, don’t let that discourage you from reading this. Never in that 7 years has Gerard ever lied about anything, at least not to his fans, thus making it harder to believe that Gerard would do this. When the Umbrella Academy came out, they did advertise it as ‘Way’s first comic –in the series–’. [emphasizing on 'in the series'] Never had I heard Dark Horse say it was Way’s first comic. period. And even if they did, I’m 100% sure they would mean in the series. I honestly do not believe Gerard would lie like this, especially to his fans. That is my opinion, I do not respect yours. :] Please save your breath and don’t start up. This guy is a lunatic.

You can call Hart Fisher names all you want. But none of you guys has answered the question. Why did Gerard Way have to suppress the fact that his first comic book was actually ON RAVEN’S WINGS on Boneyard Press when he was 16? And according to Gerard he wanted to thank Hart in person for believing in him after MCR’s 2nd album came out. If Gerard really wanted to thank Hart, he could have easily mentioned of that in his interviews but there’s no mention of Hart or Boneyard Press anywhere. Why? It’s easy to call Hart names and insult him, you Gerard fans, but that doesn’t explain anything. This is not a name calling match. I just want to know why it is so hard for Gerard Way to admit that his first comic book is ON RAVEN’S WINGS on Boneyard Press. You can’t tell me he forgot all about his very first comic book when he was sensitive 16. You remember those big moments. That leads me to think he’s suppressing the fact on purpose for whatever reasons he has.

“While I take no issue with folks desirous of seeing the interviews/articles about the Dark Horse thing being Gary’s first work, I do wonder where all the folks whining that this is just about you looking to get publicity and make a buck are coming from. Why was it okay for you to promote this book when the kid was a nobody, but now that he’s made good and his first work is being ignored, somehow you’re a jerk for pointing it out? Whenever *anybody* gets famous, their first work is revisited. Think about some of the crap movies that come out (Texas Chainsaw IV, anybody?) when an actor suddenly becomes big. You told people for years that this kid’s work had merit. You told retailers this book was worth carrying. You toted copies around when we traveled back and forth across the country saying that someday this kid was going to break. Now, why was it okay then to talk up the kid’s first work, but suddenly you’re a prick for asking why his debut has been utterly ignored. Why weren’t people ripping you on Myspace and Newsarama and Live Journal when you were touting On Raven’s Wings before this guy’s band ever got a sniff of a record deal, but now they’re eager to jump on you for asking why nobody’s mentioning ORW now? Funny that people want to make durogotory comments about you for doing largely the same thing you did when this kid was unknown. You weren’t an asshole or selfish or jealous when you spent the dough to publish this kid’s work because you had faith in it, you’re only villified now that he’s achieved the success you predicted. Gee, doesn’t look to me like you changed, rather, the perception of those now dogging you has. And for what? For pointing out the conspicuous absence of a creator’s first work, when it’s commonplace for such fledgling efforts to gain notice after that talent has received some notoriety?”

“It took me nearly half an hour to navigate the audio CAPTCHA function on the Schwapp site, and Newsarama is a navigational nightmare for me. Anybody wants to quote anything I’ve posted to another site (be it at Newsarama or elsewhere), here’s my permission. All I request is that there’s no creative snipping and I’m attributed. I got no problem putting my name to my words, unfortunately, technology is a bit of an obstacle putting both name and words out there in all the places I’d like. I’ve already granted Hart permission to reprint any of my posts anywhere he wishes, since I’m not always able. And, since I’ve seen some more comments posted going back to Hart’s blog of the 10th, my question still stands. Why are these people ignoring the fact that Hart touted this book for ten years and tried to promote it, and now that the guy has a band and some success when Hart tries to point out the past he’s suddenly a jealous prick? Nobody bitched when he promoted On Raven’s Wings as Gary’s first work back in the 90s, so why the sudden pile-on now that he’s reminded people he was *right* about this kid? Anybody who says he waited until after Gary was famous is ignoring the fact that Hart was behind this book and kid years ago.”

-Joseph M. Monks/writer/director/The Bunker
http://www.chantingmonks.com

http://www.schwapponline.com/2 008/02/hart-d-fisher-talks-to- schwapp.html

It is said that, in LIFE ON THE MURDER SCENE, Gerard claims that no one believed in him and he couldn’t get work in comics until he was famous. Can any MCR fan confirm or deny that? If so, that’s some amount of misleading.

From watching the video with Hart in it, and subsequent related videos, it appears that he was involved in some scandal about publishing trading cards about serial killers? Imagine you are connected to this man in some way and are now insanely famous, like Gerard. Do you not think if you publicised your connection to this ‘Fisher’ then parents of fans and the press would immediately claim that Gerard was close friends with someone who near-glamourised serial murderers, and then people would say ‘oh don’t listen to his band’s music or read any of his comics because he’s a threat to our kids’ (moreso than they do already, of course ie adding fuel to the fire)?
Ok so that sounds far fetched but these kind of things do escalate, so it seems perfectly logical and sensible for Gerard, now needing to protect his success, not to publicly namecheck Fisher in every interview, something someone else suggested. Just a thought…

Oh and ‘blake’s infinity’ is actually right because the specific wording of the advertisements are that The Umbrella Academy is Way’s first ’series’ in case any of you missed that vital piece of evidence…

Not to mention the fact that the content of Gerard’s music is in all likelihood his own invention rather than ‘ripping off editorial’ from Fisher (how the content of MCR’s songs gets into editorial from a comic or rather vice versa I don’t know, but Fisher seems to think he knows his stuff). It’s like saying that if i read Fisher’s editorial and then wrote and published my own music i am ripping off his ideas…yeah, right.

I guess I would have to read the specific editorial to know exactly what ideas these were but to be honest millions of people think about the same sort of ideas, that they might have got from reading his editorial – and you aren’t going to accuse them of plagiarism are you?

Fisher should just accept that he had his publicity on Jerry springer years ago and it is now time to accept that he is a has-been. He just comes across as more pathetic in trying to pursue something that lacks any real evidence (so far), so just give up. End of…

As somebody involved in drawing comics/majored in Cartooning…my semi-professional opinion is, “This is such a load of crap.”

On savedbymcr.com website, this My Chem fan also says that in LIFE ON THE MURDER SCENE, Gerard claims that no one believed in him and he couldn’t get work in comics until he was famous. So Garry lied about it. I don’t care if he was 16 then. The fact is there was Hart Fisher who believed in Garry and published On Raven’s Wings in 1994, but Garry decided to ignore the fact and lied about it. Why?? To be this tragic figure and get his fans sympathy? Or there’s more sinister reason behind that lie??
It sounds like My Chem’s lyrics talk about death, dying, killing a lot and fans are saying Garry writes from his life’s experiences. Who died of violent death in his life?
Does anybody know that Hart’s then- girl friend was raped and murdered in 1993 and he wrote about it on his 2 poetry books and his comic book editorials? His pain is heartbreaking.
I hope Garry didn’t steal from Hart. Because if he did that makes him a real asshole.

“It is said that, in LIFE ON THE MURDER SCENE, Gerard claims that no one believed in him and he couldn’t get work in comics until he was famous. Can any MCR fan confirm or deny that? If so, that’s some amount of misleading.”

I’m an MCR fan, and I can’t confirm or deny whether it says this in Life On The Murder Scene, but I can confirm that Way did not begin to work on The Umbrella Academy until after Life On The Murder Scene was released. So, Gerard saying that he couldn’t get work in comic books until after he was famous in Life On The Murder Scene would be a little strange since he wouldn’t have got work in comic books yet anyway.

Hart needs to get a life and stop bullshitting. He’s just out for a pay-out or something.

No one is probably going to read this but:
IF what Fisher says is true, then why the hell has he waited so long to bring it up?
The band is in its 7th year.

JGdYB2

yo amo mas a jared leto pero me encanta gerard es topisimo

I can confirm Gerard worked on ‘On Raven’s Wings’. I went to school and was friends with Gerard at the time, and own the first 2 published books. At the time, it was no minor accomplishment to be part of such a project (I was rather jealous; little did I know what the future had in store). The names were left off the cover by aesthetic choice; the creative talent is made clear inside. The same goes for the second book.

Why the publisher brings the matter up now of all times, or why Gerard would not be forthright about his involvement I cannot say. We were young, and looking back I suppose it’s nothing compared to his artistic work now; nevertheless, it was indeed his first published work.

i don’t care what no sad old guy says…if gerard was such a unimaginitive guy that everyone is making out him to be then how can he write his own comics,on ravens wings was wrote by himself,so if he could write that then how is it so unbelivible that he wrote the umberrella acadamy,that was great…he may not have lived through the expirences he sings about or writes comics about and all great things have insperation from somewhere, even if he has taken a few ideas from that fisher guy.everyone gets insperation from somwhere and if i was fisher i would be happy that in a sense my voice was getting heard and through that helping millions of kids like me to find some meaning in life..so what if gerard was fat..he is the sexiest guy like ever now so…mcr saved my life and no matter where gerard gets his ideas from, i will be etternally thankful to him no matter what some greedy old creep who can’t stand to see another person do well for themselves.If fisher was so bothered about gerard using his ideas then why didn’t say something sooner?

Obviously blake is not Gerard…why the hell would Gerard ever do something like that? Doesn’t give a shit about thatanymore.

holy shit how was the guy so fucking fat..

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Thanks for the help , Vienna.