Gerard Way: How Watchmen changed my life

Watchmen is not only the greatest comic ever written, it's a really important work of fiction. More so than any record, it was the first thing that really made me say to myself, "This is what I want to do".

My band My Chemical Romance covered Bob Dylan's Desolation Row for the movie soundtrack. There are quotes and references to songs sprinkled through the entire graphic novel, and that song is particularly relevant. Our version came from a desire to do something "of its era", which in the case of Watchmen is an alternate 1980s. I wanted the music to feel like how youth culture might feel at the time, so we approached it like an 80s new wave song.

Watchmen is a politically charged story and it explores exactly what a hero is, how the world would treat them and how they would react. It was the first time I read a superhero story that explored that situation. These are very real people with very real problems. For example, Rorschach is essentially homeless.

The thing about Watchmen that people should know is that when it came out there was absolutely nothing like it. Up until then comics were about the same thing: a guy in tights fighting another guy in tights and saving the girl – that was it. The only touch of reality might be Peter Parker getting a cold.

When I was in high school and listening to a lot of punk rock and watching Taxi Driver, Rorschach was a character I could identify with. And I think he's going to relate to a lot of young people who see this film. He's angry and he sees the world in the way that I saw the world at the time. As I got older I identified with Nite Owl more. Then, to some extent, I became a lot more interested in the Comedian. He's the most real character in the story because he has so many faults, more than anyone in the book.

My comic series, the Umbrella Academy, is absolutely indebted to Watchmen. You don't want to rip somebody off, but you want to explore things they started to explore. Even if it's just characters having an awkward conversation while drinking coffee on a rooftop or in a diner. The fact that the characters in Umbrella Academy already had a history was definitely a nod to Watchmen, too. And the fact that they're all 30 and the fun of their youth is kind of over. I think that anyone who wants to create a progressive comic is going to be influenced by Watchmen.

The story asks: what does it take to have peace? Does it take six million people to die? Alan Moore is a prophetic writer. I think of 9/11, which was one of the most horrible things in the world. I remember what it was like being in New York a week, and then seven months, after that event. People finally got along with each other and respected each other more. That only lasted about a year, but it was like seeing what he had written come to life in a very sick way. It's a commentary about the world at large, and how people treat each other. It's an inspiration.
Gerard Way was talking to Dan Martin