WIZARD (MAGAZINE)

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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. It is known for its "fanboy" sense of humour,geared toward adolescent boys, which is shared by all the magazines published by Wizard Entertainment.
''Wizard'' was founded in 1991 by college student 'Gareb Shamus' as a newsletter for his parents' comic book store, 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 and from working in his parents' store.
In issue #7, ''Wizard'' became closer to the magazine it is today, 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. ''Wizard'' strongly supported new publishers Valiant Comics and Image Comics, heavily promoting their new releases.
Wizard Magazine's old website, www.wizardworld.com, was home to a lively internet forum community in the late 1990s.
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, particularly children and parents. 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.
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]

Contents

Regular Features

Exclusive offers

Controversy

Awards

References

External links

Regular Features

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

★ 'Book Shelf' - Brief reviews of the monthly trade paperback and hardcover collection releases.

★ 'Casting Call' - A feature proposing the "dream" cast for potential film adaptations of various comic books.

★ 'Magic Words' - the letters column, which often feature the Wizard Bunny, one of the magazines mascots.

★ '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 has been an on-and-off feature in recent issues.

★ '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 became renowned for their 'Wizard #1/2 Issue' offers--issues of then on-going 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'.
Series that participated include

★ Arcanum

★ Ascension

★ Ash

★ Astro City

★ Avengers (#0 Issue)

★ Battle of the Planets

★ Blade

★ Buffy the Vampire Slayer

★ Daredevil

★ Darkchylde

★ The Darkness

★ Dawn

★ Deadpool (#0 Issue)

★ Devil's Reign: Silver Surfer/Witchblade

★ Divine Right

★ Doom's IV

★ Dreams of Dawn

★ DV8

★ Earth X

★ Evil Ernie

★ Fantastic Four

★ Fathom (Both #1/2 AND #0 issues)

★ Fire from Heaven

★ Flash

★ Gambit

★ The Gear Nation

★ Generation X

★ Ghost Rider

★ Heroes Reborn

★ Hulk

★ Iron Man

★ Kabuki

★ Lady Death

★ Lady Rawhide

★ Magdalena vs. Angelus

★ Mars Attacks

★ The Maxx

★ Midnight Nation

★ Morbid Angel

★ The New Warriors

★ Nightwing

★ Powers

★ The Red Star

★ Ripclaw

★ Rising Stars

★ Shi

★ Silver Surfer

★ Sin City

★ Slingers (#0 Issue)

★ Spider-Girl

★

★ Star Wars: Boba Fett

★

★

★ Tales of The Darkness

★ Tales of The Witchblade

★ The Tenth

★ Tomb Raider

★ Ultimate Spider-Man

★ Ultimate X-Men

★ Ultraverse Prime

★ Undertaker (Both #1/2 AND #0 issues)

★ Vampi

★ Vengeance of Vampirella

★ Violent Messiahs

★ Warlands

★ Weapon X

★ Witchblade

★ Witchblade/Tomb Raider

★ Witchblade vs. The Darkness

★ Wolverine

★ X-Files

★ X-O Manowar

Controversy

For many, ''Wizard'' is the most visible face of the American comics industry, and it encounters a fair amount of controversy. Critics charge that ''Wizard'' discusses mainstream American superhero comics to the exclusion of other kinds of comics; however, such comics are the dominant genre among the majority of American comics buyers. Critics also characterize Wizard as simply an organ to generate hype and publicity for the largest publishers, DC and Marvel, and sometimes others like Image, Dark Horse and Top Cow. It is true that Wizard has arranged mutually-lucrative deals with publishers - preferential advertising and coverage, in exchange for news exclusives for the print magazines and product (toy, comic) exclusives for the publisher's string of conventions. Additionally, critics have accused Wizard of promoting comics they had a financial interest in, whether because they are published by Wizard Entertainment-owned Blackbull Press, or because Wizard's online store has a large inventory in stock.
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." 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.

Awards

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

References

1. http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=9035
2. http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=102399&highlight=wizard+magazine

External links

★ Official site

★ Frank Miller's Harvey Awards speech criticizing ''Wizard''

★ 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