This week almost every comic website was flooded with news that Wizard Magazine, along with its little brother Twisted Toyfare Theatre, were being cancelled immediately. No final issue, no grand farewell. Both publications will simply cease to exist. I hate to sound too cynical, but this news comes as little surprise to any dedicated comics fan. In fact, the only surprising thing is that Wizard Magazine has lasted all the way to 2011.
It’s funny then that I still feel sad that Wizard is ending, even though I haven’t read the publication in at least 15 years. Maybe it’s just the fact that Wizard has become somewhat of an institution. Wizard Magazine had been on the racks since July 1991. After nearly 20 years, it was comforting to think Wizard would always be on the shelf. Maybe one day while lazily shopping at the supermarket I could pick up the current Wizard and read through columns like “casting call” and relive the comic experience of 1991.
Unfortunately, my exact sentiment is what killed the magazine. I’m sure a ton of Wizard readers from the 90s might have fond nostalgia for the publication, but by 2011 that’s all the magazine was good for. If you want up-to-date comic news, just go online. That’s the only real way to stay informed with an industry like comics that have weekly releases all year round.
To be honest, looking back at Wizard’s history, I was never really that fond of it in the first place. Early on the magazine was a huge supporter of companies like Valiant Comics, which, from my adult perspective, seems like absolute garbage. Still, this is newsworthy none-the-less because it’s just another example of comic-related print publication meeting its demise in the new digital age. Yes, another one bites the dust… but let’s hope this isn’t opening up the flood gates.
-Jon
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One of my favorite bookstores in St. Louis. Star Clipper offers not only the best selection of comic books and graphic novels in the city, but also a cornucopia of art, design and pop-culture related books and magazines. 
I remember when Wizard debuted. Those early issues seemed like the writers were trying too hard to be hip and insidery, and there was no greater driver for the speculator mentality than Wizard. Comics were not written about because they were compelling stories or had beautiful art, oh no — what mattered to Wizard was that they were “hot.” I mean “HOT!” I picked up a few issues over the years, mainly if a creator I liked was being profiled, but I had a hard time taking the whole thing seriously. Any magazine that touted Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza as great storytellers didn’t know what they were talking about.
And as for your knock on Valiant, Jon, BOOOOO! Jim Shooter’s Magnus, the first year of X-O Manowar, and Solar were fantastic stories. Compare anything from that first year of Solar to its Image contemporaries or even what Marvel was doing, and you’ll change your mind about how good they were. There is a precipitous drop in quality on all those books, however; after Shooter was forced out, the entire line became worthless — and this is when I abandoned comics for a few years. Dark times.