• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Wizard Magazine shuts down

ToddKent

ToddKent

Captain
Captain
Don't know if anyone else is interested in this but the news came out today that Wizard Magazine is no more:

http://comics.ign.com/articles/114/1145644p1.html

Also found an interesting interview with an alleged former (and obviously disgruntled) Wizard employee:

http://www.ifanboy.com/content/articles/EXCLUSIVE__Former_Wizard_Employee_Speaks

Sure, it ultimately became a bad parody of itself but there was a time when Wizard was VERY influential in the comic book industry.

This just seems to be the way the publishing world (especially periodicals) is going these days.
 
I saw that. Kind of sad, but not surprising. With sites like CBR and Newsarama online now and going strong there's no need for a magazine like Wizard. It is coming back as a website under the Wizard World name brand. My first issue was Wizard 36 that had a Todd MacFarlane Spidey and Lizard cover, my last issue was sometime late in 2009...number 200 something.
 
I still have the Age of Apocalypse announcement issue somewhere...but online magazines are destroying the periodical business.
 
I remember the AOA announcement issue. I remember discussing it in the comic shop with other customers. It was huge news. I've saved a handful of them. Including my first, the Ultimate DC issue, and a couple of others.
 
Wow... I actually just dropped my subscription a few months ago. It'd become too much about movies/tv and not about comics. But it was a treasured part of my high-school-dom!
 
I never actually subscribed, myself, but I remember reading a few copies here and there over the years. It's too bad, but not really surprising.
 
That is a pisser! I used to collect it years ago at Walden's..(later WaldenBooks), which sold out years ago and couldn't find it in the retail stores. Always liked Gareb's "editorials", the charater vs. character series they did, and the price guide. Always LOVED the humur also...:(
 
Maybe partially, but I remember when each issue were pretty thick. They seem fairly thin these days while still priced th same. Was always a good read though.
 
How much of that thickness was the price guide? Didn't they get rid of it or something? It's been a long time since I picked up a Wizard.
 
Yeah the price guide was down to 5-10 pages at the end. But the magazine definitely got smaller, it went to being a single staple magazine instead of a flat spine book.
 
Sad to say, I've been expecting this. That magazine's been getting tinier and tinier for about 4 years now.

The sad part is with all these magazines dying we're losing permanent records of interviews and the like. Websites are only temporary - I just went to access a site I read regularly to find "Domain for sale" in its place. Anyone who thinks the Internet is a replacement for permanent media is delusional. The stuff we write here won't be accessible in 5 years. If this were a zine, it would still be accessible 50 years from now.

The only thing that annoys me are those people who think Wizard (or TV Guide Canada, or Starlog, or other mags that went from print to digital) going to the Internet is a good thing. It a make-do, nothing more. It just means that, for whatever reason, Wizard (and the others) failed to provide content that made readers want to buy the magazine - especially a demographic that is primarily still interested in buying print (no one's cancelled a major comic at Marvel and DC and put it on the iPad yet). Proof in support of theory is Doctor Who Magazine, which is still going strong, in a print format, with no reduction in frequency or page count, and in fact they just announced a companion magazine will be coming out in a couple months. If print was dying for everyone, we wouldn't see that happening.*

In any event, RIP Wizard. Yet another reason why Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back is going to remain one of the most nostalgic movies, for me anyway, of the last 15 years.

Alex

* The cancellation of Torchwood Magazine doesn't count. It got cancelled because of the new production agreement on the show has caused a rejig of merchandising, and last I read they hope to resume later this year. Then again, Starlog made that promise too.
 
Apparently ToyFare is gone too, which is a shame, because I've enjoyed that greatly over the years. I guess it's amazing that it lasted as long as it did.
 
23skidoo said:
Sad to say, I've been expecting this. That magazine's been getting tinier and tinier for about 4 years now.

The sad part is with all these magazines dying we're losing permanent records of interviews and the like. Websites are only temporary - I just went to access a site I read regularly to find "Domain for sale" in its place. Anyone who thinks the Internet is a replacement for permanent media is delusional. The stuff we write here won't be accessible in 5 years. If this were a zine, it would still be accessible 50 years from now.

The only thing that annoys me are those people who think Wizard (or TV Guide Canada, or Starlog, or other mags that went from print to digital) going to the Internet is a good thing. It a make-do, nothing more. It just means that, for whatever reason, Wizard (and the others) failed to provide content that made readers want to buy the magazine - especially a demographic that is primarily still interested in buying print (no one's cancelled a major comic at Marvel and DC and put it on the iPad yet). Proof in support of theory is Doctor Who Magazine, which is still going strong, in a print format, with no reduction in frequency or page count, and in fact they just announced a companion magazine will be coming out in a couple months. If print was dying for everyone, we wouldn't see that happening.*

In any event, RIP Wizard. Yet another reason why Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back is going to remain one of the most nostalgic movies, for me anyway, of the last 15 years.

Alex

* The cancellation of Torchwood Magazine doesn't count. It got cancelled because of the new production agreement on the show has caused a rejig of merchandising, and last I read they hope to resume later this year. Then again, Starlog made that promise too.
Click to expand...

Unlike comics, which provide STORIES, Wizard, like Starlog, was in the NEWS business. Their "news" was literally a month old by the time an issue came out. By the time Wizard reported the initial story, web based sites had not only reported the story, but had several updates as well. If they thought they could survive in the fast paced "news" world moving at a snails pace, then they deserved to die and make way for those who could see the future.
 
It sounds strange, but even though I wasn't a big comic book fan, I enjoyed reading my friend's Wizard mags back in the 90s. The big 400+ page motherfuckers with casting calls dreaming of the day when Patrick Stewart would play Professor Charles Xavier in an imaginary X-Men movie. It was well-written, often humorous, and I had enough of a passing familiarity with comics to be curious about where the stories and characters were heading. Good toilet material.

23skidoo said:
The only thing that annoys me are those people who think Wizard (or TV Guide Canada, or Starlog, or other mags that went from print to digital) going to the Internet is a good thing. It a make-do, nothing more. It just means that, for whatever reason, Wizard (and the others) failed to provide content that made readers want to buy the magazine
Click to expand...

Shallow news and interviews and TV listings I can get for free online. Hell, TV listings are built right into your cable service now, on your TV, with even better descriptions.

"7:00 PM Ch. 6 Star Trek: The N.. The Enterprise crew encounter an alien force."

Gee, thanks, TV Guide, I totally know the episode you're talking about!

What content, exactly, would have made people continue to buy TV guide every week? A better crossword puzzle?

I agree with The Lensman's sentiment: there is a world of difference between creating original content and news broadcasting.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Maurice
MAD Magazine Keeps on Trekin’
2 3
Replies
40
Views
3K
mb22
M
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top