The Standard

I talked earlier about how the fight scene between Zena Zarthos and The Dawn was staged in intricate, panel-by-panel detail in the script.  Well, for this two-page battle between The Standard and The Dawn, I decided to take a much looser approach.  Here’s my whole panel description for pages 16 and 17 from the issue #6 script:

A fight scene between The Standard and The Dawn. I’m leaving this one to you, Jon. Try out some stuff, and take up as many or as few panels over these 2 pages as you feel you want to use. It should be hard-hitting, two brutes with massive strength just laying into each other. Location wise, you can do what you want – take them through a wall, back down to the floor below, up to the roof, even have them trading fisticuffs in midair in an aerial battle outside the building if you’d like – so long as they end up back in the office by the end of it, for me to pick up the scene from there. In terms of the general feel of the fight, maybe create a sense that The Standard has the heart and is bringing the fight to The Dawn, but The Dawn is just that bit stronger and that step quicker, and The Standard just can’t wear him down. Aside from those very general notes, the content of the fight is up to you. Go wild, experiment, have fun. As far as lettering goes, Kel, I leave that to your discretion. Maybe take a look at what Jon’s drawn when he’s done, and see where you think sound effects could enhance the moment.

My idea for this was that, we were nearing the end of the series, and I just wanted to give Jonathan Rector a victory lap to go wild with.  And that he did!  These ended up being the last interior pages Jon drew for the series.  While he usually works chronologically, he skipped these and decided to come back to work on these two pages at the end once everything else was done.