User:Hope Hyde/Evaluate an Article

Evaluate an article
This is where you will complete your article evaluation. Please use the template below to evaluate your selected article.


 * Name of article: Ivan Velez Jr. (link: Ivan Velez Jr.)
 * I've chosen to evaluate this article to gage the focus of my research for updating Velez's page.

Lead

 * Guiding questions

Ivan Velez Jr. (born 1961) is an openly gay Latino American creator of comic books, known for his work with Milestone Media and for creating Tales of the Closet, one of the first comics to depict the everyday lives of LGBT youth.


 * Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic?
 * Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections?
 * Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article?
 * Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed?

Lead evaluation

 * The lead is only one sentenced and doubles is the introductory sentence. It is straight forward and short, but slightly awkward.
 * No, the lead does not include a brief description of the article's major sections, since article is only 1 section to date.
 * No, the lead does not include information not present in the article
 * The lead is too concise, it could be two sentences instead of one.

Content

 * Guiding questions

Velez was born in 1961 to parents of Puerto Rican descent, and raised in the South Bronx. He was trained at the Hetrick-Martin Institute for the Protection of Lesbian and Gay Youth and studied illustration at Syracuse University. He created Tales Of The Closet in 1987, as a multi-cultural initiative for Hetrick-Martin to be used by schools as a teaching tool. He worked on AIDS-awareness videos and literature for Gay Men's Health Crisis.

Velez was involved in the development of Milestone Media, a superhero comics production company with a focus on multicultural characters, published by DC Comics. He wrote and designed characters for Blood Syndicate, Holocaust, and Static, including such characters as Kwai, Aquamaria, Boogieman, Dogg, and Iota.

Following the cancellation of the Milestone line, Velez wrote for DC's other imprints and for Marvel Comics (where he was the company's second Latino writer, after George Pérez). These assignments included Ghost Rider, Venom, and Abominations for Marvel; Eradicator and Extreme Justice for DC's main superhero line; Flinch for Vertigo; and Scooby-Doo, Dexter's Laboratory, Ben Ten, and Power Puff Girls for DC's Johnny DC imprint. His work has also appeared in Gay Comix, for which he illustrated one cover, and the anthology Qu33r. He has edited graphic novels for Dutton Books (Dead High Yearbook), earning an award from the American Library Association.

He received a 2004 Xeric Grant to republish Tales of the Closet. He received a 2015 Creative Capital grant to support his publishing imprint, Planet Bronx Productions.

He is a teaching artist for the New York Public Library, the Bronx Museum of the Arts, and the Queens Public Library. He hosts cultural events primarily in New York City, such as "Mr. Papo's Drink-N-Draw Pop Up Art Show", and "Oso Oro".


 * Is the article's content relevant to the topic?
 * Is the content up-to-date?
 * Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong?

Content evaluation

 * Yes, the content is relevant to the topic.
 * Yes, the content is up to date. However, it focuses more on Velez' later works with big name publishers (DC/ Marvel). One line mention of Gay Comix and work on AIDS crisis, no mention of Strip Aids. Room for improvement: Editing Velez' history to show true upbringing/ start of work in industry.
 * No, there is not content that doesn't belong, but there is content that could be more relevant. The article is missing background or the history of Velez' earlier works. Could be used to show how Velez broke into the industry/ which pieces put him in the spotlight.

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article neutral?
 * Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another?

Tone and balance evaluation

 * Yes, the article is neutral.
 * No, there does not appear to be any biased claims.
 * In terms of over/under represented viewpoints- I believe that it could include a better history of Velez' contributions to the industry/ background of industry/ significance of being a person of color and expanding representation.

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions

Sources and references evaluation

 * The facts appear to be backed up by a reliable secondary sources.
 * No, the sources are not thorough. Page relies on 3 sources (technically two with the broken link). Need a better understanding of the significance of Velez' contributions to industry.
 * Yes, the sources are current. However the second source is an invalid link! It no longer works, so I can't verify the information.

Organization

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read?
 * Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors?
 * Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic?

Organization evaluation

 * Yes, the article is fairly well written. Moderately concise, easy to read, fairly clear or at times awkward. Some employment of awkward syntax, but it is not a major distraction.
 * There does not appear to be any noticeable spelling or grammatical errors.
 * No, the article is unorganized. Its only section is a Biography that mainly recites Velez' own website. It is a massive summary that briefly touches on a number of areas of his life and work.

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic?
 * Are images well-captioned?
 * Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations?
 * Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way?

Images and media evaluation

 * No, the images do not enhance understanding of the topic. There is only one photo, and it is of the Artist.
 * Yes, it is well captioned.
 * Yes, the image has been given special copywriter permission to be used explicitly on Wikimedia projects.
 * Yes, the article's singular is well-placed, positioned on the right hand side at the top of the Biography section.

Checking the talk page

 * Guiding questions


 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?

Talk page evaluation

 * This could be represented in a more exciting way. Velez expanding diversity representation and bringing that focus into publishing are important milestones for people of color and the queer community.
 * I cannot locate any related wikipages or involvement in wikiprojects. External links were mostly to the comics or companies Velez cartooned for.
 * Compared to in-class discussions, the wikipedia page severely underscores the significance of cartooning colored, LGTBQ characters in mainstream settings. Additionally, we discussed Velez in terms of being a 2nd or a part of a later generation of artists than breakout underground comix artists.

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions


 * What is the article's overall status?
 * What are the article's strengths?
 * How can the article be improved?
 * How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed?

Overall evaluation

 * The article's overall status is rushed. It is short, expansive, but provides a somewhat shallow account of Velez' contributions towards diversity in the comics industry.
 * The article's strengths is that is provides a reliable account of Velez' recent works.
 * It could be improved in separating out the different types of contributions that Velez has made. It also needs more than one section. The writing is not distracting, but it is also not wowing me. It could sound much more fluid.
 * It is underdeveloped and I am excited to expand upon Velez' works, history, and overall significance.

Optional activity

 * Choose at least 1 question relevant to the article you're evaluating and leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback

with four tildes — ~


 * Link to feedback: