Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's not.
And sometimes it's near impossible to get through a review.
Of course, much of this can be down to my ability, or lack thereof.
Anyway, things I have noticed:
When you really, really hate something the review practically writes itself. The Sword and The Ultimates Volume 3 are cases in point. Read them, sat down, wrote first draft. Checked and edited slightly. Ten minutes each at most.
But when something is amazingly good the review takes a lot, lot longer to write.
Even worse though is the pressure to write something worthy of the comic when you're reviewing something really great by someone who you've either met or spoken to and like not only their work but them as well. So the trouble I have now is that I've got four very, very good books to review from the UK small press scene and I'm absoloutely stuck with the very first one. The review just isn't coming together at all. I shall try again later but I have the feeling that I'll just end up deleting the whole thing and starting again from scratch.
Although it is nice to be able to say that everything I've looked at or read from the UK scene so far has been well worth reviewing.
I made the decision a while back, when I was first starting to get some folks sending me their books to review that I'd only review what I thought was really good. As I see it, Marvel, DC, Image and the rest of the big boys can handle a scathing review and so should the creators of high profile books, but I'm really accomplishing nothing by slagging down a little black and white photocopy by an 18 year old.
Like Mom always used to say - if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all!
That's just the way I see it anyway.
i'm with you on that. i've slagged other people's comics in the past and it serves nothing but make me look an arse. i think if someone sends you something and you out right just don't like it, it's best to ignore them. but if you can find a redeeming factor in there somewhere, just a short paragraph or two might be appreciated by the artist and hopefully they'll make a better comic next time round. we're in a really small creative field and we need to help each other out. i do get annoyed however when i see what i consider bad comics getting championed though, but that's just me being bitter!
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