Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle ReviewsThis is goodbye. There's no other way to say it. I've dreading informing Chuck, ComicList's founder, and I've been putting off writing this note for a long time now. I don't want to go, but it is time. Time, in fact, is the main enemy.

After nearly ten years and over 1200 reviews I'm leaving behind Geek Goggle Reviews and retiring. Okay, not really retiring but taking a long, long sabbatical. Perhaps forever. Before signing off at the end of February I wanted to take a moment to say thanks and provide a proper ending to my involvement in ComicList.

Years ago I would visit ComicList for, well, a list of what's coming out. Occasionally I would browse the site. I happened upon Chuck looking for a reviewer. I reached out, provided a sample and he brought me on board. He gave me no parameters, no quotas, no directions. I could review as many as I wanted and whatever I wanted. It was fantastic.

One thing I never liked about other reviews online is that reviewers tend not to use their scale (five point, four point, whatever). Folks seem to give out fours and fives to everything. I was determined to use the scale. Very few comics get the five star treatment and most comics are on average, well, average. Not everything is awesome. It can't be. Unless you are in the Lego movie.

Unfortunately the scale moved depending on the creator. Over time I came to expect a higher level of story from Grant Morrison. Whether that's fair or not. It happens.

However, two things always bugged me. First of all, I hated trashing a comic. No matter how bad it was someone wrote it and someone drew it and spent time on it. It was always painful to do this to someone's baby. Even if I felt my time and money was wasted. I had a difficult time writing a negative review.

Another thing I hated was when a comic was just the middle of some bigger story. I understand people write for the trade and are telling a larger story, but it is possible to tell a satisfying read in one issue while it adds to the larger arc. Pick up an issue of Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye or an issue in the Multiversity crossover to see how it's done. This is why I always tried to include a blurb about whether a given issue is new reader friendly.

So why I am leaving? Time. I don't have enough free time to buy my comics (I don't really do digital), read them (I usually read them three-four times before reviewing them) and writing a review. I began to feel a crunch to get them published within a reasonable time frame and that's not fair to Chuck and the readers. I knew it was time to go about six months ago, but I have been putting it off and thinking it would improve. It hasn't so I need to pass the torch.

This is my thank you. You probably didn't know I was a person behind these reviews, but I am! And I thank you if you have read the reviews. I thank you if you put up with my long-winded writings (including this letter) and I thank you for visiting ComicList. The site is a unique place.

I want to thank Chuck for bringing on and putting up with my crazy amount of emails all these years. I also want to thank Jeff for allowing me to continue with the reviews after he took over ComicList.

Now that this is the end I half expect a container of adamantium to pour over me or a spaceship to hover my head to take me "home." Like the best comic series the story continues, but it will just have a different author.

Excelsior!!!