The Standard is a 6-issue superhero miniseries by up-and-coming Scottish writer John Lees, which was independently published between 2011 – 2015. And for one of his first series, Lees aimed high with a story that followed in the footsteps of classics like Watchmen and Kingdom Come; once again asking what place there is for silver-age style heroics in the bleak and materialistic modern day. What’s impressive is that The Standard does not pale in comparison to these benchmark titles, and it even manages to pack in quite a few surprises of it’s own.
In fact I don’t want to give away too much of the plot, other than to say that it concerns the legacy of a classic 1960’s era super-hero, the successor that he passed his title onto in the 1980’s, and the final adventure that closes out their long and complicated relationship 20 years later. I’m especially impressed with Lees’ script, which balances wit and poignancy, and his carefully paced plotting, which nimbly darts up and down the timeline of the story.
For fans of comics throughout the ages, there’s a lot to enjoy here. The artwork by Jonathan Rector is in a hyper-energised cartoon style that was particularly popular in the ’90s, the flashback dialogue and villains are a call-back to the campy kitsch of the ’60s Batman TV show, and even the creators credits in each issue are a nod to Stan Lee’s classic Marvel editorial Bullpen.
By contrast, the modern-day storyline is dark stuff, and if you’re looking for a meaty superhero read, I’d recommend sampling issue 1 online, which Lees has made available for free from a dropbox account here. I should say though, both the art and the plot developments improve vastly over the series so if your interest is piqued, you should definitely buy the digital version that’s available quite cheaply on comixology here (not got a comixology account? See my guide to reading digital comics!). At the risk of death by hyperlink, you can even follow up your reading with an insightful behind-the-scenes glimpse, courtesy of Lees’ writers commentary for the whole series, which he has posted on The Standard website here.
