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R.I.P. Wizard Magazine (1991-2011)


areaseven

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Wow, I feel old. I used to buy Wizard on a religious level from the late 90 to the early 00. Loved how fun the thing was. It was a way to know what was going on in the superhero world without actually having to buy all the comics. Very informative too, especially when it talked about the history of comics and the must read classics.

Then it became favorite writer/artist hype wagon (at one point it could be called Brian Michael Bendis: The Magazine) and the jokes got a bit dull so I let it go along with almost all the comics I read. Heard years latter that it had gotten worse, but still, it was an important part in me getting into comics and in knowing a bit of what the hell was going on at the time.

Why is Miller so pissy poo? If anything, Wizard hyped his good work for years (Dark Knight Return, Daredevil run, and Sin City). His last good comic was Sin City, and that was mostly due to the art stile used, because the rest was just gratuitous violence and his now trademark females written as whores. That he is just a crazy joke of his former self is widely known.

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Why is Miller so pissy poo? If anything, Wizard hyped his good work for years (Dark Knight Return, Daredevil run, and Sin City). His last good comic was Sin City, and that was mostly due to the art stile used, because the rest was just gratuitous violence and his now trademark females written as whores. That he is just a crazy joke of his former self is widely known.

Because he was spurned by Hollywood first. Let's face it, Frank wrote his last good comic book as soon as he wrote his first script. But that doesn't mean he's wrong about the douchebag executives that don't read. He's actually spot on... with a dash of bitter.

I tend to stop reading magazines as soon as I get their vibe and they become repetitive to me. All those hype mags that came out of the 90's... Wizard, Cinescape (dead), Maxim and Stuff... Big 'Uns... lol, is that a real mag?

I have to say though... I was so glad when they stopped using Bart Sears as the only cover artist in the beginning... Everything was so purple and his knowledge of anatomy sucked.

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Wow, I feel old. I used to buy Wizard on a religious level from the late 90 to the early 00. Loved how fun the thing was. It was a way to know what was going on in the superhero world without actually having to buy all the comics. Very informative too, especially when it talked about the history of comics and the must read classics.

Fully agreed. Especially the feeling old part. I believe I started collecting it from a half year or year after launch. And stopped when their manga section (if they ever had one) became completely uninformative.

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Why is Miller so pissy poo? If anything, Wizard hyped his good work for years (Dark Knight Return, Daredevil run, and Sin City). His last good comic was Sin City, and that was mostly due to the art stile used, because the rest was just gratuitous violence and his now trademark females written as whores. That he is just a crazy joke of his former self is widely known.

That may be true (hell, not "may be," it IS true)...but it doesn't change the fact that he is 100% correct about Hollywood.

As for Wizard...can't say I'm TOO sorry to see it go...I was never much into superheroes, but every once in a while they'd have some (usually vapid) interview with Alan Moore or Neil Gaiman that I had to read.

Wizard is also where I found out that my old copy of Comico's "Macross" #1 was no longer worth the $20 I paid for it back in the day...

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Because he was spurned by Hollywood first. Let's face it, Frank wrote his last good comic book as soon as he wrote his first script. But that doesn't mean he's wrong about the douchebag executives that don't read. He's actually spot on... with a dash of bitter.

That may be true (hell, not "may be," it IS true)...but it doesn't change the fact that he is 100% correct about Hollywood.

Sorry, I didn't express myself fully: I know he is right about the way Hollywood works, It's just that pretty much everybody knows it. Heck, the "Hollywood executives are there to rape wonderful ideas" is so old that it is basically a stereotype; we've seen in TV and movies for years. So I find it extra whiny of him to go so radical about it like he is enlightening us all with something new; sounds more like he is just dodging the blame for "The Spirit" instead of facing the criticism he has been getting for years: “your current work is BAD, work on that”.

To tell the truth, a few years back I actually went googling to see if Wizard was still being published. Internet pretty much cancels any need for a monthly printed version of news regarding superhero comics.

I also remember their pricelist, which at first you hated because it ate almost half or more of the mag. But if you read the little insert in every page you could learn something interesting or get a good WTF laugh.

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HI all,

Hmmmm, wonder if it requires any kind of payment, the new site! If not, then yahooooooO!!!! It says it'll open Wizard World in Feb. 2011, but it has not date????

Eric J.......

Edited by e_jacob77
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Sorry, I didn't express myself fully: I know he is right about the way Hollywood works, It's just that pretty much everybody knows it. Heck, the "Hollywood executives are there to rape wonderful ideas" is so old that it is basically a stereotype; we've seen in TV and movies for years. So I find it extra whiny of him to go so radical about it like he is enlightening us all with something new; sounds more like he is just dodging the blame for "The Spirit" instead of facing the criticism he has been getting for years: “your current work is BAD, work on that”.

I got you. I was quoting to agree.

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Sorry, I didn't express myself fully: I know he is right about the way Hollywood works, It's just that pretty much everybody knows it. Heck, the "Hollywood executives are there to rape wonderful ideas" is so old that it is basically a stereotype; we've seen in TV and movies for years. So I find it extra whiny of him to go so radical about it like he is enlightening us all with something new; sounds more like he is just dodging the blame for "The Spirit" instead of facing the criticism he has been getting for years: your current work is BAD, work on that.

To tell the truth, a few years back I actually went googling to see if Wizard was still being published. Internet pretty much cancels any need for a monthly printed version of news regarding superhero comics.

I also remember their pricelist, which at first you hated because it ate almost half or more of the mag. But if you read the little insert in every page you could learn something interesting or get a good WTF laugh.

The Spirit came out 7 or 8 years after he gave this speech. he is not dodging the blame for anything.

Edited by Jeremy007
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Speaking of Wizard, wonder how Toyfare is doing considering it's probably the last toy mag around. I collected it religiously when it first came out, but I found that my tastes in toys was shifting largely to Japanese toys (like Yamato's Macross toys), so it didn't cater to my import tastes enough. The humor is great, but it's not enough for me to even subscribe to it. Haven't picked up an issue in years, but my friend gets them for free working at Sony and passes them on to me. The import coverage is still pretty weak.

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I haven't read Wizard in years. Having only read a handful of issues, I never really was that attached to it.

BTW, I hope everyone realizes that the Frank Miller rant is from circa 2001 or so. ;) EDIT: Nevermind, Jeremy007 already pointed this out.

Edited by VT 1010
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Speaking of Wizard, wonder how Toyfare is doing considering it's probably the last toy mag around. I collected it religiously when it first came out, but I found that my tastes in toys was shifting largely to Japanese toys (like Yamato's Macross toys), so it didn't cater to my import tastes enough. The humor is great, but it's not enough for me to even subscribe to it. Haven't picked up an issue in years, but my friend gets them for free working at Sony and passes them on to me. The import coverage is still pretty weak.

That's also gone.

Edited by areaseven
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The Spirit came out 7 or 8 years after he gave this speech. he is not dodging the blame for anything.

You are right, that post is ancient! Weird considering that around that time his work started going downhill: A few months later his incredibly bad sequel to his brilliant “The Dark Knight Returns” started coming out after all the hype that was created for year by none other than Wizard…

Remembered that Wizard started "Black Bull" comics. Read the Ennis limited series "Just a Pilgrim" , knew about a horror type ongoing and then never heard about BB again.

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Wow, I feel old. I used to buy Wizard on a religious level from the late 90 to the early 00.

pretty much what i went through during my short lived U.S. comics fandom of the mid/late nineties.

i believe i started WIZARD in 1996, and seldom missed an issue 'til about 1999ish,

when i fell out of U.S. comics completely, and went full bore into my true passion, Anime and Manga.

i had managed along the way to collect the entire series of collector cards that WIZARD had included every issue

starting in '96, and lasting for about 20-odd issues IIRC...

Speaking of Wizard, wonder how Toyfare is doing considering it's probably the last toy mag around. I collected it religiously when it first came out, but I found that my tastes in toys was shifting largely to Japanese toys (like Yamato's Macross toys), so it didn't cater to my import tastes enough.

pretty much the same here for me.

i followed TF for quite a few years, but my decidedly japanese taste in toys

started outgrowing the magazine's mostly USA-centric content pretty damned fast by the early 2000s...

Edited by Shaorin
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