Lew Stringer wrote: Again, that has no relevance to the integrity of Richard's review. Whether or not he's met some of the artists wouldn't affect his (or his 10 year old daughter's) opinions of the comic.
I'd say that knowing people involved, for most people, would strongly affect their publicly stated opinions, but I'm speaking in general, not about this particular review.
Lew Stringer wrote:I wasn't sure if I should have mentioned the poshness of The Phoenix really. It may have come across as a form of reverse snobbery and the background of the creators/editors is not really relevant to the quality of the comic..
I'd say it's an interesting little observation. There's always been a divide in children's literature between the middle class and less "polite" and respectable type of entertainment, hasn't there? Action (1976-77) was, of course, aimed at a different kind of reader than some of the more "middle class" entertainments, as were many comics in general. It's interesting to see how these things turn, and to ponder what kind of reader and parent might be more likely to be turned on or off by The Phoenix, or any other comic.
Lew Stringer wrote: I think Richard probably has the same attitude to reviewing comics as I do. If a comic is mainly positive, focus on that, and ignore any minor flaws. There's too often a general cynicism on blogs and forums regarding comics with nitpicking that's out of proportion to the good aspects of a comic. I'm not wasting my bandwidth adding to that mindset. Obviously that's the other extreme, and you were talking about a balance, but I genuinely felt there was little to complain about regarding The Phoenix.
Do you not feel, though, for example, that, yes, it looks good, but that Lost Boy instalment could do with a bit more action and story? There's the interactive element, but that was common enough with old IPC serials, where'd you'd collect one clue or another at the end every week - but each instalment was still packed with dramatic incident, twisting and turning from panel to panel. In this instalment (SPOILER ALERT) basically all that happens is that a bird grabs the map out of his hands. Is that a really offensive criticism to make?
I don't want to read too much until the first issue hopefully arrives, but to balance the above, I thought Ghost Ant was good fun, and nicely written. (Matt's art is also nice!)
And I don't think any conspiracy theories are really flying thick and fast ...