Wizard

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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.

History

In issue #7, Wizard switched to glossy paper and color printing. 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 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]

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.

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.

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]

Awards

The magazine 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]

Black Bull Comics

Wizard published a line of comics under the banner Black Bull Comics.

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

Titles included:

• Just a Pilgrim
• Shadowreavers
• Gatecrashers (comics)

Former Wizard employees

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

• Matt Brady - Newsarama
• Nachie Castro - DC Comics
• Mel Caylo - Top Cow Productions
• Sam Tolomei - [(Wake Forest Student)]
• Brian Cunningham - DC Comics
• Ryan Dunlavey - Evil Twin Comics, Marvel Comics
• Dan DiGiacomo - DC Comics
• Josh Elder - Freelance, DC Comics, Tokyopop
• Brent Erwin - Ape Entertainment
• Mike Fasolo - Robot Chicken
• Ian Feller - CrossGen Comics
• Mike Marts - Acclaim Comics, Marvel Comics, DC Comics
• Doug Goldstein - Robot Chicken
• Rick Marshall - MTV
• Pat McCallum - Freelance
• Jim McLaughlin - Top Cow Productions, The Hero Initiative
• Ben Morse - Marvel Comics
• Lars Pearson - Mad Norwegian Press
• Ryan Penagos - Marvel Comics
• Rickey Purdin - DC Comics
• Tom Root - Robot Chicken
• Casey Seijas - MTV
• Buddy Scalera - Freelance, Marvel, After Hours Press
• Matthew Senreich - Robot Chicken
• Rus Wooton - Freelance, Marvel, Image Comics

References

External links

• Official site
• Where Superheroes Go for Industry News - New York Times article on Wizard
• Wicked Wizard by Paul O'Brien - reflections on current opinions of Wizard in the comics world