Wizard Magazine Should Be Good

[Zack]

Back in middle and high school, I recall enjoying WIZARD a lot and even having a subscription.

Then, as comic web sites became more popular, the news part of WIZARD seemed less interesting...and the articles seemed to decline in quality as well.

This past weekend, I was at home and found a big stack of WIZARD issues, and decided to pick one at random to see if my memories were just playing tricks on me.

The issue picked was #33, April 1994. The cover was...a big shot of Catwoman by Jim Balent. One point against.

The letters column was a tribute to Jack Kirby, who died the previous month. Touching and well-edited.

The Catwoman article was actually pretty good. Jo Duffy, the then-writer, was interviewed by Patrick Daniel O'Neil, and the focus was less on spoilers or describing the current plots than on how Duffy approached writing the book and the character. Up-and-comer alert: Dan DiDio did a sidebar about Batman and Catwoman's relationship.

This was followed by a nice article on Dave Cockrum and his career by Clifford Meth. Some fun early X-designs, and I recall it was a piece on Cockrum's health problems that made me pick up a few issues of WIZARD a couple years back.

Issue started to sink a bit after that, with several pages devoted to fan art, a hardcover "Before Zero Hour!" issue, pictures of pros as babies, "Hunk & Babe of the Month" (immediately followed by Bart Sears' "Brutes & Babes") and a contest.

Things picked up with a dense and entertaining Hollywood column, and a decent Ultraverse overview. This was followed by a great interview with Mike Allred on MADMAN by Brian Cunningham (there's also a "design a Madman costume" contest that payed off in the comic). In addition to Madman, there was a two-page "Palmer's Picks" on minicomics.

Most of the rest of the issue was devoted to buzz books and the price guide.

Some notes:

The feature articles all ran about five two-column pages, and emphasized text over graphics.

There were none of the extended previews that appear in the magazine now.

WHAT'S BETTER:

The interviews are more feature-oriented. They don't seem as concerned with what's ahead or providing "oh, this writer/artist is so great"-type background material than just talking about their careers and showing why they're interesting, and why their work is interesting by extension.

There's also more of a willingness to do extended feature stories outside of Marvel and DC.

WHAT'S WORSE:

There's less frat-boy humor, but there is a much stronger emphasis on "babe"-type material (see: cover, other features mentioned above).

About half the magazine is price guide, and it doesn't have semi-entertaining sidebars like the current edition.

OVERALL:

I'd like it if WIZARD had a better balance of stories focusing on creators like it did in its earlier years, but the emphasis on speculation is an example of why the industry imploded in the 1990s.

Looking at a current issue of WIZARD, I see some inklings of strong material (pieces on Jack Cole and Seth Fisher, for example), but there is a much stronger emphasis on either spoilers for Marvel and DC storylines, or on comic-related movies and TV series.

It's not as bad as it was a few years ago, but it feels stale already, while the articles in the older issues are still pretty entertaining. I'd like to see a better style of writing that doesn't emphasize fact-boxes and jokes as much as the current style.

WIZARD hasn't totally changed for the worse in the last decade...but it could still afford to change for the better.

Just my two cents. Anyone else have thoughts on WIZARD? Like it better in the early years, better now, or was it EVER good?

[shawnh]

I got sick of Wizard and its out of date support of speculation and didn't buy it for the last five years. I was intrigued by the format change, so I picked up the latest issue and I liked it better than the last few issues I'd bought before I gave it up. It was a nice enough read, with a couple of good articles. I always enjoyed the frat boy humor, that wasn't my problem with old Wizard.

It needs some more indepth pieces and to totally dump all references to speculation, though. No more slabbing articles and no more talking about how a book I bought three months ago is worth $30 in some magical, imaginary land. No price guide. Yep, I said it. Price guides are just an excuse for some teenager to try to charge me $20 a recent issue of Spider-Man. Honestly, how often do they really reflect what you can get an issue for if you look around a bit? The only people who charge Wizard prices are the people who use Wizard to set their prices.

Or at least no price guide every month, I wouldn't be that offended by a comprehensive yearly update.

It also seems to slant the articles more to a "Marvel/DC is kewl" angle, which I don't like. They need to make some attempt at objectivity. I wouldn't mind if they took some ideas from older magazines I used to read, such as the more detailed interviews from Comics Interview or the way Amazing Heroes did reviews.

[BillR]

No, Wizard should be cancelled.

[TheTen-EyedMan]

Combine Back Issue with Wizard.

Best of both worlds.

[Alan2099]

It used to be mroe entertainibng. I've noticed a lot of the more fanboy type sections, the last man Standing, Mort of the Month, and the like were dropped in effort to make the magazine seem a bit more serious, which stakes some of the fun out of stuff.

I'll agree with dropping the price guide althogether. They've also seemed to suck-up a bit too much. They used to outright slam bad books and characters but they hardly say anything bad anymore about these things.

[algertman]

The thing about Wizard is that it has ALWAYS sucked.

[algertman]

No, Wizard should be cancelled.


Then what? you expect a good chunk of the fanboys to think for themselves?

[hmnut73]

For the record Wizard use to be good (like in the early 90's). They actually reported on comic books like real journalist.

I remember there was a time when many comic books would have covers that were nothing but the character or team making a generic pose having nothing to do with what the issue was about. Wizard commented on it and within a few months that trend was gone.

That was not an isolated incident either, they use to comment a lot on what was going on back then and they were objective. And they often helped make a change. I use to be really impressed. As a kid that was the closest thing I had ever seen to the idea of "power of the press".

They were also really good at reviewing comic books. Giving light to good books that no one is reading, also even putting down big name books when they start to get dumb.

The comic book industry never had its own version of real journalism before Wizard (to my knowledge anyway). But those days are long gone now. Wizard is just a joint press release for all comic companies to shell their books (good or bad). For shame.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

I remember when Wizard would rip comics and companies for bad ideas. Then get in trouble at times. I laughed my ass off when they said DC got pissed over the article on Jean Paul Valley's new costume and Marvel hated the intense hatred Wizard had towards the Spider-Clone and all.

Wizard needs to grow a set of balls again and attack more. I remember they ripped JMS for " Sins Past " and had others voice their anger.

[algertman]

I remember there was a time when many comic books would have covers that were nothing but the character or team making a generic pose having nothing to do with what the issue was about. Wizard commented on it and within a few months that trend was gone.




That never went away

[Gingold]

Wizard used to have the balls to take down sacred cows like Azrael's new costume and the Spider-Clone saga? They didn't care who they pissed off in those days, did they?

[stealthwise]

It's funny. I bought Wizard a few times over the past few months, and after reading some articles, I'd get caught in the hype machine.

They tricked me into getting Infinite Crisis. They tricked me into getting Civil War. The magazine is just a hype machine, but it's a very good one.

Then I remembered that I could buy two comics instead of the one magazine and promptly stopped picking it up.

[Pól Rua]

They tricked me into getting Infinite Crisis. They tricked me into getting Civil War. The magazine is just a hype machine, but it's a very good one.

That said, they're also the reason I started buying Kagan MacLeod's 'Infinite Kung Fu'. Wizard's toilet reading, but there's no reason why it shouldn't be decent toilet reading.

[the_big_billbowski]

When I was in the Service I didnt have the money to collect like I had in highschool so I collected Wizard to stay abreast of what was going on. I still do to a point, but I do get caught in the hype and end up buying crap comics. They recently got rid of the feature that would tell what's going on in a comic for the month and what to expect for the next issue. I often used that to judge if I would try a new book. Although sometimes it did have a spolier or 2 in them. I miss alot of the humor of the letter pages and the side bars. thier nots as funny as they used to be. I think losing Jim Mcahalin (or however you spell it) really hurt Wizard. It's not as good as it used to be but I do like the new over sized format. It's still good I just wish it was funnier.

[Alan2099]

Wizard used to have the balls to take down sacred cows like Azrael's new costume and the Spider-Clone saga? They didn't care who they pissed off in those days, did they?
Nope. They've even ranked Spawn and X-men as bad reads before.

[Allen Klingelhoets]

I read Wizard every month. I like that they have new intern Robert Taylor. He started off publishing many letters to Crossgen comics. Than worked on other message boards for comic books. i was really happy he is now intern for Wizard.
Also, if not online there are very few comic book magazines. I do not get Comic Book digest. Wizard does not cost very much when subscribed to. I pay about 2 dollars a issue.

[Agentum]

I don't like that gigant ad at all, i hope you understand that Wizard gets paid by the publishers to show their stuff.

And the overvaluing of modern comics is annoying like comics was invented in the 80s.

No, rip it apart and call it written by Satan :D

Seriously today when you can find everything almost instantly on the internet and for free, this type of magazines is no use anymore.

[stealthwise]

Seriously today when you can find everything almost instantly on the internet and for free, this type of magazines is no use anymore.

Except that I can read it while taking a shit.

[theflyingfrogunderdog]

My gripes about Wizard:

1. They seemingly always promote Marvel and DC on their covers.

2. They have superhero tunnelvison rather than promote diversity.

3. They always put the $$$ "value" of a comic beneath the picture.

4. The misleading CGC ads compared a CGC 9.8 to an unslabbed 9.4.

5. The price guide is completely obsolete now. Who believes the info?

6. The content is too current. How about afew articles about old comics.

[The Xenos]

Last time I walked into my comic store, the new Wizard was out. On the cover? Evangeline Lilly from Lost. Now, not that I don't love seeing the fine fine miss Kate, but what the feck does Lost have to do with comics? Sure, a number of writers do comics and are from comics, but that does not a cover story on a comic book magazine make.

They've also had a pic of Jessica Alba numersous times. Again, I don't mind seeing her on Premeire (or anywhere for that matter). Yet, it was getting ridiculous. They had her for Sin City and for Fantastic Four. This last time it was that generic bikini shot you saw everywhere from that scuba diving movie she was in. Now that's just being cheap (with a cheap promo image) and an attention whore.

Then they had a cover feauting Angelina Jolie because she was rumoed to be in Sin City 2. That was an internet rumor. Has it been confirmed even now? It was also and old image they jsut put in black and white high contrast.

Geez. Remember when Wizard covers meant something and wasn't some cheap movie or celeb promo photo? Remember when the covers actually covered comics?

Now to be fair, these were all one of two covers, but these still shouldn't get half the cover load. It's a cheap attention gimmick.

[Agentum]

My gripes about Wizard:


6. The content is too current. How about afew articles about old comics.
What? did comics exist before 1986?

DC and Marvel PAY for the coverage thats why they is promoted.

It's smart to have the big publishers pay you to put out a magazine.

[Dan Apodaca]

What? did comics exist before 1986?

DC and Marvel PAY for the coverage thats why they is promoted.

It's smart to have the big publishers pay you to put out a magazine.

Smart, maybe, but not interesting.

[Agentum]

Smart, maybe, but not interesting.
Well, i think they just care about the money, i find the magazine written for teenage boys or something like that so i guess thats the group Wizard is aimed at.

I heard they were better 10 years ago.

[geordiesteve]

Wizard used to have the balls to take down sacred cows like Azrael's new costume and the Spider-Clone saga? They didn't care who they pissed off in those days, did they?

Bingo. Now it's a competition to see how far up someones arse they can get with both hands.

[Michael P]

Smart, maybe, but not interesting.
Or in any way journalistically responsible.

[shawnh]

What is your proof that DC and Marvel actually pay money for coverage? That's a very ethically reprehensible thing to do, unless Wizard labels it as an advertisement, and I think there would be a little more outcry about something like that.

I'm just a reporter for a little paper in a podunk town in Virginia, but if I took money for a story, and people found out about it, I could kiss journalism goodbye.

[stealthwise]

What is your proof that DC and Marvel actually pay money for coverage? That's a very ethically reprehensible thing to do, unless Wizard labels it as an advertisement, and I think there would be a little more outcry about something like that.

I'm just a reporter for a little paper in a podunk town in Virginia, but if I took money for a story, and people found out about it, I could kiss journalism goodbye.

It's common practice in many magazines actually. My former boss was telling us about it while he tried to motivate us to get advertisers to put money into the magazine. Usually you write a favourable article in order to get the companies to place additional or more expensive ads.

[Reptisaurus!]

My gripes about Wizard:

1. They seemingly always promote Marvel and DC on their covers.

2. They have superhero tunnelvison rather than promote diversity.

6. The content is too current. How about afew articles about old comics.



It's pretty clear they're aiming for the mainstream superhero audience.

And I certainly don't have a problem with that.

I mean I'm less likely to buy Wizard than the Comics Journal or Alter Ego cause I tend to follow more stuff that's older and indy-er, but with those ends of the spectrum good 'n covered, I don't see why there shouldn't be a magazine focusing almost exclusively on the most popular current comics.

[Brian Cronin]

I'm torn on Wizard. I think there is something definitely to be said for a magazine that addresses itself towards usually a much bigger audience that actually buys the comics it talks about (Wizard probably sells, what, three times as many copies as the highest selling X-Men title, right?), and tries to sell the bigger audience the titles.

However, on the other hand, what if Wizard spent its time promoting the best of the comic world?

Would it sales drop?

Probably.

So I dunno...

-Brian

[DubipR]

The thing about Wizard is that it has ALWAYS sucked.

Not true. Before the mass internet exploision of comic media sites, Wizard was it. Like Cronin, I too bought them in high school and was entertained. At that time of the speculation market in the early to mid 90s, Wizard was good at covering not only the Big 2, they did cover at the time Valient and Image the likes. They had back then some great writers and even better columns. One of the best was Palmer's Picks, where he covered nothing but Indy books. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't picked up Tundra's Madman minis or even considered looking at Dan Clowes artwork, even though I was reading some small press books at the time. Granted their priceguide area wasn't as nowhere as good as the monthly Overstreet's FAN Magazine (anyone remember that one?).

I skimmed through Wizards at my local shop, as the owner keeps one open to read and such. But its just gone from being then creditable comics journalism for news to playing catch-up from internet sites and MBs and blogs. Also the staff has pandered now to extreme sophmoric and at sometimes homophobic humor in their little magazine. If Wizard wants to be good again, it needs to take a look back at their past and see that some of their magazine can work again. No Babe and Hunk of the Month stuff, just getting decent writers and articles that cover the entire spectrum of comics; large and small markets.

[Gingold]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gingold
Wizard used to have the balls to take down sacred cows like Azrael's new costume and the Spider-Clone saga? They didn't care who they pissed off in those days, did they?




Bingo. Now it's a competition to see how far up someones arse they can get with both hands.

I think we need a font to use for sarcasm.

[Buried Alien]

It's a fun read if you don't take it too seriously. I think people expect too much from it.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Gonzogoose]

I don't really read Wizard for the news aspect of it, but for the entertainment. The zany humor is still intact as it always was, and I love when they do the on the set interviews and articles. I have always read Wizard and continue to just for that reason. I also much prefer to read the picks in Wizard as opposed to previews on the web because I still like the sensation of holding something in my hands as opposed to staring at a screen all day, which I do already with work.

I do miss the fan art, mort of the month, the quizzes, last man standing, casting calls and features like that. I think losing those brought the mag down a notch. And I would like to see more focus on smaller companies like Alias, Arcana, IDW and the like.

[saintsaucey]

I like Wizard. though it could be better at times. one of the first issues shaped my opinion of Bendis by praising his work on Daredevil. I spent a crazy amount of money purchasing Bendis Back issues. I too read it on the can. :D

[Citizen V]

I often bought Wizard during the 1990`s,it was argurablly at its best in 1994-1996 those years.I stoped buying around late 1996,and i started to buy again in 1998-99,things were different.I stoped buying,but i bought a recent issue about a year ago.It seems like Wizard likes to make articles,but it does not comment on writers or events,like Wizard does not mention that House Of M was a waste.

[captain_unimpressive]

Wizard really is little more than a hype machine/vehicle for baseless and typically inaccurate speculation. Take last month's "52 Death Watch" article.
Here, they "calculated" the odds for which out of six or so characters would probably die in the big "death" issue of 52. Here's the report for Booster Gold (paraphrased a bit, but the basic ideas are there):
"This seems like the most obvious choice; after all, those are his bloody goggles on the cover that we've already seen, but aren't going to factor in at all. However, we've learned to expect the unexpected for 52, so it's not ever going to happen. Odds- 80 to 1"
They then went on to place Ralph Dibny and Steel as the two most likely, characters whose deaths would make absolutely no sense/abort a plot in its fetal form and be met with general reader apathy, respectively.

Oh, and they hype up a magazine as much as physically possible for months and then give it a two-paragraph blurb and a C+ in their magazine.

[parrish]

I guess this is off the topic of the quality of the magazine itself, but I think Wizard's attempt to have a 2006 Atlanta convention on the same weekend as the Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC (only a couple hours drive) is an obvious sign that the company doesn't care about the industry of comics as much as it does making money off the industry. I mean, a giant corporation tried to muscle out a guy who runs a comic shop and puts on a convention.

2007 Philadelphia Wizard has also been scheduled for the same weekend as the Heroes Con 2007.

[Hulkamaniac]

I totally had a subscription to Wizard in highschool, during the 90's Wizard was it man! But as I grew older I dropped it just because it became insignificant to my purchasing choices, since I use the Internet and the annual Overstreet for info and general prices. Now my old wizards are at the ends of my comic boxes to support my comics and once in a while i'll check out what I used to read about then. But I really used to enjoy the days when like all of the top ten comics were Valiant, remember that? And I have a crap load of mini-comics and 1/2 comics from them too, good stuff alot of it.what i time, but now its a total sell out.

[NickThompson]

2007 Philadelphia Wizard has also been scheduled for the same weekend as the Heroes Con 2007.
Worth pointing out there that both conventions changed dates.



As for the Magazine, it's alright. It's a decent enough light read. I dropped it because I could spend the money I spend on a magazine about comics on....comics :)

[parrish]

Worth pointing out there that both conventions changed dates.


When did Heroes change their date? Last I looked, they were both on the same date.

[NickThompson]

When did Heroes change their date? Last I looked, they were both on the same date.
Sorry, wasn't clear. Both HC and WWP moved two weeks from their 2006 dates, putting them on the same weekend.

[parrish]

Sorry, wasn't clear. Both HC and WWP moved two weeks from their 2006 dates, putting them on the same weekend.

Oh, I wasn't aware of that. I wonder if WWP was intentional. Given what happened before, I wouldn't be shocked if it was. I mean, it could be a coincidence, but given what happened this year, I kind of doubt it. I think Wizard knew what they were doing.

We did have a wonderful guest at Heroes because of what happened, though.