If you, like myself, are internet savvy, then I’m sure you know what a webcomic is. If you don’t, and you can’t figure about what it is by the name (webcomic), then please leave this site, format your computer, shut it off, drop it on the ground, burn your house down, and salt the earth it stood upon, because you’re an idiot and I don’t want to speak to you.
But in any case, I read pretty much every webcomic I come across, and have enjoyed many of them. I know that not everybody has the amount of time I do on the computer (even at work, I generally surf while waiting for transfers and processes to finish), as well as the patience to sift through cybernetic garbage, I would like to do the service of writing reviews for the webcomics I come across.
Choose your section (like ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ but less time-consuming):
Scoring:
Unlike when I started this section, I’m not going to just do a single score, as I feel it won’t do a comic justice. So I decided to try out scoring in three catagories: Artwork, Story, Humor. I feel that these three scores will allow me to more accurately detail my feelings of said webcomic. The score will still be on a one to ten scale.
0: There is nothing redeeming about it. A score of zero means I not only don’t like your comic, but I probably don’t like you either.
1: Failed. There’s just nothing good, no matter how hard I torture myself to try.
2-3: Below average. This score may be assigned to something that just doesn’t grab me in any way, shape, or form.
4-6: Average. Not bad, not great. Just… there.
7-9: Above Average. A good and decent webcomic, one that I’m likely to keep up on.
10: Simply fantastic, some of the best stuff I’ve seen.
Taste is Relative
These scores are based on my own perception. And its a good chance if it made this list, I read through all the archives. And if I read through all the archives, there must be some redeemable quality somewhere in there. So take the scores with a grain of salt.
Possible biased influences on score:
Cuteness - I can handle some cuteness. I can even find small amounts of it endearing. But like a powerful spice it must be used carefully, or else it can spoil the whole end product. A comic that might otherwise have been spectacular can be spoiled by being too cute.
Angst - I can handle a bit more angst than cuteness, but not a whole lot more. My days of angst are behind me, and although I used to love a good angsty comic, angst now seems heavy and awkward. My advice to webcomic artists: keep the angst to a low level, focus more on other thangs than on how much the characters hate themselves or one another.
Repetition - Just because Jim Davis SOMEHOW gets away with it year after year, doesn’t mean you can. If each update is just a rehash of the joke you did last week, then you may not want to bother. If you can’t think of new material, then its time to bow out gracefully. There’s no shame in that, its much better a comic come to a conclusion than to go until all the readers are tired of it.