Wizard magazine

[Mace Dolex]

...does anyone read it?

Recently it's gone through format changes from comic book size, to magazine size and lower page count.

Even the content has changed from interesting articles to countdown type of what's hot or not list.

And reading through my old back issues of Wizard I noticed how lots of the garbage that Image comics were churning out were also in negotiations for live action movies and animated series, mostly from Rob Liefeld's Extreme studio.

-the Youngblood cartoon which even had a promo made was never developed

-the Gen-13 direct to video never materialized except for bootlegs

-the supposed sequel to Spawn which was to feature even more hellish concepts got stuck in limbo

-lots of comic publishers came and went, Valiant, Malibu, Defiant, Broadway comics

One thing Wizard did predict accurate was what a suckfest Batman & Robin was going to be.

 

[yenaled]

I didn't know it was still running.

 

[Mace Dolex]

Oh yeah and at $5.99 for less than 100 pages it's just not worth it no more.

 

[yenaled]

Don't they just publish everything to their website anyway?

 

[Morg]

Oh yeah and at $5.99 for less than 100 pages it's just not worth it no more.

also the mag prints old news, thanks to the internet they can't complete with sites that gets new update each week or everyday

 

[Drz]

One thing Wizard did predict accurate was what a suckfest Batman & Robin was going to be.

We're talking about the movie, right?

 

[brianbuck]

Wizard ruined comics by creating a star system. Any mediocre title that Wizard gave the nod to became a hit. They shamelessly kissed the asses of almost the entire Image crew. They shamelessly promoted the undeniable garbage Image was trowleing out in the mid-90s (Chaos Comics could also do no wrong). And they were way to critical of DC. To hell with Wizard, that magazine has sucked for over a decade.

 

[Mace Dolex]

We're talking about the movie, right?

But of course.

Wizard ruined comics by creating a star system. Any mediocre title that Wizard gave the nod to became a hit. They shamelessly kissed the asses of almost the entire Image crew. They shamelessly promoted the undeniable garbage Image was trowleing out in the mid-90s (Chaos Comics could also do no wrong). And they were way to critical of DC. To hell with Wizard, that magazine has sucked for over a decade.

They also praised the Valiant comics which didn't have the big talent but had good stories (supposedly). I for one am glad that I didn't give into the hype of buying multiple #1 issues of every Valiant/Image comic churning out, even some of the big stars couldn't make their deadlines which led to several issues being released months apart.

I laugh every time I'm finding more Valiant/Image comics in the 50 cent long box bin at conventions.

 

[Heretic]

Valiant had no-name talent...many of which became household names later. Their stories were generally far superior to what the other companies were putting out at the time.

Regarding Wizard:

What a piece of trash this magazine has become. I stopped reading superhero comics a long time ago and just bought indie comics instead (It's kind of funny...I went from buying all the Image books, to immediately getting Madman, Bone, Strangers In paradise, Tales Of The Beanworld etc). I continued to buy Wizard to keep me up to date on what was going on with superhero books. I have purchased every issue of the magazine.

A few months ago my subscription ran out and I realized that I hadnt bothered to even read the last few issues. I went and bought the latest issue and I remembered why.

The stupid "hot list countdown" feature is just insulting. I get that they are trying to appeal to a wider audience, but that isn't the way to do it. They are trying to be humorous like maxim, yet arent funny. They are trying to feature sexy girls like Maxim yet only print already widely seen publicity pictures.

I say if talking about comics is not paying the bills and you have to adjust...then just go all the way. Remove the stupid price guide and fill that with articles on things that non-geeks would like. TV shows like V, Lost, Heroes...any number of sci fi or Horror movies could fit roughly into the geek realm. Feature a photo spread of a tv or movie hottie with original pictures. Give comics a showcase by printing original adventures every month. Theres a magazine called Royal Flush that blends comic strips into the magazine with all the music and movie talk, so it can be done.

OR...stop trying to be a magazine for everyone and go back to covering comic books. You cant break news anymore thanks to the internet, so make up for that by giving us in depth stories. I read an article in Wizard recently about Creepy magazine...and when I was done I knew virtually nothing about the magazine or it's content. All of their articles recently seem to be Cliff's Notes versions just skimming over the basic details.

As it is, the magazine is terrible and accomplishes none of what it sets out to do.

 

[OctaviusINC]

I've been reading Wizard since '96, but I stopped around 2005 or so. It was cool when I was a kid, but the more you educate yourself about comics and learn more from reputable sources, you realize that it's pretty much fanboy squabble garbage.

Even when I would just read for their movie "scoops", it was pretty bad. Old photos and an article written by some fanboy telling you what he thinks of it. I do that with my buddies everyday. I don't need to pay $6 to read that.

I wish they'd go back to strictly comics, and cover some lesser known stuff. How many interviews with Jim Lee, Frank Miller, and Kevin Smith do we possibly need?