The Standard

Here, we begin the flashback that will run throughout Chapter 2.  This one may sit a bit uncomfortably, as while the previous chapter had a cheerful, classic superhero adventure as the flashback, here the Silver Age style narration is juxtaposed against a darker tale.  I’d like to think that the jarring effect of this is deliberate.  I’d say this is the first indicator of the undercurrent going on throughout the narrative.  Namely, while on the surface this may seem like a simple tale of “The good old days were perfect and innocent and the present day is hellish,” I wanted to suggest that the past maybe wasn’t as entirely wholesome as the rose-tinted spectacles may suggest.

This also marks the first occurrence of what would become another running gag: Jon Rector drawing characters with less clothes than I had them wearing in the script.  Jon just loves drawing his muscle and ligaments so much!  Here it results in Alex Thomas losing his top.  Other characters would lose even more in future pages…