Monday, September 13, 2010

Webcomic / product / etc reviews

Wow, guys... sorry to be away so long. Things just went nuts on me. I'll explain that more later. Right now I want to hit upon something that has come up from time to time, and that's the question of whether I'll do various kinds of reviews. Let's just go ahead and hit on a few ground rules, and understand that I will most likely add to these rules as the situation dictates.

First, all my reviews will be fair and honest. I'll occasionally be blunt, but I won't ever be ugly about it. If I do end up reviewing whatever, do know that I will give you a fair shake.

If it's an actual product that you want me to review, then somehow it needs to get to my greedy little hands. If I do get enough serious requests for this, then I'll ask the boss to look into getting a post office box.

As for the kinds of stuff that I'm likely to review, it would be stuff like action figures, movie DVDs (or Blu-Rays), comic books or graphic novels. Note that I prefer to review superhero themed merchandise since this is a blog related to the superhero genre, but it's not necessarily limited to that.

Something that I COULD consider reviewing is costumes (superhero, LARP, etc), but I'm not sure on how good a judge I would be on such products. For example, a given costume may not look good on me, but it might look great on someone else, and vice versa. Given that, would it be fair to the costume company if I gave a bad review just because their costume didn't look good on me? Most of the time, costume sizes are made to fit as many sizes as possible. Understand that I'm not dismissing the idea of reviewing costumes - I can give it a shot - but just keep that caveat in mind.

In case I'm asked to review non-superhero themed products, like house-cleaning products, clothing (non-costume, of course), shoes or other items, then just understand that a review of your product done by a blog largely about superheroes might not carry a lot of weight.  However, I will just as quickly add that I am not likely to turn down free jewelry, clothes or shoes - especially very nice free jewelry, clothes and shoes! Actually, the only non-superhero product that I could review here that might still make sense for this blog is - can you guess? LOL - bras! Anyway, I'm open to anyone who wants to send me free Pradas, if they think a glowing review from a blog named Busty Superhero Chick will help their bottom line! :-D

Other things that I wouldn't turn down on reviewing would be stuff like laptops, iPads, digital cameras, and other cool electronics. Hey, just because I deal mostly with superhero stuff doesn't mean that I have to be stupid about it! LOL Seriously, if you want me to review your electronic product, I will at least give it a whirl. Heck, if a given laptop makes my blog writing a breeze, I will certainly comment favorably on that. Reviewing the latest in wired technology would certainly fit in with this blog.

And speaking of superhero stuff, something that might come up might be reviewing art materials. I'm no artist, so this is the sort of stuff that I would forward to the boss to try out with specific instructions to draw me. I think that would be a fair test of such items. This also applies to computer graphics related hardware or software. Anyway, should such art materials or computer graphics stuff come my way, I will have the boss draw me and then I'll post the finished product here. That will be a fair test of the product.

As for reviewing websites and especially web comics, the main thing that you must do is have a finished site! I can't review something that isn't completed yet, unless you just want commentary on what looks good and what could still be done. As for webcomics, make sure you have a good number of comics for me to judge your strip by. 5 or 6 strips isn't a good measure of a webcomic's direction, so if I don't review your strip right away, then it's because I'm waiting on you to add more. Again, please note above that I will be fair, but honest and possibly blunt, but I won't be ugly. Most likely if I don't give a glowing review, I will at least offer some constructive criticism, and how well you take to constructive criticism is actually a good measure of your maturity and of your dedication to the quality of your work - so take none of my comments personally, because none of it will be meant personally.

As for written works, it will depend entirely on how long a work that I'm being asked to review. As many of my readers have seen these past couple of months, time has been a scarcity for me, so the longer the work, the more time it will take for me to review it.

Okay, I think this blog entry is long enough, but at least it's a start, and at least I've laid down a few rules for future reference. Feel free to ask me about anything else, though.

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