By.
Temper
About
three years ago, I discovered Danger Days:
The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys,
a concept album released in 2010 by My Chemical Romance (MCR). It quickly
became one of my favorite albums, partly because of my love of concept albums, and
also because I’ve always enjoyed MCR and their music. After repeatedly listening
to the album, I immersed myself in any and all information I could about the
concept behind it. The Killjoys and their world became fascinating to me. I was
pleasantly surprised when I discovered that Gerard Way, the lead singer of MCR,
was going to pen a comic, published by Dark Horse Comics, to complete the story
that the album began.
The first issue of The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys was
released on June 12th, 2013. Gerard Way and Shaun Simmons wrote the
series, with a team including artist Becky Cloonan, letterer Nate Piekos, colorist
Dan Jackson, and editor Sierra Hahn. The story focuses on four groups of
characters. The Killjoys team is lead by the brash and violent Val Velocity,
the only survivor from the original Killjoys, and has members such as The Girl,
her guardian Cherri Cola, Better Living Industry Pleasure robots Red and Blue,
and Korse, the BLI enforcer who killed the original Killjoys
The series is six issues long and gives the reader a view
into the lives of all the aforementioned characters. The story focuses more,
however, on The Girl’s story: her coming of age, alongside coming to grips with
the sacrifice her friends, the original Killjoys, made to keep her safe, and finally
choosing her own path to fight the BLI. To give you additional story details
would be spoiling a great read, but Way and Simmons don’t pull any punches, and
this can be credited to the fact they only had six issues to work with.
To me this series was a joy to read, and I was excited every
time I went to the store to pick up the next issue. The art and coloring are
very good, doing an amazing job of contrasting the dystopian desert wastes with
the perfectly pristine, mechanical Battery City. Characters are designed as they
were ripped straight from the music videos based off the Danger Days album, and everything has a vibrant yet dirty look. Though
the action sequences are few, all are beautifully done. The story is smart, carrying
a message of growing up, choosing your own way, and fighting for what you
believe in. I really wish there could be more of this series, because I
enjoyed it that much. I honestly can't recommend it enough. Even if you aren't
a fan of My Chemical Romance or the album or, The True Lives of the Fabulous
Killjoys is a worthwhile read. Do yourself a favor and give it a shot.
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