Welcome, Bold Reader, to THE STANDARD!
Hi, everybody. This is John Lees, writer of THE STANDARD, here to welcome to you to the first page of what will be an online serialization of the whole series. We launch with the first 8 pages of the first chapter, and will upload more content daily from there. This will be to help raise awareness in the lead-up to the Kickstarter campaign for a hardcover collected edition, coming soon. But this is about more than just marketing. If I was going to make THE STANDARD available as a webcomic, I wanted it to be done for a meaningful purpose, and for readers to get something out of following the story here that they haven’t been able to get in any of the previous formats the series has been available.
For years now, going way back to when THE STANDARD was only available through select digital outlets – before ComiXology, before the worldwide Diamond release, and before even print micro-distribution – I really loved the idea of doing a “director’s commentary” for the comic. I had even talked with ComixTribe publisher Tyler James about possibly doing an extensive “behind-the-scenes” feature as backmatter in the eventual graphic novel, though practically I realised there’d likely be far too much ground to cover in that format. THE STANDARD was my first comic project, and so for me looking back on it now, some of the stuff that’s most interesting about it is the process behind its creation. And so, with each page posted up here, you will also find commentary from me here below. That content may be simple “director’s commentary” of me breaking down the page at hand or discussing some detail or character featured in it. But I will also be interviewing the other creators involved with the book, and maybe sharing some bonus content like thumbnails or concept art that hasn’t been seen before. Hopefully, even those who’ve already read the whole series will find content here interesting enough to encourage them to re-read THE STANDARD in this serialized online form.
So, for those who’ve already read THE STANDARD… welcome back. For those who are discovering this story for the first time… this is the story of a hero…
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