10-18-05

Housekeeping
Okay, I've promised for a long time that I would re-do the Links page so it could better accommodate my expanding list of reviews.  I just did that.  The Webcomics section of the Links page now has 6 sublists:

1. The Honor Roll is composed of those comics that have earned four or five stars. This is sort of the "Guaranteed" list; I very probably have every one of them on my read list (I no longer use the Links page as my bookmarks...apparently MSIE comes with the ability to flag your favorite sites...go fig).  On the rare possibility that I don't actually follow one of those comics religiously, I assure you, it is not a problem with quality.

2. Worth a Look comics are still likely to be on my personal list (although not as likely as Honor Roll comics).  These are good comics that have workable difficulties in either their mechanics or reliability.

3. Enh...  Some comics just don't blow my skirt up.  If a comic gets 2 stars it's very unlikely that I read it with any regularity.

4. Seriously, no.  One-stars go here.  Read at your own risk.

5. The Waiting List is self-explanatory.  As one webcomic author put in his blog (Okay, it was Jason Seibels of Anywhere but Here), I read a lot of comics.  My personal list is actually larger than the old Links page, because there are a bunch that I jump to from Belfry or TWCL.  So I have a waiting list.  Some of them I promised the author I wouldn't review until they felt ready (yes, I do that), others I have difficulty reviewing because they're already popular and I don't want folks saying I reviewed them for return links.  The rest I just haven't gotten to, because I'm lazy.  You get to guess which comics fall into which excuse.

6. Webcomics Miscellany is where I'm going to put links that relate to webcomics but aren't, strictly speaking webcomics themselves.  Right now you can find the link to Robert Howard's Tangents column and the Gamsketch webcomic community.

Important disclaimer for the whiny:  My opinions of webcomics as reflected in my reviews and star ratings are, surprisingly enough, my opinions.  Just because I say it sucks is no excuse not to check it out for yourself.  And if you choose to differ, feel free to tell me what an ass I am right here on the public Casual Notes Forum.  You don't even have to register or anything.

Updates
If you have actually been paying attention to my ratings, reviews et cetera, you will notice some changes on the Links page that do not relate to layout.  I've decided to no longer give out half-stars.  To that end, Filthy Lies is now a four-star in the Honor Roll and Thirty Pieces of Silver is now a three star in Worth a Look.  They went the ways they did based entirely on update reliability:  Scrubbo's has improved, TPS has become somewhat erratic.
          Gossamer Commons received an additional star, raising it into the Enh... category.  A cursory scan of the second chapter prompted the promotion.  I'll do a full read and review after I get back from Enchanted Rock.
          Websnark has been removed from the Webcomics Miscellany section.  I can no longer pretend that Websnark is even remotely a webcomics review site.  It's Burns's blog and he has every right to use it as he sees fit, and no one has a right to fault him for it.  By the same token, however, I can't link it as a review and commentary site if he no longer does webcomics review and commentary with any regularity.
          New rant coming after I get back from Enchanted Rock.  A series, actually.  I'll try to get a review up Friday.