The Umbrella Academy's Creator Had An Unmade Batman Comic Pitch That Looks Incredible

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Most people are lucky if they get to live one dream job — writer and musician Gerard Way has two. Growing up in New Jersey as a comic book fan, Way intended to pursue an art career. But during his Cartoon Network internship in New York City, the 9/11 attacks happened and left Way as shaken as the rest of America. He pivoted to music and co-founded the pop-punk/rock band My Chemical Romance (which includes his bassist brother Mikey Way).

Through the success of My Chemical Romance, Way has been able to re-enter comics. Acclaimed Scottish writer Grant Morrison was his comic-writing mentor, while The Smashing Pumpkins first inspired the Way brothers to start a band. Between his two careers, Way is the heir to both Morrison and the Pumpkins' Billy Corgan.

Way's most acclaimed comic, "The Umbrella Academy," (drawn by Gabriel Bá) is about superpowered (and dysfunctional) adoptive siblings. Boosted in popularity by the Netflix TV series adaptation, "Umbrella Academy" is like "X-Men" meets Wes Anderson's "The Royal Tenenbaums" (an influence cited by "Umbrella Academy" showrunner Steve Blackman). As a comic writer, Way also left his mark on the Spider-Verse: He co-created the mecha Spider-Woman, Peni Parker, in 2014.

Even with My Chemical Romance's temporary break-up, Way is a busy person — and because of that, he never managed to write his pitch for a Batman mini-series to DC: "Batman: Kingdom of the Mad." DC approved the series for its Vertigo publishing line, but it still never happened.

While Way has revealed some concept art and story details for the unmade series over the years (see a cover page below), that'll only make you sadder that he never actually brought Batman into the "Kingdom of the Mad."

Gerard Way/DC Comics

Gerard Way posted the "Batman: Kingdom of the Mad" concept art on his Twitter account in 2013, and responded to several users asking for more details. Per Way, "Kingdom" would've been a six-issue limited series, each issue having a one-word title. The first issue title? "Rats," because that's all this version of Bruce Wayne eats!

It's clear Way wanted to write a Batman who was truly unwell, mentally. If you're familiar with the often self-flagellating and death-fixated emo music of My Chemical Romance, that's not a shocker. The concept art notes that Bruce thinks he's a bat, and accordingly hangs upside down like one. According to Way, his Batman actually can turn into a bat, and also possesses clairvoyant superpowers (though no-one believes Batman about them).

These details suggest an homage to "Dracula" — Batman turning into a bat evokes the vampire's shapeshifting, while his diet of rats evokes the Count's familiar, Renfield. The pure black leather Batsuit resembles the texture of Catwoman's (Michelle Pfeifer) costume from "Batman Returns," but with some extra eccentric details. There is an ancient Crusader cross emblem sewn into the cape, perhaps symbolizing Batman as a crusader for justice and/or sweet revenge. According to Way, "the inside of the cape has a massive drawing of a magical kingdom that [Batman] made up, like his version of Heaven." Could that be from where the title "Kingdom of the Mad" derives?

This Batman also explicitly applies black eye makeup under his mask. Yes, Way had this idea years before 2022's "The Batman" depicted Batman (Robert Pattinson) painting his tear troughs black. Many joke that Pattinson's emo Batman looks like he listens to My Chemical Romance, but Mr. MCR himself was going for an even weirder Batman in "Kingdom of the Mad."

"Kingdom of the Mad" also would have featured many A-list Batman villains; my personal favorite of the designs is a punk reinvention of the Joker. This Joker is only 19-years-old, but the concept art suggests he's no less vicious or insane than the classic Joker. He's also colored in black and white, rather than the Joker's usual purple suit and green hair. He appears to be wearing a hospital gown, the kind they'd put on patients in Arkham Asylum.

A long-standing rumor is that, in "Kingdom of the Mad," Bruce Wayne was sentenced to Arkham Asylum after the death of his parents. Way does not appear to have confirmed this, but an asylum setting would fit with the title "Kingdom of the Mad" and some of the character design choices (like Joker). 

Way also later wrote a comic set in a surreal hospital facility: 2025's "Paranoid Gardens," co-written by Shaun Simon with art by Chris Weston. Not for nothing, one of Grant Morrison's "Batman" comics — "Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth," art by Dave McKean — featured Batman plunging into the dark depths of Arkham. "Kingdom of the Mad" could've been to "Arkham Asylum" as "The Umbrella Academy" is to Morrison's "Doom Patrol."

Another villain design facing revision if the book had moved forward was Two-Face. This Harvey Dent is reimagined as a police officer with an early 20th century beat cop style uniform. Traditionally, Dent is a Gotham City's District Attorney before he becomes a super-villain, so this would've tweaked his law enforcement background. Going off the concept art, Way was considering giving Harvey's bad side blue skin, a la Bruce Timm's Two-Face design from "Batman: The Animated Series."

The Riddler designed for "Batman: Kingdom of the Mad" has a green suit, cane, and bowler hat, looking not far off from Frank Gorshin's Riddler in the 1966 "Batman" series. The main addition to his costume is a mask: a white plastic bag with a question mark emblazoned on it. Gimmicky, perhaps, but definitely a cool addition.

There's a fair bit of Tim Burton's Batman in the "Kingdom of the Mad" concept drawings, and that influence is clearest with the Penguin (see below). Oswald's proportions and Victorian gentleman outfit make him look like he'd fit right into Burton's stop-motion movie "The Corpse Bride." It appears he was also envisioned as the mayor of Gotham City, a position The Penguin (Danny DeVito) ran for in Burton's "Batman Returns."

Gerard Way/DC Comics

Way also called himself a fan of the Joel Schumacher Batman films, so he wanted to include "Batman & Robin" big bad Mr. Freeze. "Batman: The Animated Series" reinvented Mr. Freeze with a design from Mike Mignola, and a new backstory where he's driven by grief for his ill wife, Nora. Way wanted to put a new, gruesome spin on Freeze's robotic armor (see the art below).

In "Kingdom of the Mad," Freeze's wife died in a car accident, and his armor (made from said car) is modeled to look like Nora. That armor resembles an ice-colored version of the robot Maschinenmensch from 1927 silent film "Metropolis." When Freeze is out of that armor, he appears to be a sickly old man.

Not every Batman fan or writer also likes Robin, but Gerard Way intended to include the Boy Wonder in "Kingdom of the Mad." Way's plan was for Robin to be the book's straight man — the only one in this kingdom who isn't mad, hence his more "subdued" and classical costume. (See below.) Robin's red and green costume is described to resemble a Victorian acrobat, alluding to Dick Grayson's traditional backstory as a circus performer. More puzzling is the military medal fixed to Robin's chest; would he have some background as a soldier? 

While Way did not release concept art for Batman's childhood guardian and butler Alfred Pennyworth, he was meant to be in the book — and seriously overhauled. "[Alfred] is the leader of the Order of Hecate. Homeless knights that live under Gotham, who adopt Batman at 30 [years] old," Way explained.

Apparently misplaced "Kingdom of the Mad" concept art for Catwoman was styled after "Grey Gardens," the 1975 gothic documentary about two reclusive socialites. Of the major Batman rogues, the most noticeable absences from this art include Poison Ivy and the Scarecrow. Since My Chemical Romance's fourth album, "Danger Days: The True Lives of Fabulous Killjoys," has a song called "S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W" (about lost innocence and an ominous scarecrow), I would hope Way would find room for Jonathan Crane in "Kingdom of the Mad."

Indeed, if you know My Chemical Romance, it's not surprising that Way wanted write Batman. The band's songwriting has the mix of theatricality and angst that a good Batman story needs. Gerard Way himself has a Bruce Wayne-like origin story; he witnessed a tragedy and felt he needed to channel his feelings into something greater (albeit songwriting, not crimefighting in a bat costume).

Speaking to EW in 2006, Gerard Way said that he thought after 9/11: "I need to feel immediately better. I need to immediately help people."

My Chemical Romance's most Batman-like album is their second, "Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge." It's a sequel to "Demolition Lovers," a song from their first album about two doomed lovers killed in a gunfight.

In "Three Cheers," the male Demolition Lover has gone to Hell, where he makes a bargain with the Devil — deliver the souls of one thousand evil men and he will see his lover again. The last twist, delivered in the final track of wailing despair, "I Never Told You What I Do For A Living," is that through all that bloodshed, he's become the thousandth evil soul. ("Three Cheers" is a great album, but that sounds like an awesome comic premise too, huh?)

What's stopping Way from using that storytelling talent to finish "Kingdom of the Mad"? MCR is back together now, so his schedule hasn't loosened up. The very fact he shared the concept art publicly also indicates he's put it behind him. 

The closest to an official release are action figures of the "Kingdom of the Mad" Batman and Joker. In a now-deleted Instagram post announcing those figures (backed up by Batman Universe dot net), Way disclosed another reason his Batman story remains untold:

"The fact that ['Kingdom of the Mad'] is a very dark story and I feel you need to be able to access a very dark place to write Batman in general, at least for me, or at least the story I was trying to tell."

With that in mind, it might be for the best Way never reaches the right place to write "Batman: Kingdom of the Mad."