Gerard Way returns with more Killjoys

Musician/comic book writer Gerard Way speaks at 2019 Los Angeles Comic-Con (Image credit: Chelsea Guglielmino/Getty Images)

With the second season of Netflix's The Umbrella Academy debuting in a week's time, Gerard Way's other creator-owned comic book series The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys has been announced as returning later this year for a sequel.

Scheduled to debut October 14, The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys: National Anthem reunites Way with his long-time writing colleague Shaun Simon to continue the adventures of the Killjoys - but transposing them from the post-apocalyptic future of the first series and back into present-day America.

"After the Analog Wars, the Killjoys lost their way — and their memories," reads the description of the new six-issue series. "A rat chews through Mike Milligram's TV cord, and reality unravels. But when his Ramones records disappear, Mike remembers what the Fabulous Killjoys and some toy rayguns can do."

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Original series artist Becky Cloonan is segueing over to drawing variant covers, with Hawkeye artists Leonardo Romero and Jordie Bellaire joining the creative team to draw interior pages and the primary covers for all six issues.

"Gerard Way and Shaun Simon take it all back to their original concept, rebooting the Killjoys in present-day America, where it’s impossible to tell what’s real and what Mom and Dad just tell you to keep you calm," Dark Horse writes of the new series.

The comic series originated with My Chemical Romance's 2010 concept album Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys. Way and his team followed that up with a 2013 sequel in comic books, The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (later subtitled 'California'). The new series, National Anthem, continues that story.

The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys: National Anthem #1 (of 6) is due out on October 14.

Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)