RIP Wizard.
Word started to spread on the net pretty fast this morning that the once indomitable Wizard guide to comics was shuttering its doors and laying off all staff and canceling all outstanding freelance contracts. Bleeding Cool broke the story. What at first seemed like an Enron style “the doors were locked when we tried to go to work on Monday” collapse has now emerged as a planned transition. Comics Beat is reporting that from the ashes of the old physical imprint will arise “Wizard World” an online magazine. the Web magazine will act as one arm to a newly minted and publicly traded company of the same name, with the other arm the continuing Wizard World conventions. So less Enron and more re-branding. Wizard is not the only casualty to the internet and the recessions effect on the publication industry, but it seems to be the first to go in the nerd- sphere.
Speculation as to the causes, or the lack of surprise to the magazines death could be found on every comic book board, twitter, and facebook post that relinked to the story. It seems if you are a geek for good or ill you have an opinion on the merits and shortfalls of Wizard. I’ve heard it said that Wizard was a big contributor to the 90s comics speculation boom and bust and not necessarily a boon to the industry. I have read many a comment that Wizard was falling behind not only in content but in attitude, still sporting its fan boy “OMG BOOBS!” zeal even after 20 years of publication and a changing comics market. Personally I had a subscription for years in middle and high school and thank wizard for opening my eyes to titles that pre- internet I would not have known about growing up in a small rural town. But all things come to their end.
The switch in emphasis to promotion with the Wizard World conventions and building as a promoter for pop culture can be interpreted as savvy business sense. But I would like to ask what does this mean for the comic scene? The music industry’s transition from physical product sales to internet content and heavy live act promotion ( like Madonna’s decision to sign with Live Nation and not a record company) have been well covered in the media and heavily speculated on in regard to what it MEANS to music as an art form and as a Scene. Wizard used to take up a lot of space in the room. But the internet made that room quantumly infinite. Nerd Culture has become a huge part of pop culture in the past 10 years. Anyone who has been to ANY larger comic book convention in the past 2 years can tell you that the scene has changed, and gotten a LOT more crowded. What can this transition of such a flagship brand mean to the greater comic book community? Not a thing? Or does it mark a new area of relentless promotion and the selling of our scene for spectacle? I am a wee bit cautious myself. You can blame G4, or blame San Diego Comic Con’s prominence, or Hollywood, or all of the above – But a the scene is changing. What Wizard will BE to the scene, Friend or Foe remains to be seen.
