RIP Wizard Magazine

[palitoy]

Big Shiny Robot - Wizard Magazine to Cease Publication (http://www.bigshinyrobot.com/reviews/archives/20819)

Kind of been anticipating hearing this. A giant but not exactly a boon to comics journalism...

[samurainoir]

Wizard hasn't been too relevant given how quickly the internet reports on things, but I will miss Toyfare for the Twisted Toyfare (formerly Mego) Theater Fumetti strip that eventually spawned Robot Chicken... it was a guilty pleasure. I liked the costumizing features as well.

[torgospizza]

Wizard's been sucking for a decade, back when McCallum was editing. A buddy and I would make a game out of seeing how many mistakes (factual mistakes, wrong usage of words, or even articles just stopping mid paragraph and picking up nowhere else in the issue) we could find. I remember once in an article on Captain America, one journalist said it was so hot his face "literally" melted off. I send him an e-card wishing him a quick recovery.

[Earth 2 Chris]

I was just the right age when Wizard started. I liked their irreverent humor and their less scholarly approach at the time. Magazines like Comic Scene were too "fanzine" and Comics Journal was far too stuffy. That being said, as I got older, the less I cared for the scatter-shot approach to things. I did enjoy Toyfare a lot in the early days, although it sometimes seemed like Toy Biz was bankrolling them or something.

Chris

[toys2cool]

that's a shame

[LonnieFisher]

I'm surprised it lasted this long.

[MarkStalcup]

They were quite funny at times...

[jimsmegos]

They had a good run but like all printed products it was only a matter of time. Ironically enough I did stop at the magazine rack yesterday and thought about pick up an issue just for old times sake (I have bought a WIZARD or TOYFARE in years). I think for the heck of it I may very well do it now for the sake of remembering the good times that were had all those years ago. :ugh_y::yeah::cry:

Nah. I'll apply the five bucks to a new Re-Mego Martian Manhunter. :baby02::yes:

[boynightwing]

Huh...I don't think I've even bought a Wizard since that blackout in 2003 that lasted for 3 days. Although I was glad to have it at the time since I didn't have much else to do.

I used to really like Wizard and Toyfare. Then they changed the size format to magazine and I had nowhere to store them and also...I think I outgrew the humor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_Blackout_of_2003

[Blue Meanie]

In my best C3PO voice "Thank the maker!!!" Finally, that piece of crap hype machine is DONE!!!!

[The Toyroom]

I haven't read Wizard for quite a while now...in fact I thought they stopped publishing the magazine because all of the stories were already old news when the ink dried, compared to what's out on the web....

[Nostalgiabuff]

I picked it up regularly the first couple years but have not read it in over a decade

[WannabeMego]

In my best C3PO voice "Thank the maker!!!" Finally, that piece of crap hype machine is DONE!!!!

'Hype Machine' is probably the best interpretation I've heard when describing 'Wizard'.

I wonder if this means the end of Wizard World too...? ...are they related...?

[samurainoir]

I remember liking Hero Illustrated better back in the day. I think they had a slightly more diversity of material in their coverage.

http://d1466nnw0ex81e.cloudfront.net/iss/600w/386/21893863/958289.jpg

http://image2.onlineauction.com/auctions//34085/tgqs-1016735-1.jpg

[jwyblejr]

I always thought they were a bunch of hypocrites there. Telling people to read their comics while at the same time boasting about having your comics graded.

[torgospizza]

I always thought their price guides were questionable, anyway. Shamus owns a chain of comic stores, then tells people what the values are? A conflict of interest like that shows just how far removed they are from any sort of real journalism. On a related note, ToyFare would have figures listed with crazy prices as being rare when they hadn't even hit retail yet. This was standard operating procedure, not any sort of one-off.

[BlackKnight]

I like Toyfare .

[kingdom warrior]

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ding Dong that Crap is Gone!!!.......:grin:

I liked Amazing Heros Back in the day.........

[The Toyroom]

^ I wish I had kept all of my issues of Amazing Heroes....

[madmarva]

yes, Amazing Heroes was great. it always had great covers and didn't ignore comics history. It had feature stories not just transcribed Q&A's. While I'm going on memory, many of the articles weren't as self-indulgent as most of the columns in the Comics Buyer's Guide.

There were a lot of things not to like about Wizard, but it was slick and colorful and at times attractively designed.

There's no doubt that Twisted Mego Theater helped remind at least some of us of the fun we had playing with Megoes. If that's all it and Toy Fare did, then I can forgive the rest.

[Blue Meanie]

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ding Dong that Crap is Gone!!!.......:grin:

I liked Amazing Heros Back in the day.........

I would equate Amazing Heroes to what Comic Book Artist/Alter Ego became. I used to love the Comic Book Artist/Alter Ego flip book. Alter Ego and Back Issue are probably the best Magazine about Comics ever.

[Bruce Banner]

I pick up issues of Wizard occasionally... It has its flaws but it's still a moderate shame it's ceasing publication.
The mag's page count has gone way down in recent years, anyway. It used to be a lot bigger.

My favourite comic book mag will always be Comics Scene. I used to buy that regularly as a kid.

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

About 16 years too late. Wizard was almost singlehandedly responsible for the insane comic scene of the 90's. (Wizard was published by Malibu, and they hyped the hell out of Image during their formative years, and Image was then published in association with.... Malibu!)

Don C.

[Earth 2 Chris]

Yeah Wizard hyped Image, and Toyfare hyped Toy Biz to death. Toy Biz was really putting out the most imaginative stuff at the time, but they helped increase the speculation on all those 90s Marvel lines. Just ask the guy with totes full of carded X-Men figures he can't sell.

chris

[samurainoir]

I would equate Amazing Heroes to what Comic Book Artist/Alter Ego became. I used to love the Comic Book Artist/Alter Ego flip book. Alter Ego and Back Issue are probably the best Magazine about Comics ever.

I love all the Two Morrows publications. They really give the kind of research and depth of detail the art-form deserves.

I always liked how The Comics Journal and Amazing Heroes kind of balanced each other out, and it was a shame that Amazing Heroes went away once the "glossies" like Wizard came along.

I also enjoyed Comics Interview as well.

I wish there was some way of marrying the slick art design of a glossy colour publication with the depth of the text heavy magazines.

[samurainoir]

Wizard was published by Malibu


With respect Don, that is flat out incorrect.

Wizard was published by Gareb Shamus out of New York. Malibu was located on the left coast and was bought out and gutted by Marvel.

Malibu did not publish Wizard.

[ctc]

>Malibu did not publish Wizard.

I must be getting something mixed up.... this was back when I worked at the comic shop, and I remember getting posters for Malibu that advertised Wizard as well. (I remember 'cos it seemed weird at the time.) Did they do some sort of cross-marketing back then? Some sort of third party ad maybe?

Don C.

[torgospizza]

Did anyone get the last issue (235)? I picked it up, and there's no indication at all they're closing up shop. In fact, there's a subscription card in it and a full-page ad for issue 236. Only eighty pages, with three of them spent on the article "Rules Every Fan-Man and Woman Should Know About Dating" written by a couple people from Millionaire Matchmaker. No, not making that up.

[GaryPlaysWithDolls]

Too bad. I used to really like that. Not so much lately, but...oh, well.

[samurainoir]

Did anyone get the last issue (235)? I picked it up, and there's no indication at all they're closing up shop. In fact, there's a subscription card in it and a full-page ad for issue 236. Only eighty pages, with three of them spent on the article "Rules Every Fan-Man and Woman Should Know About Dating" written by a couple people from Millionaire Matchmaker. No, not making that up.

It was a shock to the staff as well since there were issues in the pipeline, but this is typical of a company that goes public. It's all hush hush until the guillotine comes slicing down from on-high from those packing the golden parachutes (or handcuffs). Pretty common practice during the vapourware dot com circus via 2000 (I had front row seats).

Apprenty it's also the subscribers who are getting screwed... they are not getting refunds but the subscriptions are being sold to some other "comparable" magazine... whatever that means. Talk about squeezing the last bits out of the rind.

[Riffster]

I had a subscription, no notice to me either. I think i had like4 issues left

[VintageMike]

I stopped reading it some time ago as I really thought it went down the drain. The problem isn't just print itself, it's also that if you are going to do print you have to appeal to an older audience since that's who's buying it. I know if I want to read about comics I read Back Issue, Comics Buyers Guide and Alter Ego depending on the subject matter.

[samurainoir]

I think Two Morrows has a terrific thing going on with their print/digital program. If you buy a subscription or a print back issue off of them, you get the digital as well. Or you can just get the digital for half price. Particularly useful for the out of print issues.

My ipad is packed with Back Issue, Comic Book Artist, Alter Ego, Rough Stuff, Jack Kirby Collector, even Brick Journal!