[Deep breath]... I don't normally get involved in stuff like this on Twitter but as we seem to be circling back around to the quality and focus of comics review sites yet again let's do this from my @brokenfrontier perspective.

First of all I'm very proud of what our little team does in championing excellent practice, in bringing new creative voices to wider audiences and, particularly, our success in getting emerging talent in front of publishers. And we've had a *lot* of that.

We've positioned ourselves as a site that focuses primarily on strong work or on providing critical feedback to new creators because, quite frankly, we'd rather spend our time driving new audiences to deserving creators than telling you why you shouldn't buy something.

Is all comics commentary out there brilliantly insightful in its appraisal or critical attention? No, of course not. But if you think the current state of comics reviewing is "dismal" you're clearly not looking very hard.

We have so many colleagues online doing excellent work from a variety of different approaches and perspectives and I like to think we all complement each other in our various areas of interest.

I am very lucky to be surrounded by an amazing team who share my vision for what @brokenfrontier stands for (you can read that here: http://www.brokenfrontier.com/view-frontier-collaboration-community-celebration-championing-can-expect-broken-frontier-going-forward/) So I want to share some of their recent work to give you an idea of the quality of their reviewing.

(Spoiler warning: None of it's "dismal"]

Here's our @_allyrussell on Nick Maandag's THE FOLLIES OF RICHARD WADSWORTH from @DandQ: http://www.brokenfrontier.com/maandag-follies-richard-wadsworth-drawn-quarterly/

Our @jennyrobins on Helen Blejerman's LULU THE SENSATIONAL: http://www.brokenfrontier.com/lulu-sensational-helen-blejerman/

I suppose I should include one of my own so here's my recent review of @peonygent's PARK BENCH KENSINGTON: http://www.brokenfrontier.com/park-bench-kensington-peony-gent-elcaf/

Here's our Lindsay Pereira on Navie and Maurel's HORIZONTAL COLLABORATION from Korero Press: http://www.brokenfrontier.com/horizontal-collaboration-korero-press-navie-carole-maurel/

Here's our @iliadtea on queer YA comics anthology SHOUT OUT: http://www.brokenfrontier.com/shout-out-to-comix-press-kieron-gillen-joamette-gil/

And our @robinhoodie on Haleigh Buck's I FEEL WEIRD: http://www.brokenfrontier.com/haleigh-buck-feel-weird-3-4/

That's just a handful of examples from just some of our team.

It's important as well to note and remember that so many of the people out there giving up their time and effort to review comics are doing it for a love of the form and in solidarity with a wider comics community.

I really think there needs to be far greater recognition of that and this constant cycling back to the supposed woeful state of comics reviewing every few months never acknowledges the time, dedication & effort of the folk who do so much to prop up both the form and the industry.

So to my own reviewing team (rare use of "my" there) - love you all and *thank you* for all your hard work. And to our colleagues elsewhere across the internet - keep up the good work! Proud to be doing this alongside you.

This has been my one serious thread of the last decade. Back to photos of comics propped up against pint glasses tonight I promise.