10 Years Ago, DC Comics Teamed With the ‘00s Greatest Rock Star for the Weirdest Comics of the 21st Century

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DC Comics is known for consistently pushing the boundaries of what comics can be. While Marvel excels at superhero stories, DC has always been more diverse, exploring all kinds of genres and storytelling styles, much like comics from other countries. Marvel played a key role in making comics more mature in the early 1980s, but DC built on that foundation, ultimately becoming famous for offering a wider range of comic book series than anyone else.

In the 1980s, DC Comics broadened its range of stories, attracting top creators in the industry. The success of Swamp Thing paved the way for Vertigo, a comics line known for its sophisticated, genre-bending stories. DC continued this approach in the 90s with various publishing imprints, including the lesser-known Helix line, which launched Transmetropolitan. While imprints waned in popularity during the 2000s, even the highly regarded Vertigo line eventually ended. DC revisited the idea in 2016, partnering with a major 21st-century musician – Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance – to create a new imprint called Young Animal.

Young Animal Was the Rebirth of Late ’80s DC

Gerard Way is known as a rock star, thanks to his band My Chemical Romance, but his true passion was always creating comics. He and his brother Mikey grew up loving them, and in 2001, Gerard was trying to get his start in the comic book world while interning at Cartoon Network. The events of September 11th, which he witnessed while in New York City, profoundly impacted him – a theme explored in his song “Skylines and Turnstiles.” My Chemical Romance went on to become a leading band in the emo scene (I even saw them perform twice – Gerard actually sweated on me at one show, and I still have the t-shirt!), but the band ultimately disbanded in 2013.

The band was famous for its concept albums – albums that told a complete story. Their final album, Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, was even adapted into a comic book. During the album’s production, band member Gerard Way became friends with comic book writer Grant Morrison, and they often discussed comics together. This connection later led Way to collaborate with Gabriel Ba on The Umbrella Academy, a hugely successful comic series. Ultimately, these experiences led to conversations with DC Comics and the creation of the Young Animal line.

The Young Animal series deliberately evoked the feel of late 1980s comics. Gerard Way was a fan of books like Doom Patrol by Grant Morrison and Rachel Pollack, and he aimed to create something similar. The initial four titles – Doom Patrol, Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye, Mother Panic, and Shade the Changing Girl – featured both forgotten characters and brand new creations, all used to tell incredibly strange and imaginative stories. While Way and Nick Derrington’s Doom Patrol was the main series, serving as a modern continuation of Morrison and Pollack’s work, each of the four books was excellent in its own right.

Readers quickly became fans. Gerard Way brought in talented creators like Cecil Castellucci and Marley Zarcon for Shade, Jodi Houser and Tommy Lee Edwards for Mother Panic, and teamed up with Jon Rivera and Michael Avon Oeming on Cave Carson. These comics blended the serious tone of late 1980s stories with the unique strangeness DC Comics is known for. The initial four titles did well, even leading to a crossover event called “Milk Wars” with DC’s main heroes. This success led to more series like Bug: The Adventures of Forager, Eternity Girl, Collapser, Far Sector, Shade, the Changing Woman, Cave Carson Has an Interstellar Eye, and Doom Patrol: Weight of the Worlds. All these books shared a similar offbeat style and introduced readers to Jo Mullein, who now stars in Absolute Green Lantern.

Young Animal Was the Perfect Blast from the Past

Growing up, Gerard Way always dreamed of working for DC Comics, but his success as a musician put those plans on hold. He eventually returned to his passion with The Umbrella Academy, which ultimately brought him back to DC and led to the creation of the Young Animal imprint. I remember when it first started – I still have the original, limited-edition preview book, which was a tribute to DC’s classic Who’s Who series – and it felt like a truly innovative and exciting moment for DC in the 2010s, bringing back the best elements of what made the publisher great.

Young Animal brilliantly captured the spirit of late 1980s DC Comics – a period before the Vertigo imprint that saw international creators revitalize forgotten DC concepts with bold, mature storytelling. In 2016, this fresh approach felt incredibly exciting, especially alongside the launch of DC Rebirth #1, signaling a genuine resurgence for DC (though it proved to be short-lived). Young Animal was a truly special moment for comics, reminding fans why DC once stood above the rest. It was energetic, unconventional, and captured the raw energy of rock and roll – everything a comic book fan could ask for.

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2026-02-18 00:43