Comic Reviews
Hold up, buddy.
When it comes to scoring, IGN Comics has traditionally been a bit different. In the past, we scored our books on a five-point scale, with labels such as "Must Have" and "Pass It". That era has passed, and now we're shifting over to the system that IGN as a whole has been using for years. To help you out, we've crafted a guide to explain just what these numbers represent.
Next to each score you'll see a label describing what that range means. After that, in parentheses, you'll see what rating would have been attached to that title had we been using our old system. As you can see, a 100-point scale allows us to be far more precise in our score. Let's face it - we want you to read the text, but who doesn't enjoy a quick rating and summarizing phrase?
Books are evaluated on their writing and artistic quality. With longer titles (manga, collections) we'll hand out scores to each of these areas in addition to our final score. Weekly comic book reviews will only settle on the final number.
0.0 = WTF? (Burn It)
Uh, yeah. While the gaming teams have handed out at least one 0.0 score, we're not sure we've read a comic or manga that deserves this. All the same, we have our legendary 0.0 ready and waiting. What else is there to say? This is absolute rubbish and should give given to your dog to eat. Better yet, shred it and use it to line the bird cage. Whatever you do, don't read this.
0.1 - 0.9 = Worthless (Burn It)
You would only dare suggest this book to your worst enemy. Completely void of entertainment value, you'll be pissed off for the rest of your day and wonder how this even made it to the printer. In fact, you probably want to go find a lighter and set this one on fire. (Please note that playing with fire is dangerous.)
1.0 - 1.9 = Abysmal (Burn It)
These are the books that truly deserve the treatment their former rating suggests. From the art to the writing, there's really nothing worthwhile about this book. You won't have fun reading it, and you can't even just look at the pretty pictures. You'll be mad they cut down a tree to print this.
2.0 - 2.9 = Terrible (Pass It)
Not much further to go! If there is any light at the end of this tunnel, we can't see it. These are the books that we struggle to get through. We also tend to show these to coworkers so they understand our pain.
3.0 - 3.9 = Awful (Pass It)
Rolling on down the hill! Sadly books like this exist, and we sincerely hope you're not reading them. If you were considering something in this category, forget about it. If you read it already, try to forget about it. If you're trying to turn somebody away from comics, starting here is probably a good idea. (But you're a very bad person for doing that.)
4.0 - 4.9 = Poor (Pass It)
These are the books you're considering tossing off that pull list. It's probably not so bad to make you outright drop the series, but you're so, so close. Problems plague this book from beginning to end. You'll feel ripped off if you buy this.
5.0 = Meh (Pass It)
On the border of good and bad, books here are ones you shouldn't be buying. We realize some of you are dedicated fans but seriously? find something else to invest in. There are far better products out there.
5.1 - 5.9 = Mediocre (Check It)
Problems are everywhere here, though one huge flaw could also stick a book here if we found it to cripple the effectiveness of the story. Some will still have fun here, but they're going to have to be pretty dedicated at this point. We're sure someone out there enjoys this stuff but we don't recommend you buy it.
6.0 - 6.9 = Passable (Check It)
We're still in an area where the product is tolerable, but problems are all over the place. If you love the genre or creator you might be able to see past the problems we list, but we had a very difficult time accepting this one as being a competent offering. You absolutely should be flipping through this in the store (when the owner isn't looking).
7.0 - 7.4 = Decent (Check It)
Alright so now we're getting into the murky waters. "Check It" territory was always a place where we could say "take it or leave it". A score with a "Decent" label is just that - it's fine, but it's definitely not special. Longtime readers might consider this the "good kind of Check It."
7.5 - 7.9 = Good (Must Read)
By this point in our scale, flaws are showing up in a bigger way. Whereas books in the 8.0 - 8.9 range are tagged with minor issues, scores starting with a 7 are tripping up somewhere noticeable. However there are plenty of times when we have a blast with something despite its major faults, and that's where this score comes in. This is still something you should be reading in our opinion.
8.0 - 8.4 = Impressive (Must Read)
These books are definitely worth your time, though probably do suffer from a few minor flaws. Again, we're still in the former "Must Read" territory here, so definitely keep that in mind. Anything here is still absolutely recommended by IGN.
8.5 - 8.9 = Great (Must Read)
An exceptional experience that might have slipped in one or two areas. Perhaps the pacing is a little odd, some moments fall flat or the art is just a little bit off. Regardless, this is a great effort by the creative team and is easily worth a read.
9.0 - 9.4 = Outstanding (Must Have)
Falling in just below the absolute top tier of reading experiences, books in this category are still absolutely stellar. Don't disregard something in this bracket as having major flaws, because it doesn't. Again, anything rated a 9.0 or higher by IGN is among the best in the industry.
9.5 - 9.9 = Incredible (Must Have)
Any book with this score is immediately one of the best out there. Whether you're a fan of the genre or franchise, you really should check this book out.
10.0 = Masterful (Must Have)
The rarest of the rare, this score is reserved only for the true gems of the industry. There is no such thing as a perfect book, but this is as good as it gets to us. Don't expect these too often, folks.
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