Wizard or Wizard: The Magazine of Comics, Entertainment and Pop Culture (originally titled Wizard: The Guide to Comics and Wizard: The Comics Magazine) is a magazine about comic books, published monthly in the United States by Wizard Entertainment. It includes a price guide to current and valuable comics, as well as comic book, movie, anime, and collector news, interviews, and previews. It is known for its "fanboy" sense of humour,geared toward adolescent boys, which is shared by all the magazines published by Wizard Entertainment. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... Based in Congers, New York, Wizard Entertainment, formerly known as Wizard Press, is the publisher of several notable magazines in fandom: InQuest Gamer, Wizard, ToyFare, and Anime Insider, along with various special issues for each magazine and the annual Toy Wishes holiday guide. ... Comic book price guides are generally monthly or yearly publications which detail the changes in the resale value of a comic over a period of time. ... “Moving picture” redirects here. ... “Animé” redirects here. ... Fans of Janet Jackson, at Much Music in Toronto The word fan refers to someone who has an intense, occasionally overwhelming liking of a person, group of persons, work of art, idea, or trend. ...

Wizard was founded in 1991 by college student Gareb Shamus as a newsletter for his parents' comic book store, estimating the values of "hot" comic books, comics with high demand in the back-issue market. Shamus' interest in the comics market stems from his friendship with comic artist Todd McFarlane and from working in his parents' store. The references in this article would be clearer with a different and/or consistent style of citation, footnoting or external linking. ...

In issue #7, Wizard became closer to the magazine it is today, with glossy paper and color printing. Unlike other comics publications such as Hero Illustrated or The Comics Journal, Wizard has historically focused on superheroes and the economic side of comic collecting. Wizard strongly supported new publishers Valiant Comics and Image Comics, heavily promoting their new releases. The cover of TCJ #115 (April 1987) celebrated their court victory in defending a libel suit. ... Valiant Comics is the comic book publishing company founded by former Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Jim Shooter and renowned writer/artists Bob Layton and Barry Windsor-Smith in 1989. ... Image Comics Logo Image Comics is an American comic book publisher. ...

Wizard Magazine's old website, www.wizardworld.com, was home to a lively internet forum community in the late 1990s.

The magazine has also spawned several ongoing magazines dedicated to similar interests such as Toyfare for toys and action figures, Inquest Gamer for collectible game cards, Anime Insider for anime and manga, and Toy Wishes for mainstream toy enthusiasts, particularly children and parents. In 2006, the magazine was revamped with a bigger look and more pages, switching from the "perfect bound" or staple free look, to that of a more traditional magazine. ToyFare is a magainze published by Wizard Entertainment. ... InQuest Gamer is a prominent monthly gaming magazine. ... Anime Insider is a monthly publication published by Wizard Entertainment. ...

In November 2006, Wizard Editor-in-Chief and co-founder Pat McCallum was fired, after more than a decade with the company. Wizard has declined to say why he was removed.^[1] On February 21, 2007, Scott Gramling was announced as the new Editor-in-Chief.^[2]

Regular Features

The magazine has gone through an ever-changing line-up of regular and semi-regular features, including

• Book Shelf - Brief reviews of the monthly trade paperback and hardcover collection releases.
• Casting Call - A feature proposing the "dream" cast for potential film adaptations of various comic books.
• Magic Words - the letters column, which often feature the Wizard Bunny, one of the magazines mascots.
• Top 10 Writers and Artists Lists charting the most popular creators of the month in each category.

Retired Features include

• Casting Call - A feature proposing the "dream" cast for potential film adaptations of various comic books. It has been an on-and-off feature in recent issues.
• Last Man Standing - A dream "faceoff" between two different characters or teams, always of different companies and/or universes. The feature would detail a brief showdown between the two, including the victor and would be accompanied by an exclusive illustration (usually by a high profile artist) depicting the battle.

Exclusive offers

In addition, both Wizard and Toyfare often feature mail-away offers for exclusive merchandise. Wizard became renowned for their Wizard #1/2 Issue offers--issues of then on-going series which featured in-continuity stories that supplemented the regular series published issues. The issues were numbered #1/2 so as not to disrupt the series ongoing numbering system. Often Wizard would also include free pack-in issues with their magazines, usually numbered as Wizard #0's. Look up wizard in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Series that participated include

• Arcanum
• Ascension
• Ash
• Astro City
• Avengers (#0 Issue)
• Battle of the Planets
• Blade
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• Daredevil
• Darkchylde
• The Darkness
• Dawn
• Deadpool (#0 Issue)
• Devil's Reign: Silver Surfer/Witchblade
• Divine Right
• Doom's IV
• Dreams of Dawn
• DV8
• Earth X
• Evil Ernie
• Fantastic Four
• Fathom (Both #1/2 AND #0 issues)
• Fire from Heaven
• Flash
• Gambit
• The Gear Nation
• Generation X
• Ghost Rider
• Heroes Reborn
• Hulk
• Iron Man
• Kabuki
• Lady Death
• Lady Rawhide
• Magdalena vs. Angelus
• Mars Attacks
• The Maxx
• Midnight Nation
• Morbid Angel
• The New Warriors
• Nightwing
• Powers
• The Red Star
• Ripclaw
• Rising Stars
• Shi
• Silver Surfer
• Sin City
• Slingers (#0 Issue)
• Spider-Girl
• Spider-Man
• Star Wars: Boba Fett
• Star Wars: Episode I
• Star Wars: X-wing Rogue Squadron
• Tales of The Darkness
• Tales of The Witchblade
• The Tenth
• Tomb Raider
• Ultimate Spider-Man
• Ultimate X-Men
• Ultraverse Prime
• Undertaker (Both #1/2 AND #0 issues)
• Vampi
• Vengeance of Vampirella
• Violent Messiahs
• Warlands
• Weapon X
• Witchblade
• Witchblade/Tomb Raider
• Witchblade vs. The Darkness
• Wolverine
• X-Files
• X-O Manowar

Arcanum is a comic book published by Image Comics in 1996, under the Top Cow banner. ... Ascension was a comic book series created by David Finch and Matt Batt Banning and published by Top Cow. ... Ash is an American comic created by Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti. ... Astro City, vol. ... The Avengers is an elite fictional comic book superhero team in the Marvel Universe. ... Battle of the Planets (1978) is the first Westernized adaptation of the 1972 Japanese animated television series known as Kagaku ninja tai Gatchaman. ... Blade (Eric Brooks) is a fictional superhero. ... Buffy the Vampire Slayer is an Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated American cult television series that initially aired from March 10, 1997 until May 20, 2003. ... Daredevil (Matt Murdock) is a Marvel Comics superhero. ... Ariel Chylde pictured on the cover of Darkchylde issue #1 Darkchylde is a comic book created by artist Randy Queen in 1996 that was very popular in the mid 1990s. ... The Darkness is a series of comic books produced by Top Cow Productions. ... Dawn is a popular comic book character created by John Michael Lensner. ... For other uses of Wade Wilson, see Wade Wilson Deadpool is a fictional comic book character sometimes depicted as a, mercenary, villain, or anti-hero; who appears in books published by Marvel Comics, usually in the X-Men family of titles. ... The Silver Surfer is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics superhero created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... DV8 is a comic book published by Wildstorm. ... Earth X Hardcover (2005), written by Jim Krueger cover by Alex Ross This article is about the Marvel Comics miniseries Earth X and its sequels. ... Evil Ernie is a fictional character, an undead, psychotic killer with his own series, published by Chaos! Comics and Devils Due Publishing. ... The Fantastic Four is a fictional American team of comic-book superheroes in the Marvel Comics universe. ... Fathom Issue #0, character Aspen Matthews pictured Fathom is a comic book created by Michael Turner and originally published by Top Cow Productions. ... Fire From Heaven is a historical novel by Mary Renault about the childhood and youth of Alexander the Great. ... The Flash is a name shared by several DC Comics superheroes. ... Gambit (Remy LeBeau) is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics superhero who is a member of the X-Men. ... Generation X is a term used to describe generations in many countries around the world. ... Ghost Rider may refer to: Ghost Rider (comics), the supernatural comic book character(s). ... Heroes Reborn was an event in which Marvel Comics temporarily outsourced the production of several of its most famous comic books to the studios of its popular former employees Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld. ... The Incredible Hulk in popular media, see Hulk. ... For the film, see Iron Man (film). ... Cover to Kabuki: Skin Deep Kabuki is a comic book series by artist and writer David Mack, first published in 1994 by Caliber Press and later by Image Comics. ... Brian Pulidos Lady Death. ... The Magdalena #1 The Magdalena is a comic book heroine published by Top Cow Productions. ... The Angelus is a devotion in memory of the Incarnation. ... Mars Attacks is a highly popular lurid science fiction trading card series. ... The Maxx is a comic book and animated series written and illustrated by Sam Kieth (with writing assistance from William Messner-Loebs earlier on in the series and from Alan Moore in a later issue), and published by Image Comics. ... Midnight Nation is a religious-themed comic book by J. Michael Straczynski about a man who is killed, in a sense, and is on a journey to save his soul. ... Morbid Angel is a Florida-based death metal band assembled in 1983. ... The New Warriors are a Marvel Comics superhero team. ... Nightwing is a name used by at least six fictional characters in the DC Comics Universe. ... Powers is a comic book series by writer Brian Michael Bendis, artist Michael Avon Oeming. ... Cover of The Red Star, Issue 1, German edition. ... Ripclaw is the name of a comic book character from Top Cow Productions. ... Rising Stars is a 24-issue comic book limited series by J. Michael Straczynski about 113 people (called Specials), as they are born with special abilities following a mysterious light in the sky. ... Shi is a comic book character of Crusade Comics, created by William Tucci. ... Cover of Sin City shows Marv walking through the rain. ... For the breakfast dish, see Slingers (food). ... Spider-Girl (May Mayday Parker) is a fictional character, a comic book superheroine active in an alternate future of the Marvel Comics universe. ... Peter Parker: Spider-Man, often simply titled Spider-Man, is a comic book series published by Marvel Comics starring Spider-Man. ... Star Wars is an epic space opera saga and a fictional universe initially developed by George Lucas during the 1970s and expanded since that time. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For the movie staring Angelina Jolie, see Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. ... For the video game of the same title, see: Ultimate Spider-Man (video game). ... Ultimate X-Men is a superhero comic book series published by Marvel Comics. ... The Ultraverse was the name given to a comic book imprint published by Malibu Comics. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Vampi is a fictional character, a comic book vampire supernatural vigilante created by Kevin Lau. ... This article is about Vampirella. ... Violent Messiahs is a comic book series created by Joshua Dysart and William ONeill and published by Image Comics. ... Warlands is an epic comic from the now-defunct production house, Dreamwave Productions, which was founded by Pat Lee and his brother Roger Lee in 1996. ... Weapon X is a fictional clandestine government project in the Marvel Universe conducted by the Canadian Governments Department K (and secretly funded by the US government) which turns willing and unwilling beings into living weapons. ... For other uses, see Wolverine (disambiguation). ... X-Files intro from first 8 seasons The X-Files was a popular 1990s American science fiction television series created by Chris Carter. ... // X-O Manowar (Aric Dacia) is a fictional Valiant Comics superhero created by legendary writer and former Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Jim Shooter, artist Bob Layton and Jon Hartz. ...

Controversy

For many, Wizard is the most visible face of the American comics industry, and it encounters a fair amount of controversy. Critics charge that Wizard discusses mainstream American superhero comics to the exclusion of other kinds of comics; however, such comics are the dominant genre among the majority of American comics buyers. Critics also characterize Wizard as simply an organ to generate hype and publicity for the largest publishers, DC and Marvel, and sometimes others like Image, Dark Horse and Top Cow. It is true that Wizard has arranged mutually-lucrative deals with publishers - preferential advertising and coverage, in exchange for news exclusives for the print magazines and product (toy, comic) exclusives for the publisher's string of conventions. Additionally, critics have accused Wizard of promoting comics they had a financial interest in, whether because they are published by Wizard Entertainment-owned Blackbull Press, or because Wizard's online store has a large inventory in stock. For the Wikipedia policy regarding controversial issues in articles, see Wikipedia:Guidelines for controversial articles. ... For the Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode, see Super Hero (Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode). ...

Comic creator Frank Miller had a well-publicized feud with Wizard, initiated by his keynote speech at the 2001 Harvey Awards, during which he ripped a copy of the magazine apart and threw it in a trash can, calling it a "bible written by Satan", a "monthly vulgarity", and a "tree killer (which) regularly cheapens and poisons our field." ^{[citation needed]} The two parties have seemingly repaired their relationship (notably, after Miller's successful Sin City film), and Miller was a "Guest of Honor" at Wizard World Chicago 2005. Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American writer, artist and film director best known for his film noir-style comic book stories. ... The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. ... Sin City is a 2005 neo-noir anthology film written, produced and directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez. ... Nickname: Motto: Urbs in Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location in the Chicago metro area and Illinois Coordinates: , Country State Counties Cook, DuPage Settled 1770s Incorporated March 4, 1837 Government  - Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Area  - City  234. ...

Awards

The magazine received the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Publication About Comics for 1992. Comics Buyers Guide (CBG) is the longest-running periodical reporting on the comic book industry. ...

The magazine also gives out its own awards for the comic book industry: the Wizard Fan Awards. The Wizard Fan Awards are given out by Wizard: The Comics Magazine annually. ...

References

External links

• Official site
• Frank Miller's Harvey Awards speech criticizing Wizard
• Where Superheroes Go for Industry News - New York Times article on Wizard
• Wicked Wizard by Paul O'Brien - reflections on current opinions of Wizard in the comics world