Quin, I tend to agree with you except on these 2 points....
"Take Two also has a slow introduction where it doesn't seem like anything happens and he's just taking another random quest he doesn't care about, but I've seen this as a great way to introduce a memerable character and really develop him"
I took the same approach with my characters... i wanted a memorable way to introduce the rest of the characters in their "natural habitat", then have them do a quest together to see how they interact... It's the same thing
Also you have to remember that the "good" art and the "good" plot have only been happening for 20 or so comics... that's why I got so mad when you said that TakeTwo's 20 or so comics were better...
So Is this the conclusion ?...
if Shards had crappy artwork and lost the first 25 strips it would have gotten a better review?...