{"id":1208,"date":"2011-01-24T13:37:56","date_gmt":"2011-01-24T18:37:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.oafe.net\/blog\/?p=1208"},"modified":"2011-01-24T17:30:24","modified_gmt":"2011-01-24T22:30:24","slug":"the-end-of-wizard-magazine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.oafe.net\/blog\/2011\/01\/the-end-of-wizard-magazine\/","title":{"rendered":"The end of Wizard magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

So I woke up this morning to the news that industry mainstay Wizard<\/i> magazine was cancelled<\/a>, and it's hard to decide whether the news was shocking or inevitable.<\/p>\n

Wizard<\/i> was founded in 1991, well before the rise of the internet - in other words, back when a monthly magazine about comics was actually a feasible venture. The first issue I ever bought was #10, because (like I've said before<\/a>) I liked Rob Liefeld. I bought it at a local newsstand, which is a delightfully quaint idea in these days. I bought it religiously through high school (by then I was working in a comicshop, so no more newsstand for me), but gave up on it in college. I bought it sporadically over the years, but the last issue I got was #137 - eight years ago.<\/p>\n

Before the internet, Wizard<\/i> mattered. They were the kingmakers. They covered the comic industry in a way no one else did. Sure, there was Comic Buyer's Guide<\/i> for dry commentary and veiled insults between creators who overvalued their own relevance, but Wizard<\/i> was actually engaging and fun to read. They were often accused of inflating the demand for some comics, but that's not true: it was the buyers who drove up the prices; Wizard<\/i> merely reported it. They were accused of favoring superhero comics, but let's be clear - the backbone of the comics industry is<\/b> superhero comics, and anyone who says differently doesn't understand things like \"reality\" or \"which number is bigger than another number.\" Besides, Wizard<\/i> did more to promote indy comics than anyone else ever did.<\/p>\n

Wizard<\/i> inspired their fair share of imitators. Hero Illustrated<\/i>, POWER Magazine<\/i>, something called Combo<\/i>, apparently... they all tried to copy the formula, and none of them lasted. Why did Wizard<\/i> last two decades, when the others didn't seem able to last two years? I don't know. At its best, Wizard<\/i> sold the idea of comics - all comics - to anyone who would listen; at its worst, it treated its readers like horny 12-year-olds. Apparently Wizard<\/i> has been really good for the past few years - but of the dozens of comic- and toy-fans I know both online and in real life, I only know one person who actually reads it. Which is why the end shouldn't come as any surprise. It also explains the sales numbers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The latest word<\/a> is that Wizard<\/i> is going to become an online magazine - and a publicly traded company, which seems like a weird choice. Wizard<\/i> has never been very good at online stuff, so trusting their future to that is a shaky proposition - especially if they're going to have to answer to shareholders. <\/p>\n

Sadly, this is the end of an era. And while the first news was that our once-beloved ToyFare<\/i> would be fine, it's cancelled, too<\/a>. It had severely declined in quality lately, but we're still going to miss seeing it on the racks every month, and I'm honestly a bit proud to say we managed to be in there<\/a> before the end. Best of luck to the staff of both magazines, and if you guys can make a website that matches the quality of your publications when they were at their peaks, I know I'll be reading it regularly...<\/p>\n

<i>And now, some more OAFEry:<\/i><\/H5>