There are no X-Axis reviews this week, but Paul O’Brien makes up for it with his column at Ninth Art. He looks at pre-judging comics based on solicitation material and evaluating individual chapters of an ongoing story. Good points abound.
“You can’t read everything, and you probably don’t want to. That means you have to choose between the books. And whatever criteria you use to choose between them, it won’t be the actual quality of the issue in question. It can’t be – you haven’t read it yet. Instead, you’ll be making your choice based on the likely quality of the issue.”
And on the subject of evaluating works in progress:
“No writer seriously produces a story in which the reader is expected to delay all reaction until the whole thing is finished. You’re meant to react as you go along. In the context of a serial, you’re ideally meant to react by deciding to buy the next issue. If you react the other way and decide that the story looks terrible, then that’s entirely legitimate.”
In a moment of synchronicity, Ninth Art also offers The Forecast for this week’s books. (The verdict? Buy Madrox.)
Also, Tim O’Neiil at The Hurting shares a preview copy of the Guide to Comprehensive Aesthetic Judgement. To whet your appetite:
“Many have traditionally regarded aesthetic criticism as a deeply subjective field, but we here at CGC have spent many long hours devising a foolproof numerical formula to aid in the process of aesthetic judgements.”