The Standard Will Return!

Anyone who follows me on social media will notice that a lot of my attention lately has been focused on And Then Emily Was Gone, my new comics project, drawn by Iain Laurie and published by ComixTribe. It’ll be getting distributed worldwide through Diamond, and will be releasing monthly starting in July. You can order the first issue in the May Previews: order code MAY141251 F. Make sure you check out the comic’s official blog: visitmerksay.wordpress.com. But amidst the whirlwind of promotion for my new, shiny comics endeavour, some people might be wondering what’s going on with my first comics project. Have I forgotten about The Standard?

Well, first, let me explain why I could never forget about The Standard. I’ll have to go all the way back to 2008. I’d graduated from University with a Joint Honours degree in Film & TV and English Literature, and I had that cold terror in the pit of my stomach that my education was now over, I was an “adult,” and I needed to start figuring out what to do with my life. I wanted to write, I knew that much. That’s all I’ve ever really wanted to do. But I had no real inkling of where to channel that creativity. I was supposed to be making a short film, but that never really panned out the way I wanted to. The process of telling stories through film was an infuriating murk of cost and compromise, and trying to wade through it was leaving me feeling increasingly disillusioned about my ability or inclination to try and pursue my writing dream. But then I shifted mediums to comics – another lifelong love which for some reason I’d never really thought to pair with my love of writing – and everything clicked into place. And rather than dipping my toe in the water, I dove right in, and started with my dream project. I sat and thought, “If I only ever get to make comic, what would be my ultimate comic?” And that’s how The Standard came to be: it was the ultimate passion project for me at that point in my life. And that passion has saw me through a hell of a journey, spanning years now. Sobering thought: I’ve now been making The Standard for longer than I was at University, and come the end of this year I’ll have been making The Standard for longer than I was in high school. This comic has been a significant part of my life, and through The Standard I have found my vocation. How could I possibly forget about something so important to me?

With that established, let me explain why things have been so quiet on this blog since the announcement that Will Robson would be joining Jonathan Rector on the book as co-artist for the last two issues. I’ve been running this blog for years now, and I’ve learned a lot about marketing and promoting your work in that time. And one of the difficult lessons I’ve learned is to not make promises you can’t keep and talk the talk when you can’t walk the walk with comics content to back it up. So, rather than bleating on about hopeful ETAs and constant progress reports/apologies, I’ve waited. I’ve focused on getting this comic done. And now, it nearly is done. Issue #5? Completely finished, done, sitting ready to go to the printers. Issue #6? Not too far behind. The vast majority of the art is completed. Jonathan Rector just recently sent me the final page. Not his final page, he’s still got a couple more to draw. But the literal final chronological page, the end of the story. And I’ll tell you now, when I saw that, it hit me like a sledgehammer. With all that’s happened in my life and all the experiences I’ve had and changes I’ve gone through in the time since the first page of issue #1 arrived in my inbox and The Standard first began to transform from some words of script on a page into a bona-fide comic book, to finally, at last, see the final stop on that journey, our final goodbye to Gilbert Graham and his world… it felt incredible. In all my years of making comics, I’ve never got to see a story right through to its finale, outside of shorts. So to see a page that letterer Kel Nuttall will be writing THE END on is a phenomenal milestone.

That’s something that’s going to make 2014 huge for me. This year will see both And Then Emily Was Gone and The Standard published to completion, and before the year is out I will have not one, but two completed comic credits to my name. I won’t just be a writer who’s working on some comics, I’ll be a writer with a bibliography. Not that I’ll be resting on my laurels: in 2015 I’ll be chasing down some new milestones, namely putting together my first collected graphic novels of my work! But for now I’ve got this goal for 2014 obsessively in mind.

But I don’t want to reach this goal alone. I hope you’ll all come along for the ride. The Standard #5 is complete, The Standard #6 is nearly complete, but you’re not going to see them right away. We’re holding back on the release a little longer. It’s already been several months since The Standard #4 hit, so we feel a little longer won’t hurt. We’re wanting to hold back on releasing The Standard #5 until after the cluster of ComixTribe titles hitting shelves in the summer, so we can use those books to advertise The Standard and generate some interest again in case it’s cooled during the title’s months in hiatus. But when those last two chapters hit, it’ll be in relatively close succession. So, while it’s yet to be set in stone, expect to see The Standard #5 in September and The Standard #6 in November. Though attendees of Glasgow Comic Con, as ever, might be privy to seeing some stuff a little sooner! But the point I want to make is, to all of you out there who have read the book and supported it, I hope you will continue to do so as it comes to its conclusion. Jonathan Rector, Will Robson and colorist Mike Gagnon are absolutely killing it on the visuals, producing some of their most beautiful work yet, and from what I’ve seen, these two issues are going to be on a whole other level above what has come before. I assure you, it’s going to be worth the wait! I’ve not forgotten about The Standard, and I hope you won’t either.

So…fear not, bold reader. For when evil and injustice threaten the world once more… when the time is right… The Standard will return!

 

The Standard #1-#4 are currently available to buy from ComiXology.