The Standard - A Comic Written By ME!

[Keyser Soze]

Hey folks!

Over the past couple of years, I've been developing my first comic book: The Standard. It is a 6-issue miniseries, each issue being 28 pages long, and in color. The first issue is due for release April 28th.

The Standard a story spanning across two generations. One narrative is set in the past, in a colorful, cheery, Silver Age styled past, where superhero The Standard and his sidekick Fabu-Lad battle nefarious supervillains and giant robots. The other narrative is set in a darker present. The original Standard has retired, and the former Fabu-Lad has inherited the mantle. However, this new Standard decided to publicly unmask, revealing to the world his alter ego, Alex Thomas. Now, The Standard has sponsorship deals, a merchandising empire, and is a reality TV star, making him less a crimefighter than a celebrity. But secretly, Alex is tormented by what he's done to the Standard legacy. He has grown obsessed with the case of a missing girl that nobody else seems to be interested in. Can he remember what it means to truly be a hero? Or does fate have other plans in mind for The Standard?

I thought I'd create a thread where I could talk about the development process behind the comic, and share updates on the project. To begin, I'd like to announce that TheStandardComic.com, the official blog for the comic, has now launched:

http://thestandardcomic.com/

I'd really appreciate it if you guys would check it out. I'll be updating the site daily on Monday-Friday, so there should be plenty of new content to look at. I hope I can capture your interest enough to make you want to find out more, and perhaps get the comic once it goes on sale!

 

[Tron Bonne]

Ah, cool. I'll tried to pick it up if I can, and good luck

 

[Lord Blackbolt]

Are you going through a publisher or self publishing?

 

[Keyser Soze]

I'm going through a publisher digitally, and self-publishing in print.

 

[Keyser Soze]

In today's blog post, we learn how the arrival of a superhero in 1960s America altered the history of the 20th Century:

http://thestandardcomic.com/2011/03/08/superheroes-killed-the-comic-book-star/

 

[Thebumwhowalks]

I just wanted to say the best of luck with your comic, it's great you managed to get it all together. I'm sure there are a lot of us who would like to do that, and have thought about it, but have never actually gotten our asses together enough to put the dream together! So, well done.
I am a bit skint for the money(wish I could buy new comics), but if it is possible to read it online I will check it out.

 

[Keyser Soze]

I just wanted to say the best of luck with your comic, it's great you managed to get it all together. I'm sure there are a lot of us who would like to do that, and have thought about it, but have never actually gotten our asses together enough to put the dream together! So, well done.
I am a bit skint for the money(wish I could buy new comics), but if it is possible to read it online I will check it out.

The digital version will be cheaper, so hopefully you can check it out!

Thanks for the vote of support. Yes, it's been a time-consuming, expensive, and at times frustrating process, but it's been very exciting, too. With all the enjoyment I've gotten from reading comics over the years, it's been a blast approaching things from the writing perspective. But the dream won't be complete until Dread writes one of his famous essay-length reviews for my comic.

 

[Thebumwhowalks]

The digital version will be cheaper, so hopefully you can check it out!

Thanks for the vote of support. Yes, it's been a time-consuming, expensive, and at times frustrating process, but it's been very exciting, too. With all the enjoyment I've gotten from reading comics over the years, it's been a blast approaching things from the writing perspective. But the dream won't be complete until Dread writes one of his famous essay-length reviews for my comic.

Ok, I don't know who that Dread guy is but I will look him up, i like to read those types of reviews.

Again, best of luck, i am going to put together my own comic one day as well, fug it, I always wanted to, i have had a couple of pages published in some small press comics, but you are really getting your work out to da peeple!

 

[Keyser Soze]

I think you should definitely pursue making your own comics. Go for it!

 

[Thebumwhowalks]

I think you should definitely pursue making your own comics. Go for it!

Yeah, thanks for the encouragement man, I will one day. I was involved with a indie comic collective type thing back when I was a teenager, they ran a comics workshop and did an art exhibt at this arts centre, and I got a couple of pages put up when i was about 15/16. Then they published their own comic book for 5 issues, I managed to get good enough work done for the final two issues, 5 pages in issue 4, 8 pages in the last issue. I had only just started inking for real, getting it to look at a somewhat professional standard.
So, i always wanted to do my own comic with the strips that i had planned for the succeeding issues, after the comic folded. After that I went on to play in bands and make a few little records here and there, which i got more of an immediate kick out of doing, as you can bring your stuff straight to the people through gigs, instead of slaving away at a drawing board for ages, and not knowing if you could get them published anywhere.
My strips were not superhero ones, they were just crazy little stories, humourous for the most part(although two were about an Agent Cooper type private eye). I have not written any comics since i was about 18(36 now), but about two years ago I drew one that I had leftover from those days that i had written, i kind of rushed the inking though, so the artwork was not always as good as those early strips i did.
In actual fact, if i get ahold of a scanner, i will start a thread over in the fan art section and scan all the stories in, that can be my comic, lol, fug it, and if i do any news ones in the future i will try and publish them somehow.
sorry to go on about myself in your books thread, just thought it would be cool to talk about doing comics.

 

[Keyser Soze]

No, it's cool. I like hearing about fellow creators and what they're up to.

You have a major advantage over me, in that you can draw. If you're wanting to write a comic, being good enough to draw it takes away the single biggest expense in the creative process. So should you decide to get back into comics, you'll have a major headstart over a lot of the competition.

 

[Thebumwhowalks]

No, it's cool. I like hearing about fellow creators and what they're up to.

You have a major advantage over me, in that you can draw. If you're wanting to write a comic, being good enough to draw it takes away the single biggest expense in the creative process. So should you decide to get back into comics, you'll have a major headstart over a lot of the competition.

Yeah, that is true, I suppose it's like being a singer and being able to play guitar and piano too, so you can be independant with writing your own songs.
I need a lot more practice though, i am out of practice with the drawing a bit.
I did two years at artschool, i am alright at life drawing and still lifes, but do not go for the realistic approach in my cb's, it would not suit the style of stories i do. I do a more simple Matt Groening/early Peter Bagge style of cartooning, I have my own style though i have developed for that, that can be pleasing to the eye. What i am really good at though, is laying out the panels for a cb story, all those years of reading comics, and buying 'How to do Comics the Marvel way', lol, paid off in that regard.

I know that Alan Moore gives extremely detailed descriptions of what he envisons happening on the page, but i guess you would have to have an established rep, or have a real good working relationship with the artist to be able to sell that approach, as a lot of cb artits like to decide that for themselves from your script.
Grant Morrison does sketched layouts too for the artist, that he sometimes follows very closely.
Harvey Pekar also did his strips with little stick men for the artists as he wrote his scripts.

At that workshop there was one guy who had never really drawn before, he wanted to be a writer, what they used to do was encourage him to just try drawing. so what he did was devlop a a style of using bold simple graphics that worked quite effectively. You should always just give the drawing a go, even if it is just for guidelines for an artist, because you could sit with a lot of scripts and feel a little frustrated if you can't get ahold of an artist, and you never know, you might get good at it and feel you can do some strips of your own with the drawings. You could do some life drawing classes at night school that's what i did before i got into art school.

I have this big Alan Moore book full of old interviews and and it also has some reproductions of his earliest comic strips from fanzines and the like, where he did his own artwork, it is pretty good, a good cartoony style, but obviously he wanted to go into realistic looking superhero/sci-fi stories, so just concentrated his efforts on the writing.

Anyway, sorry, i can go on a bit talking about this stuff, lol. I look forward to seeing your book, i will at one point I imagine. I did really like your ideas in your synopsis, i think i would find it v difficult to write superhero stories, well done on finding a good approach to one there.

 

[Keyser Soze]

Thanks again for the support! I hope you keep on checking out the blog - I'll be building up the history of the Standard universe in the coming weeks.

 

[Thebumwhowalks]

Thanks again for the support! I hope you keep on checking out the blog - I'll be building up the history of the Standard universe in the coming weeks.

Oh ok, I have not checked it out yet, I never really click on links cause I have such a rubbish computer it usually shuts down on most pages with lots of information, and i have to re-start it again. I thought i would just wait for the comic, but if there is good background info there that would enrich the reading i should check it out. I will see if FP gets your comic in actually and buy it if you get it over here.

 

[Lord Blackbolt]

I will definitely check out the book if I see it. I also have a comic book coming out later in the year.

Dream REAVERS

Check me out on facebook.

 

[Keyser Soze]

Dream REAVERS is looking very cool!

Today we look at the first ever newspaper article written about The Standard, way back in November 1966:

http://thestandardcomic.com/2011/03/09/from-the-archives-the-first-word/

 

[Thebumwhowalks]

Dream REAVERS is looking very cool!

Today we look at the first ever newspaper article written about The Standard, way back in November 1966:

http://thestandardcomic.com/2011/03/09/from-the-archives-the-first-word/

Aw man, you wrote that just right to make it read like an authentic piece from back then, the presentation is good as well, I used to always spill booze on my comics and music magazines, lol, that could've been my newspaper. Good stuff, this is a very good way of making people want to read your comic, I'm going to definitley order a copy of the book(much prefer that to reading books online).

 

[Keyser Soze]

Awesome! I'm glad I have your vote!

I thought this might be a different approach to marketing the book, presenting a blog set within the world of my comic. I hope people dig it.

 

[Keyser Soze]

In today's blog, we learn about when The Standard first revealed himself to the world.

http://thestandardcomic.com/2011/03/10/the-day-that-changed-everything/

 

[Thebumwhowalks]

More great reading there man, it does really make you want to read the comic.

 

[Kevin Roegele]

The Standard looks like being a great read, I like the approach to the material, all sounds very cool.

To anyone thinking about making their own comic, absolutely go for it. I have been working on Cobalt Blue and the Galactic Reich for over a year now, and it's an incredible amount of work, but so rewarding. The internet is a wonderful medium for displaying your work and getting feedback, make use of it.

 

[Keyser Soze]

Well said, Kevin. I've had a blast making this. It's a very rewarding experience seeing those pages come in, your ideas brought to life by an artist. And seeing it all collected as a comic.... awesome. And thanks for the kind words about the project!

In today's blog, find out when, where and how you can buy the first issue of The Standard:

http://thestandardcomic.com/2011/03/11/coming-soon-the-standard-1/

 

[Thebumwhowalks]

Fantastic cover art there, between the taste of your writing style and his artwork, I think your book is going to rock.

btw, I just read a couple of Dread's posts, so I know who you are talking about now, lol, his posts are cinemascopic, really well written opinions, i thought he was a reviewer on a site somewhere.
I have not necked into these boards( so there are a few posters i have not noticed elsewhere on the boards), basically cause i cannot afford to buy monthly comics at the moment, so thought it would be a bit depressing to read about all these great comics i couldn't afford. I was buying B&R, and am going to get the new Kick-Ass, but apart from that I have just been getting the odd Savage Sword of Conan collection, or Essential book, as i can get a lot of reading out of not much money there.
But, I am defintely going to be buying your book when it comes out, i really like that approach you have of presenting it as real as possible, that's how your set ups in the two articles came across.

I just noticed you live in Scotland, is your book going to be available in any shops in Glasgow do you know? FP, Futureshock, A1 comics? I know that sometimes the big shops don't take indie comics.. I can't really order stuff online though, not got the means. No credit or bank card.

 

[Keyser Soze]

Fantastic cover art there, between the taste of your writing style and his artwork, I think your book is going to rock.

btw, I just read a couple of Dread's posts, so I know who you are talking about now, lol, his posts are cinemascopic, really well written opinions, i thought he was a reviewer on a site somewhere.
I have not necked into these boards( so there are a few posters i have not noticed elsewhere on the boards), basically cause i cannot afford to buy monthly comics at the moment, so thought it would be a bit depressing to read about all these great comics i couldn't afford. I was buying B&R, and am going to get the new Kick-Ass, but apart from that I have just been getting the odd Savage Sword of Conan collection, or Essential book, as i can get a lot of reading out of not much money there.
But, I am defintely going to be buying your book when it comes out, i really like that approach you have of presenting it as real as possible, that's how your set ups in the two articles came across.

Thanks again for the support, man! I really appreciate that you're willing to pick up the comic, even when getting comics is difficult for you. I hope I don't disappoint!

I just noticed you live in Scotland, is your book going to be available in any shops in Glasgow do you know? FP, Futureshock, A1 comics? I know that sometimes the big shops don't take indie comics.. I can't really order stuff online though, not got the means. No credit or bank card.

I've known the manager of Forbidden Planet in Glasgow since I was little, and talked to him about the comic last year. He said back then he'd be happy to stock the comic. But it's been a while, so I need to try and get a hold of him and see if I can get a concrete arrangement confirmed. I'm also gonna try I Love Music and Plan B Books, both of which stock Glasgow small press comics. As well as making the book available via digital download or print-on-demand, making it available in comic shops locally is definitely a goal of mine.

I take it you're from Glasgow, then? Apparently Plan B Books are starting a graphic novel reading club in Glasgow next month. I already know a few people wanting to join up. Might be something you'd want to look into as well.

 

[Thebumwhowalks]

I take it you're from Glasgow, then? Apparently Plan B Books are starting a graphic novel reading club in Glasgow next month. I already know a few people wanting to join up. Might be something you'd want to look into as well.

Ok, I might do that, might not have the time though. I don't know that shop though, or the other one 'I Love music'. Are they in the West End? I will defo get ahold of the comic now though, cheers.