The Life And Lies Of Gerard Way

Prologue

By Pseu D. Onym
Story told by Gerard Way

Gerard Way is something of a legend. What has he not accomplished? At merely eighty years old (which is no age for a man), he has already had time to put out ten multiplatinum selling rock albums and tour the world with his extremely successful band My Chemical Romance, write sixteen graphic novels, including his debut series 'The Umbrella Academy' which has at the time of writing sold over 20 million copies all over the world, start and run his own art gallery in Los Angeles, featuring some of his most famous pieces throughout the years, and write several books, the last one being the story of his remarkable life; 'The True Life of a Fabulous Killjoy'.

He got married to fellow artist and musician Lindsey Ballato in 2007, and their daughter Bandit Lee was born in 2009. And when he hasn't been busy being an artist and a musician and a writer and a father, he has fought drug addiction and depression, coming out on top after every struggle he has been put through.

And for a man his age, he is still remarkably bright and articulate. There is absolutely nothing wrong with his memory, and he takes great pleasure in telling stories of his past.

So why would a man so clear-headed, so artistic, so bright, so strong, so perfectly capable of writing his own memoirs (something he has in fact already done) need me to do it for him, a second time? What about his own finished product was not satisfying to him, I wonder?

"I think really, what it was, I didn't stay true to myself in that book," he explains tentatively. We have met in a coffee shop not too far from his home in Los Angeles for the first of our interview sessions for this book, and he sips a double mocha cappuccino slowly. No one in their right mind can say that this man hasn't aged with dignity; he sports an impressive head of silvery hair, and though there are wrinkles in the corners of his eyes he still looks almost exactly the same as he did when he was thirty. The cane he uses to walk with nowadays only serves to remind one even more of the blonde, pretty little thing he used to be when he was younger, and he still speaks out of the right side of his mouth. Yes, this is Gerard Way alright.

"I didn't allow myself to tell the truth about certain things," he continues, "and it felt right at the moment but when I read it back, there was this whole other side of the story just burning in the back of my mind and I just decided that I couldn't keep it hidden anymore."

Did Lindsey know, I wonder over the rim of my coffee cup, because though he tries to hide what this is all about, I think I have it all figured out already. His eyes well up as he looks up to meet my eye, and I see his hands trembling, clutching his cup tightly.

"Yeah," he sighs and shakes a strand of silvery grey hair out of his face. "She did. I could never have lived with that secret alone." He sets his cup back down, and I see a lonely tear slide down his face, though he tries desperately to hide it. I reach across the table and grab his hand, and he smiles.

"I'll be okay this time."