Now I know I’m new to the ICR scene so I just wanted to be transparent on my judging criteria for my ‘A More Colorful Review’ column. Its really simple it breaks down into three main categories: Writing, Art, and Diversity. Pretty simple so far right?

Writing

For writing I look at two major things: the plot and the characters. The plot encompasses everything about the story from its setting to pacing. This allows me to take a macro view of the series and see if what the writer is trying to do makes any sense as well as if its even enjoyable to read. Now while enjoyment is a subjective things alot of the things that turn people off of stories aren’t. A confusing or under developed story isn’t enjoyable even if you really want to love it.

I take a micro look at characters because of the focus of the column, finding diverse comics that aren’t garbage. This means looking at their growth, how developed as fully realized characters they are, their interactions with other and with the story. Do they make sense in the universe? Are their reactions very canned and stiff? These questions and many more are asked when I review them.

Art

For the most part I try to focus on style and lettering when it comes to art. Do they lend themselves well to the story? Does it fit in with the story the writer is going for? What is the quality of work? Could we do without it? Art for the most part is in the eye of the beholder so I try to talk of it in terms of the series rather then like an art critic. Because while art does make up a large part of what a comic is, I’ve enjoyed some comics with fantastic story and garbage art because the art style and quality fit the universe of the story. Also who wants to kill their eyes trying to read badly done lettering?

Diversity

The main reason this column exists! I hope its pretty obvious how I judge this but I’ll go over it anyways. I’m pretty much looking for representation outside of the little gingerbread box that the heavy hitting comics and entertainment industry tend to stick to. Queer stories and characters, PoC, different body types, females, hell I’ll even take religious diversity. If it breaks the ‘adonis body white dude hero’ mold (who always seems to have friends of the same body structure) then I’ll cover it! We deserve representation but we also deserve to be able to consume quality representation. I hope what I do with that column helps with that in the comic realm at least.