"Almost all Wizard magazine staff have been laid off, and all freelance engagements cancelled...Sister magazine Toyfare, covering the toy market, has not been affected, nor have the Wizard comic conventions."
The magazine did a lot for the industry, and many times it outsold some of the most popular comics on the shelves. The book was started back in 1991 by Gareb Shamus and Stephen Shamus and it was the place to go for breaking news in the comic book industry; however, with the popularization of the internet came news-websites that could get the info to the consumer a bit quicker than once a month.
In a Wizard press release from today, Wizard announced Gareb Shamis, one of the original creators of the magazine, the recently appointed President and CEO of Wizard World, Inc will launch a new online publication, most likely because of the death of the printed publication:
Wizard World plans to launch in February 2011 an all-new digital magazine called ‘Wizard World’ that will appeal to pop-culture fans, the same audience to which Mr. Shamus has catered to, for over 20 years. Wizard World digital magazine will provide coverage of the world of comic books, toys and superheroes, and the personalities behind them.
“This is a very exciting day for Wizard World and the industries it serves,” said Shamus. “Having the Tour produced by a public company provides additional opportunities to expand and grow the Tour. The new digital magazine Wizard World will give consumers the content they want in a magazine format with which they are familiar, but distributed in a form that is always available at any time on any device. It is a natural evolution for us in this market.”
20 years and over 200 issues later, Wizard has shut down, but don't worry, the Wizard website is still going strong, there's a new timely online publication to look forward to through Wizard World, and those of you who love the Wizard Conventions and Toyfare will still be able to enjoy those. Many thanks to Wizard for the years of great articles, hilarious one panel shots of action figures in compromising situations, and the price guide, which I spent hours upon hours looking at to see how much my copy of X-Men 2099 #1 was worth. What are your fond memories from Wizard? Did you have a favorite article? What do you think of the new online publication?
