Wizard (magazine)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
 This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2008)

Wizard or Wizard: The Magazine of Comics, Entertainment and Pop Culture (originally titled Wizard: The Guide to Comics and Wizard: The Comics Magazine) is a magazine about comic books, published monthly in the United States by Wizard Entertainment. It includes a price guide to current and valuable comics, as well as comic book, movie, anime, and collector news, interviews, and previews.

Contents

[edit] History

Wizard was founded in 1991 by college student[citation needed] Gareb Shamus as a newsletter for his parents' comic book store[citation needed], estimating the values of "hot" comic books, comics with high demand in the back-issue market. Shamus' interest in the comics market stems from his friendship with comic artist Todd McFarlane[citation needed] and from working in his parents' store.

In issue #7, Wizard became closer to the magazine it is today[citation needed], with glossy paper and color printing. Unlike other comics publications such as Hero Illustrated or The Comics Journal, Wizard has historically focused on superheroes and the economic side of comic collecting.[citation needed] Wizard strongly supported new publishers Valiant Comics and Image Comics, heavily promoting their new releases.

The magazine has also spawned several ongoing magazines dedicated to similar interests such as ToyFare for toys and action figures, Inquest Gamer for collectible game cards, Anime Insider for anime and manga, and Toy Wishes for mainstream toy enthusiasts, though all but ToyFare have recently been cancelled. In 2006, the magazine was revamped with a bigger look and more pages, switching from the "perfect bound" or staple free look, to that of a more traditional magazine. After issue 200, Wizard made several changes to the magazine, toning down the "fanboy" attitude and shifting focus from reviews and humor to information about upcoming comics and the industry as a whole. The 3-page "Magic Words" section (reader questions concerning comics) was dropped and replaced by "Fan Mail," a half-page section allowing 3 short (and often humorous) letters.

In November 2006, Wizard Editor-in-Chief and co-founder Pat McCallum was fired, after more than a decade with the company. Wizard has declined to say why he was removed.[1] On February 21, 2007, Scott Gramling was announced as the new Editor-in-Chief.[2] Soon after, longtime Wizard writer Brian Cunningham took over as Editor-in-Chief, only to be removed in August 2008.[3] The current Editor-in-Chief is former Managing Editor Mike Cotton. On February 27, 2009, Wizard laid off ten percent of its work force, including its three staff writers, in order to make room for freelance writers. [4]

[edit] Regular features

The magazine has gone through an ever-changing line-up of regular and semi-regular features, including

  • Book Shelf - Brief descriptions of the monthly trade paperback and hardcover collection releases.
  • Top 10 Writers and Artists Lists charting the most popular creators of the month in each category.

Retired features include

  • Casting Call - A feature proposing the "dream" cast for potential film adaptations of various comic books. It later appeared sporadically.
  • Last Man Standing - A dream "faceoff" between two different characters or teams, always of different companies and/or universes. The feature would detail a brief showdown between the two, including the victor and would be accompanied by an exclusive illustration (usually by a high profile artist) depicting the battle.

[edit] Exclusive offers

In addition, both Wizard and ToyFare often feature mail-away offers for exclusive merchandise. Wizard began a practice of producing specially offered Wizard #1/2 issues. These were special issues of ongoing major comic book series which featured in-continuity stories that supplemented the regular series published issues. The issues were numbered #1/2 so as not to disrupt the series ongoing numbering system. Often Wizard would also include free pack-in issues with their magazines, usually numbered as Wizard #0's.

[edit] Controversy

Comic creator Frank Miller had a well-publicized feud with Wizard, initiated by his keynote speech at the 2001 Harvey Awards, during which he ripped a copy of the magazine apart and threw it in a trash can, calling it a "bible written by Satan", a "monthly vulgarity", and a "tree killer (which) regularly cheapens and poisons our field."[5] The two parties have seemingly repaired their relationship (notably, after Miller's successful Sin City film), and Miller was a "Guest of Honor" at Wizard World Chicago 2005.[citation needed]

[edit] Wizard Online

Wizard magazine was an early presence online.[citation needed] In 1995, Wizard hired Buddy Scalera to launch Wizard World online on the then-fledgeling America Online. The site was a very early adopter of user generated content[citation needed], as they fostered several online communities online[citation needed]. One of these early communities, Writer's Bloc, went on to publish several individual comics[citation needed] and helped launch the careers of some notable comic book creators including Kaare Andrews.[citation needed]

The AOL site featured live chatrooms with comic book creators and celebrities, including Mark Hamill, John Byrne, Will Eisner, Jim Lee, Mike Mignola, Jim Shooter, Jeph Loeb, Mark Waid, and Kevin Smith.[citation needed]

After a few years, the AOL community closed down[citation needed] and Wizard migrated all content and communities to their website Wizard World[citation needed] (formerly www.wizardworld.com, now www.wizarduniverse.com).

Due to a limited operating budget, Wizard World Online utilized volunteers who helped moderate message boards and manage media uploads.[citation needed]

Wizard also launched www.wizardschool.com[citation needed], which was an early online-learning center for aspiring creators. Aspiring writers and artists would submit their work to Wizard School[citation needed]. If selected, their work would be reviewed by established professionals[citation needed], who included Dan Fraga, Mark Waid, Chuck Dixon, and many more. Based on the popularity of the site (now defunct), Wizard moved the Wizard School to their conventions in Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Texas.[citation needed]

Wizard Online was spun off into a separate operating unit run by a manager from the defunct Auction Universe website[citation needed], but shut down within a year.[citation needed]

[edit] Awards

The magazine received the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Publication About Comics for 1992.[citation needed] The magazine also gives out its own awards for the comic book industry: the Wizard Fan Awards.

In March 2009, Wizard Magazine won the category for Best Comic Book News Source in the fan voted Project Fanboy Awards for 2008.[6]

[edit] Black Bull Comics

Wizard published a line of comics under the banner Black Bull Comics. They hired former Marvel editor Glenn Herdling and inker Jimmy Palmiotti to launch the line.[citation needed]

They published several titles by several well known creators including Mark Waid, Chris Eliopoulos, Nelson DeCastro, and Garth Ennis.

Titles included:

[edit] Former Wizard employees

Many Wizard employees have moved on to different careers but remain in the comic book industry:

[edit] References

  1. ^ Weiland, Jonah; "Wizard Fires Editor-In-Chief"; comicbookresources.com; November 29, 2006
  2. ^ Brady, Matt; "Wizard Names New Editor In Chief"; newsarama.com; February 21, 2007
  3. ^ Pwbeat; "Brian Cunningham Out at Wizard"; pwbeat.com; August, 2006
  4. ^ {http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2009/02/food-or-comics-a-roundup-of-money-related-news-19/ Melrose, Kevin; "A roundup of money-related news"; cbr.com; February 27, 2009]
  5. ^ Frank Miller's Harvey Awards speech criticizing Wizard
  6. ^ 2008 Project Fanboy Award Winners

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizard_(magazine)"
Personal tools
Languages