Comics review sites

[Emperor]

So you have your comic and you'd like people to have more than your word on how great it is, which means you'll be looking to get it reviewed.

John Freeman has summed up useful resources here:
http://downthetubes.ning.com/notes/Comic_Review_Sites

Drawing on information from here.
http://downthetubes.ning.com/forum/topics/promoting-your-comics-comic

I've been digging into this with an eye getting paragon reviewed and so far good venues include:

• Down the Tubes, John's site with a strong focus on British comics and so is well worth talking to about reviewing what you've got
• Comics Bulletin, one of the big comics sites and, unlike Newsarama and Comic Book Resources they do have good coverage of independent comics (so well worth trying to get your work reviewed here). They have reviewed Paragon #1, #2, and #4 and from what I've seen they offer pretty good coverage of British small press comics (I've stumbled across some first there). It also appears Kelvin Green is the one who does the bulk of these reviews (although I'm unsure if you drop him a note directly or not)
• SFX, has been a good venue for FutureQuake who have bagged fanzine of the month a few times and you can't beat getting into print and under the nose of a lot of potential readers
• Red Eye

The Forbidden Planet blog could be handy for news, interviews and reviews but we've yet to break in there so it might be trickier than it seems unless you catch the eye of one of the contributors.

So has anyone got any other ideas, experience, tips, etc.

[Grant Goggans]

Walp, there's mine... I periodically get linked to by the Comics Reporter, thus increasing potential hits for people looking for eyeballs:

http://hipsterdadsbookshelf.blogspot.com

I also like reading the reviews at:

http://www.comicbookgalaxy.com/blog/
http://comicsworthreading.com/
http://savagecritic.com/
http://shazhmmm.blogspot.com/

[Emperor]

Thanks for those.

Another one I've been eyeing is Broken Frontier who have reviewed a number of 2000AD trades and looked at Com.x's output so might be useful:
http://www.brokenfrontier.com

In the end I suspect you hit a law of diminishing returns, so I'm also interested in what people think the most effective venues are.

[Emperor]

It is handy to find out if the reviewers will accept PDFs as that'd make life a lot easier and, given the tight margins imposed by the current economic climate, will make it feasible in some cases.

[Emperor]

Comics Bulletin, one of the big comics sites and, unlike Newsarama and Comic Book Resources they do have good coverage of independent comics (so well worth trying to get your work reviewed here). They have reviewed Paragon #1, #2, and #4 and from what I've seen they offer pretty good coverage of British small press comics (I've stumbled across some first there). It also appears Kelvin Green is the one who does the bulk of these reviews (although I'm unsure if you drop him a note directly or not)

Also good for an interview and an interview might be better than a review because if people like the sound of what you are doing they might check it out without having to worry about the tastes of specific reviewers.

For example the guys at C2D4 (Comics 2 Die 4 - geddit) are a British small press publisher (pretty much publishing their own work) and have an interview over on an upcoming graphic novel (launched at BICS):

www.comicsbulletin.com/features/125126749943116.htm

And they are the ones who I first stumbled across through reviews on Comics Bulletin

www.comicsbulletin.com/reviews/121302584257789.htm

And a more recent one:

www.comicsbulletin.com/reviews/124650221539964.htm

So definitely worth speaking to them. Note the interviewer and most recent reviewer on those links is Andre Lamar.

Over there Regie Rigby writes a column on British comics and might also give your project a mention:

www.comicsbulletin.com/fool/

[Emperor]

Altern8 have said they'd be happy to interview creators and review work:

Just wanted to offer an open invitation to all the indi's out there for a bit of free featured press coverage to help you open a few wallets.

Alltern8 are happy to review and set up personal interviews with any publisher/artist.

www.alltern8.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=193&title=press-coverage-and-interviews

Could be worth a punt if you want to pimp your socks off (and if not why not?).

[kelvingreen]

It also appears Kelvin Green is the one who does the bulk of these reviews (although I'm unsure if you drop him a note directly or not)

Yeah, you can do. I'm very keen to get more coverage for small press and self-published work, so I will favour such titles in terms of what I review, but not in how I review; I will be honest. My email address is linked to this profile, so do get in touch.

[Emperor]

It also appears Kelvin Green is the one who does the bulk of these reviews (although I'm unsure if you drop him a note directly or not)

Yeah, you can do. I'm very keen to get more coverage for small press and self-published work, so I will favour such titles in terms of what I review, but not in how I review; I will be honest.

He is too - his review of the last Paragon was bang on and very helpful.

As I've said Comics Bulletin is one of the biggest sites that does regular small press reviews so it is well worth taking up Kelvin's offer.

[Emperor]

Not a site but Comics Heroes does get in the newsagents and is looking for small press titles to review:

For all we know, there could be tons of creators out there, toiling away in the shadows, proving that comics can do more than find creative new shapes for spandex. The small press is the life blood of the industry, where first-time writers earn their stripes and artists receive valuable early exposure, and yet to the wider world outside of the convention circuit, it barely registers.

We all know it's there, and as a breeding ground for new talent it seems a crying shame that it doesn't get more attention. So we've decided to do something about it. It's not much, a small gesture of intent to begin with, but from the next issue, we'll be including small press reviews in Comic Heroes. Whether you've self published, put something together with a few mates, contributed to an anthology or had something out with any of the numerous independent publishers across the UK, we want to see your work. Artist, writer, or publisher, we're offering you a genuine opportunity to have your work reviewed in a publication that your mum can buy in WH Smiths. Oh yes. It's big.

www.sfx.co.uk/2011/08/19/panel-bashing-positive-action/

[Daveycandlish]

And about time too - I've been sending them PARAGON for ages hoping to get a mention 

Fingers crossed, they'll be kind

[Van Dom]

Thanks for starting this thread Emperor, I've been trying to come up with a few other places to send Vanguard, will give some of these a try for sure.