The Standard

Things take a sinister turn with this page, as the turn of one corner has shifted these two boys from the safe, familiar setting of a city street into something dark and unnerving.  That’s something I’ve long found creepy, when scariness isn’t out on some far-off place, but nestled right in amongst places and people we think we know.

This seems like as good a time as any to talk about the role horror plays in THE STANDARD.  I’ve talked about how superheroes are one of my great, lifelong loves.  Well, my other great, lifelong love is surely horror.  So, of course I would be keen in getting to play with both in my comics!  Looking at the comics I’ve written since THE STANDARD should tell you that it’s a genre I am interested in exploring as a creator.  So, even here, in a book that is largely classic superhero fare, I made an effort to work at least one horror sequence into each issue.  Even at this early stage I was playing around with techniques of using the comics page to build tension and generate unease in the reader.  You can let me know if I was successful!

Be sure to come back tomorrow, where I’ll be chatting with Jonathan Rector about making the switch from print to digital.