Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Randall Flagg/archive5

The following is an archived discussion of a featured article nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The article was not promoted by SandyGeorgia 01:31, 7 February 2012 [1].

Randall Flagg[edit]

Nominator(s): CyberGhostface (talk) 19:40, 15 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I am nominating this for featured article because other editors and I have put a lot of work getting it into shape over the last couple of years. It is in my mind very comprehensive, covers a variety of topics including the character's concept and creation as well as critical analysis and has proper citations. This has gone through noms in the past but I believe that the article has improved since then. CyberGhostface (talk) 19:40, 15 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Source review - spotchecks not done. Nikkimaria (talk) 05:04, 19 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Be consistent in whether location is included for book sources
Be consistent in whether ISBNs are hyphenated or not
FN 4: formatting
Some of the links to external sources are returning errors
What makes this a high-quality reliable source? This?
FN 14: italicization
Compare formatting of FNs 17 and 18
"pp." is for multiple pages, "p." for single
FN 24: page?
FN 27: site appears to have either changed names or shut down
Are FNs 4 and 30 meant to be the same?
FN 34: ISBN?

For an article with so (relatively) few sources, there are quite a few issues. Nikkimaria (talk) 05:04, 19 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I've addressed most of those issues, but are there any recommended places to go for help in things like this? I've put it up for Peer Review recently but haven't gotten many responses in that regard.--CyberGhostface (talk) 19:39, 19 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Images: All check out except File:Walter o'Dim.PNG. The link given for the source is broken—need updated information on the source and copyright status. The licensing and fair use rationale don't seem to make sense either. A book cover? --Laser brain (talk) 17:29, 5 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]
- It's basically Michael Whelan's art for The Gunslinger and was later used as the cover for a collection of Stephen King related art. There's more info here.--CyberGhostface (talk) 23:39, 5 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Oppose, primarily on criteria 1a, 1b, and 1c. There is a lot of great material here, but I'm afraid this has a fair way to go before being a well-written and comprehensive account of this character. My principle issues are as follows:

I found several problems with the writing, even in the lead. For example, you have at least one shift in tense that is not suitable for writing about fiction ("Flagg made several more appearances"), and I spotted at least two misplaced modifying phrases. The narrative is unclear in order once you start the body of the article; why is Hearts in Atlantis mentioned out of chronological order?. The article will probably need attention from an editor not familiar with the text.
You are missing any coverage of one of the central discussions of Flagg in literary circles—essentially the debate over which of King's characters are actually meant to be embodiment of Flagg. For example, you have no secondary sources establishing Walter/Marten as Flagg. I understand this notion is generally accepted within the community of King readers, but here it's WP:OR. The literary discussion of which characters may or may not be Flagg needs its own section in this article, cited to reliable secondary sources.

Much more could be said, but these are two large items that need attention before this can be considered for FA status. --Laser brain (talk) 22:05, 5 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Past three weeks, with no support; closing.

The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.