The problem is that comics, just like games, exist on a 8-10 scale where anything under is seem as garbage. That's why comics reviews are just as worthless as game reviews.
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COMICS!!! |OT| December 2016. Motor Girl is my new Motor Crush
- Thread starter Messi
- Start date
The problem is that comics, just like games, exist on a 8-10 scale where anything under is seem as garbage. That's why comics reviews are just as worthless as game reviews.
echoshifting
Banned
LMAO it worked
Ed you are a true hero
Ed you are a true hero
Time to sell those originals boys!
Tragicomedy
Member
Right. And I reject that paradigm and grade them on a more accurate, nuanced scale. If that results in someone saying I'm too harsh on comics, I'd argue they're being too lenient and overrating mediocrity.
A 10 for me is an all-time masterpiece we'll be talking about years from now. Nothing in the current Marvel or Rebirth lineups are even close. A 1 is Donald Trump. There are lots of gradients in between.
echoshifting
Banned
Yeah I agree
I also think it's fairly easy to pay attention to the people who post reviews regularly and decide how their biases and standards compare to your own.
Tragicomedy
Member
You mean on here? I agree completely. You mean online? Basically impossible to parse from a laundry list of 8-10s.
Exactly, I was agreeing with you.
Tragicomedy
Member
Same. Damn good post. 7/10.
echoshifting
Banned
Oh yeah I mean specifically this thread, even just on gaf I can't keep track on gaming side
Tragicomedy
Member
There's a gaming side?
Coriolanus
Banned
Yerp. Best place to get dating tips.
TetraxShards
Member
Tragicomedy
Member
Wish I'd known about that, say, 20 years ago. My 10th year anniversary is next year, and everyone knows married couples with kids don't go on dates.
Yeah well you're completely wrong cuz when I give a 10 it's completely deserved and I don't even review books!
Coriolanus
Banned
Wish I'd known about that, say, 20 years ago. My 10th year anniversary is next year, and everyone knows married couples with kids don't go on dates.
Not with the wife, no.
ElBoxyBrown
Banned
I like how bipolar her emotions are. Sometimes she'll feel brash and confident and then she's depressed and doubts everything about herself.
So, that scale, where an average book is 5 and a masterpiece is 10, is great. But nobody uses it, so when you are grading books, you're grading on what you think the scale should represent rather than what the public perceives it to represent.
I like to think I'm fair with books and have zero problems acknowledging when a book is mediocre or bad. I honestly have no idea what you saw as average (which would either be equal parts good and bad, or so boring that there is no real perceivable good or bad) in Red Hood. What I've read so far has been a genuinely good superhero comic.
This conversation reminds me of the debate in higher education over grade inflation. Most agree that the average student earns too high a score, but because that has become the new norm it can seem too harsh to stick with a more accurate/harsh grading scale, which means that most just go along with it. The end result is that the inflation tends to continue over time.
It is a good point though that if someone is grading on the "normal" scale of 7/10 = rubbish, 10/10 = very good and another is grading on the scale of 2/10 = rubbish, 7/10 = very good, and 10/10 = Watchmen/DKR/Kingdom Come/Astro City then those are very different. Our community is small enough to sort out the difference, I think, but I agree that random reviews are harder to figure out as no one really explains their scale.
IGN 7.8/10
Tragicomedy
Member
Perfect.
We both agree the current review system is flawed. Your answer is, "Yeah, but we can't do anything about it so we stick with it. If not, it confuses people." My answer is, "Fuck that."
As far as Red Hood in particular, it's fine. Inoffensive. I'm not particularly drawn to the story so far, but I'm also not a huge fan of the main character. It's keeping with the Rebirth motto, which is to replace character development with iconographic appeals to the past. Some people will eat it up. I'm not in that group.
Two more issues left of the Orion by Walter Simonson Omnibus. It's been really good. Occasional boring spots, but a lot of AWESOME moments. The thing is, though, it feels exactly like a late 80s comic, from dialog to art to storytelling methods. I'm honestly shocked it's from 2000-2002. I mean, that's not a bad thing, mind you, but just an observation.
ViewtifulJC
Banned
the only good scale is the Savage Critic scale. Take the 1-10 and condense them to 7.
Excellent, which is basically 9 or 10/10. The top of the top. Daredevil: Born Again, the fourth volume of Scott Pilgrim, Hawkeye #3 with the car chase, the Uncanny X-Men two-parter with Wolverine in Japan. Very rare. Exceptional comics that are, by defintion, the exception to most of the junk that passes for entertainment.
Very Good, which is basically 8/10. Strong comics with several notable areas of craft or achievement, just not enough to get into the top tier. Ya average issue of BPRD or Stray Bullets, that Spider-Man/Punisher team-up by Zeb Wells and Paolo "God" Rivera, The Private Eye by BKV and Marcos Martin. I wish every comic was this good.
Good, which is basically 7/10. Good comics! Likable, attractive, compelling, and/or highly comptent in their construction without being great in any real way. These are comics you will happily read, and next month's too, just maybe not something you re-read any time soon. Average issue of Saga, BKV/Stuart Immonen on Ultimate X-Men, Greg Pak/Aaron Kuder on Action Comics.
Okay is 6/10. Passable comics. Comics with just enough value that you didnt regret your purchase. This is where the vast majority of entertainment sits, including most comics. And if not here, then...
Eh, which is 5/10. This is the big shrug. The who gives a shit. The I couldnt even be bothered to finish this. I have no interest in reading any more of this series. This is not for me. No. *insert literally so many comics it makes you question why you got into this hobby in the first place*
Awful which is the 3/10 or 4/10 slot. Bad comics. Actively terrible art, trite dialog, stupid ass characterizations or story structure. Comics you seriously dislike cuz they are not good. Not even gonna name any, you just read some Awful comics Im sure
Crap, which is 1/10 or 2/10. I mean, this should be as rare as Excellent, or at the very least you're smart enough not to buy them cuz you see Crap a mile away. These are the bottom of the barrel. The real pieces of shit that make you question why comics exist if shit like this is published. Bad in so many ways.
Excellent, which is basically 9 or 10/10. The top of the top. Daredevil: Born Again, the fourth volume of Scott Pilgrim, Hawkeye #3 with the car chase, the Uncanny X-Men two-parter with Wolverine in Japan. Very rare. Exceptional comics that are, by defintion, the exception to most of the junk that passes for entertainment.
Very Good, which is basically 8/10. Strong comics with several notable areas of craft or achievement, just not enough to get into the top tier. Ya average issue of BPRD or Stray Bullets, that Spider-Man/Punisher team-up by Zeb Wells and Paolo "God" Rivera, The Private Eye by BKV and Marcos Martin. I wish every comic was this good.
Good, which is basically 7/10. Good comics! Likable, attractive, compelling, and/or highly comptent in their construction without being great in any real way. These are comics you will happily read, and next month's too, just maybe not something you re-read any time soon. Average issue of Saga, BKV/Stuart Immonen on Ultimate X-Men, Greg Pak/Aaron Kuder on Action Comics.
Okay is 6/10. Passable comics. Comics with just enough value that you didnt regret your purchase. This is where the vast majority of entertainment sits, including most comics. And if not here, then...
Eh, which is 5/10. This is the big shrug. The who gives a shit. The I couldnt even be bothered to finish this. I have no interest in reading any more of this series. This is not for me. No. *insert literally so many comics it makes you question why you got into this hobby in the first place*
Awful which is the 3/10 or 4/10 slot. Bad comics. Actively terrible art, trite dialog, stupid ass characterizations or story structure. Comics you seriously dislike cuz they are not good. Not even gonna name any, you just read some Awful comics Im sure
Crap, which is 1/10 or 2/10. I mean, this should be as rare as Excellent, or at the very least you're smart enough not to buy them cuz you see Crap a mile away. These are the bottom of the barrel. The real pieces of shit that make you question why comics exist if shit like this is published. Bad in so many ways.
echoshifting
Banned
Sunstone
"0/10...trash" -Messi
"0/10...trash" -Messi
Donniewahlberg
Banned
LOL. Just saw this. Bravo man, bravo.
I can get behind the scale just for this
I stopped using ratings for comics because it is pointless but I hands down agree with this post.
Then again we have the same taste in comics just about
Edit: kudos for picking the private eye. What an awesome book .
What is that about?
I read so much Thor within a week that I get my stories mixed up. Is that the one where the dark elf king frees himself?
echoshifting
Banned
Guardians of the Galaxy #15: Great start to the Grounded arc, and I'm excited to see everybody examined individually or in small groups again, the book is strongest during these sorts of stories.
It's a little weird this didn't come out before Infamous Iron DOOM #2, since this is the first half of that story. It's nice to get Ben's perspective on things since he comes across as a bit of a thug in Infamous, but I feel Bendis could have gone a little farther there in stirring up memories that would cause Ben to go so all out on Doom. Still a nice issue and I'm looking forward to the next one.
It's a little weird this didn't come out before Infamous Iron DOOM #2, since this is the first half of that story. It's nice to get Ben's perspective on things since he comes across as a bit of a thug in Infamous, but I feel Bendis could have gone a little farther there in stirring up memories that would cause Ben to go so all out on Doom. Still a nice issue and I'm looking forward to the next one.
Yup. I thought it was shit tbh. Gets better afterwards though.
Yep bendis could of done better with Ben in #2. New readers wouldn't quite get why he was acting like that
Yeah, it was about the dark elf. It wasn't BAD, it just wasn't NEARLY as good as God Butcher/Godbomb.
Donniewahlberg
Banned
That's the one with the Garney art right? Yea, it's a pretty big dip, so much less focused. It does bounce back somewhat with the 4th arc, but overall imo it's only really started to hit so well again as of the new Mighty Thor run. A really great book in general but it suffered a little for the first year being SO good.
I liked most of that. Wasn't a fan of the league and such. The last arc is what Viewriful would say as "excellent comics"
Aaron's Thor run is going to be one of those alltime great runs in the next decade or so along with nick Spencer's captain
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
Decided to renew my Marvel Unlimited subscription, didn't know what to start with but ended up reading this laughably transparent Avenger's comic that was hyping up Western Union.
Any recommendations when it comes to Doctor Strange on Unlimited? Might go see the film soon and wanted to read up on him.
Any recommendations when it comes to Doctor Strange on Unlimited? Might go see the film soon and wanted to read up on him.
Freezasaurus
Member
I got mine yesterday, she's great. Also got the giant version of the Bruce Timm Harley.
Oh shit a living legend enters the thread. Read the current run. The whole first arc should be up.
Already canceled and reordered after it dropped another $7, can't stop me now!
Tragicomedy
Member
Not inherently bad, but lacking gradients. It certainly gets the point across. For simplicity sake with lists, I usually just use a five star system anyway, so this scale is actually preferable. When I'm actually rating a comic in my head or for discussion purposes, I stick with 10. Others use 100 for even greater ranges, but I find the differences between a 72 and 73 to be way too nuanced to have an actual distinction the author can describe. I hate decimals for the same reason...it's exactly the same as using a 100 point system.
Reviews are ultimately feelings quantified. You gotta stick with what works for you. I'm a harsh critic. I also don't typically grade a single issue so much as arcs of complete runs. I thought the first issue of Motor Crush was superb, but it's the introduction to an incomplete story. We'll see where it is in ten issues
...likely canceled.
Freezasaurus
Member
So how bad is Suicide Squad? I haven't seen it and I'm debating watching it tonight.
Tragicomedy
Member
If you rent it, I will. We can start it at the same time and live blog it. Mistakes should be made with friends. Game?
Tragicomedy
Member
Is it a bad sign if I turned off the trailer after 30 seconds?
Depends on which trailer.
Tragicomedy
Member
The Suicide Squad one on Amazon video. Not the one I saw earlier with Queen playing. This was like explaining who the squad was and...zzzzzzzzzz.
Freezasaurus
Member
Sounds bad. Guess I'm watching more of The OA tonight. Weird series, but in an intriguing kind of way.