Each review on my site will be graded on a standardized scale. I will grade key elements of Art, Story, and Print Quality (see specific categories below) and apply a score of 1-5. I will total all of the scores based on a perfect score of 60. For example, a 55/60 would be 91.6% – so this would result in an overalls core of 9.2
ART
Line Quality
1. Lines are inconsistent or illegible
5. Lines are clear, and consistent to the artists style
Color
1. Color is incoherent, clashes, or is inconsistent with the style
5. Colors are used in a meaningful way, the styling is consistent. Color helps convey the mood.
Emotion
1. The art portrays no emotion, or inflicts confusion.
5. Without words on the page, the art tells the story.
Composition
1. Difficult to read, hard for your eyes to understand where to look next
5. Visually pleasing and easy to read, eyes are drawn to key points.
STORY
Characters
1. What characters? Who was that again?
5. Characters are memorable, relatable, and interesting.
Action
1. ZZZzzzz – huh? Oh sorry, I fell asleep.
5. Gripping action, keeps you on the edge of your seat and makes you keep turning pages.
Cohesion
1. No clear path, the story doesn’t make sense.
5. The story takes you on a journey through the eyes of the author. Foreshadowing, referencing, cliffhangers, all of it!
Fun
1. I had to force myself to finish it.
5. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, what a great time! Can’t stop talking about it!
PRINT QUALITY
Paper
1. Paper is thin or wrinkled, hard to handle without damaging
5. Paper is thick and durable, has a nice feel, and I’m not afraid to turn the pages.
Construction
1. The front/rear cover is visible on the opposite side, the edges of the pages are seen extending from the cover.
5. The book is well put together, the spine is in good shape and everything is folded where it should be.
Editing
1. There are clear editing mistakes. Missing words, misspelled words, autocorrected words, etc.
5. No editing errors found.
Advertisements
1. The book is consistently interrupted with advertisements, it breaks up the action and it’s REALLY annoying!
5. Advertisements are relevant and where they belong (in my opinion) in the back of the book.
In the event that there’s a category that I’m unable to judge, for example – paper quality on an issue I read digitally, I will notate it as a ‘-‘ and subtract that from the overall score. Therefore, a digital issue could have a perfect score of 50.
Of course, all of this is simply my opinion. If you have suggestions on how I can improve my grading scale, I’d love to hear from you! Please e-mail me at blake@myfirstissue.com thanks!
My First Issue 