But even Hibbs began to feel the time pressure, and to fill the blog he enlisted numerous guest commentators—until finally came a transformation as great as that which occurred when a certain doofus encountered a radioactive spider.

The Savage Critic morphed into The Savage Critics, a veritable supergroup of commentators akin to Blind Faith, The Traveling Wilburys and Audioslave combined. Onboard with Hibbs himself in the current incarnation are Douglas Wolk, Graeme McMillan, Johanna Draper Carlson, Abhay Khosla, Diana Kingston-Gabai, Jeff Lester and Joe "Jog" McCulloch, all respected experts, wits and passionate fans.

Now, for a comics blog Savage Critics is remarkably devoid of pretty pictures. (A startling exception is Jog's recent survey of the bloody manga series featuring Jademan Wong.) Instead, these critics offer mainly words alone. But what words! Eminently quotable, more often than not nailing down the virtues and vices of any given title with smart-bomb precision. From the erudite ironies of McMillan to the gonzo freestylings of Khosla, these commentators exhibit passion, knowledge and a lot of snark, all in the name of praising good creators and kicking the bad ones to the gutter.

I rely on this blog as entertainment, a shopping guide and a critical Baedeker. With Hibbs weighing in on the ups and downs of retailing as well, it gains even another dimenson. Try it, and I think you soon will find—to use the non-mealy-mouthed rating system of the blog—that it's the farthest thing from "Crap," and generally "Excellent."