Would you watch last weeks episode of LOST without having seen it ever before, knowing it’s a complex show with backstory important to the story it’s currently telling, and give it a 0 review because eventhough you knew there was a lot that came before it, it was just too confusing?

The new Vulture looks like a Red Lantern reject, except he vomits acid instead of boiling blood.

Nah, he looks like Chamber. Only in crimson instead of black leather.

t’s the best comics critic team-up since Tim Callahan and I began doing our Splash Page column (which will return sometime soon after a brief hiatus — but, if you haven’t, go read our columns on Final Crisis).

Can’t wait for Splash Page to return. That’s always a good read.

A mini-series is a complete story that’s just been serialized. You don’t know what part of the story you’re getting if you start at a random issue. The better analogy is opening a book to Chapter 23 and being confused about what’s going on. Yes, the book is divvied up into discrete chunks (some authors even serialize their novels online) but the individual chapters aren’t meant to stand on their own.

I skimmed through Bang Tango #4 just now, also having never read #1-3. The story it tells is fairly comprehensible and the art isn’t abhorrent. That alone disqualifies it for a “zero” in my mind.

I read an issue of Batman RIP similarly out of sequence and it was horrificly bad.
Mind-numbingly terrible.
Many people on boards here and elsewhere took me to task on my opinion, not just for not having read the whole arc, but for not having read the run. (then you’d get it!)
If you’re going to sell a single issue on it’s own merits, why should I have to get more to enjoy it!
Enjoy it more, fine, but to get anything out of it at all?

My point is that broadly I agree with Chad’s points, but it seems grossly unfair to pick on Bang! Tango, when almost everything else gets a free pass.

But-and here’s the important thing-that is NOT a requirement for quality in a story that’s already halfway done. If it is, fine, cool bonus. If it’s not, it’s still not really the story’s fault.

As the saying goes, “Context is everything”.

(I’m enjoying this debate quite a bit. And here’s a link to where I post reviews, just so that all the cards are on the table: http://heroicmonkey.com/DC_Reviews.html)

That isn’t the issue at hand(once again, so to speak), though, and I would say that the solution would be to do the same thing that the reader would do, and either get the first three issues, wait for the trade or don’t review it at all. Acknowledging that you’re reading the issue counter to what was intended does not change the fact that you were, indeed, reading the issue counter to what was intended and basing a large part of your opinion on it based on having your wires crossed.

As for “4 of 6″ being a defence — I agree, to a point. As I said, I take information like that into consideration and know how to read a book mid-story since I have been doing it for a large majority of my life. This particular issue left me completely baffled on almost every level, which almost never happens (I can’t remember when it’s happened ever to this degree).

Beyond that, though, reviewers are reviewing the single issue. Would it be ideal if they had read the rest of the story? Yes. Is it a requirement? No. If this single issue doesn’t do the job then it should be taken to task. It’s not completely fair, but it’s also unfair to demand that a reviewer buy three comics to review a fourth. What’s the solution?

4 of 6

Maybe it isn’t released as a whole package, but that’s how it’s meant to be read, and what’s more, that’s OBVIOUSLY how it’s meant to be read. It’s right there on the cover: This is Part 4 of a 6 Part series. I feel like the average reader would go, “Maybe I should start at Part 1″, making this a complete nonissue(so to speak).

And like I said earlier, comics in general, these days, are meant to be read in bulk. And this is ESPECIALLY the case with a miniseries. People who picked it up with Part 1 probably DON’T want to be reminded of what happened last issue, because hey, they READ last issue. I know that with an ongoing, this will sometimes be necessary, but for a minseries, it’s IMPLIED that you read the last issue because it’s clearly stated that there is a finite number of issues and what’s more, three of those came out before this one.

It’s one thing to call the X-Men out on being confusing, because that bullshit has been going on for 40 years and anyone who wants to come in at this point is pretty much fucked. It’s another thing with a self-contained, limited story, because the back story is three issues. Mostly what I’m saying is, the book is giving you every opportunity NOT to be confused and if you are, then you probably don’t know how these things work. A lot of people can claim that, but Chad can’t, because he’s too into it and been doing this for far too long.

I feel like it’s sort of ridiculous for calling it out on something it really has no control over.

I point this out because I review comics on the side too and that review in particular stuck out as kind of irritating. And the reason I made that above comment is mostly to cite that you have a history of disliking things for what I perceive to be goofy reasons, and that INCLUDES the Bang! Tango review, where many of your grievances come from the fact that things “aren’t explained”, which could have something to do with, as you said, you coming into the story past the halfway point. Your other arguments are valid but it seems like a large portion of your problems are with things that can be addressed by reading the first three issues.

Whether we like it or not, these days comics are meant to be read in bulk, especially if it’s a miniseries. You wouldn’t see a film critic who gave “Empire of the Sun” a bad review because he walked in on it 45 minutes late and didn’t understand what was going on. That movie sucked for completely valid reasons, but if the reviewer cited tardiness as a reason that the movie was a piece of shit, he’d have to find another job. And I’m not saying you should be fired, or anything of the sort, what I’m saying is that your reviews have a habit of not focusing on the actual content of the comic and I think it’s something that you should address.

But, yeah, I’m that goober.

What’s even more interesting is that it’s written by Joe Kelly who ordinarily writes very well (or at least compentently).

But no. I stand by my statement.