Well I think that a common phenomena for Wizard in these early days is that the staff writers have no particular expertise in their fields nor in journalism in general. They're not professionals by any stretch of the imagination, and no expectation appears to be placed on them to do their homework. They write from the hip, so to speak.

CCF users could easily throw together a more informed magazine than Wizard on any day of the week.

Get Off my Four-Color Lawn!: A Curmudgeon's Guide to Classic Comics coming soon to print on demand form Lulu, Amazon and other online outlets.... 




-M

Wizard # 8 (April 1992)



Issue #6 marked a big shake-up in format, as the book suddenly came full color, glossy, and with better coloring and page arrangements.

This issue, it's the content that has changed. Patrick Daniel O'Neill, formerly the guy who did pretty much all the featured content, has been promoted to Editor, and a whole slew of new folk have taken over for him on the lead features. It's led to a lot more diversity of content, from an interview with little known writer Sarah Byam about feminism and Black Canary, to an interview with Jack Larson about The Adventures of Superman TV show from the 1950s.

Additionally, this marks the issue where Wizard officially becomes aware of Image Comics. Though it only gets mentioned once in an interview with Whilce Portacio (just before he decided to sign on to Image), Shamus mentions that issue #10 will feature a Liefeld cover and a collectible Youngblood #0 trading card. Still, I'm mystified by this. Shamus knew Image's big debut was coming three months ago, yet is only now making plans to start making a big deal about it two months down the line? Perhaps he was waiting to see what fan reaction to Youngblood #1 (just released) would be before making his move.

Interestingly enough, the writer(s) of Market Watch still weren't clued in to what was happening, as they still talk up Youngblood as being from Malibu Comics with no mention of Image nor of the other titles and creators involved.

For what it's worth, here's what's said about Image in the Portacio interview (it isn't much):



Note, by the way, the awkwardness of asking that question as Jim Lee was right there, in the same room, penciling at the time of the interview. This helps to explain why Portacio's answer isn't much of an answer.


Also worth noting is that Valiant is about to release Unity #0. So here it is: the issue where the two big Independent publishers of the '90s were on the verge of hitting it big time.


Hindsight glimpses into the comic industry:

Even with a Marvel cover, the attention has moved away from Marvel at this point in favor of a more diverse exploration of all things comic-related, from Jack Larson, to feminism and Black Canary, to the upcoming Alien 3 film. Was this because the hot artists had all left Marvel, because Marvel had overplayed its hyped events, because O'Neill, now in the position of editor, wanted to diversify the magazine's scope, or because Marvel wasn't taking out ads in Wizard anymore?


Industry news:

Image is getting warmed up, and Valiant is about to hit it big with Unity. Market Watch also indicates that the back issues of Harbinger and X-O Manowar are starting to become scarce and expensive.


Wizard shaping the comic book market?

Not so much. I'm very surprised how slow they are to react to the rise of Image, and they're still giving Valiant plenty of attention, but with Unity about to launch, THIS should be the issue where they're conducting interviews and focusing on what the company had planned next. I just don't get it.

Conversely, as this was the first issue of Wizard I ever owned (it's fun seeing all the puzzles filled in by 12 year old me), I'm reminded that my primary reason for purchasing it every four months (at $2.95 an issue, I was only buying every other issue) was to get an up-to-date price guide. I remember many others thinking along the same lines, and Wizard has emphasized its price guide numerous times as well (even though we now know the prices were waaaay off the mark in many cases). This leaves me wondering to what extent a monthly price guide existed because prices were changing so erratically, and to what extent having a widely read monthly price guide encouraged prices to change so erratically.


Wizard Comic Watch:

Strange Tales #178: Adam Warlock feature begins, 1st: Magus

Classic X-Men #39: 2nd Jim Lee on X-Men



Wizard Top 10:



1. Uncanny X-Men #201
2. New Mutants #87
3. Uncanny X-Men #248
4. Uncanny X-Men #266
5. X-Factor #24
6. Uncanny X-Men #268
7. Uncanny X-Men #282
8. Uncanny X-Men #281
9. Ghost Rider (1990) #1
10. Darkhawk #1



Final thoughts:

The book looks and feels far more professional at this point, but beyond the monthly price guide, I'm still at a loss as to what the focus of this publication was, and with Publisher Gareb Shamus toting all that's hyped and cool while newly promoted editor Patrick Daniel O'Neill champions the cause of avoiding the hype in favor of intelligent writing, I'm not even sure what demographic this magazine is attempting to appeal to.

I still don't understand how Wizard got the financial backing and industry connections to get started the way they did, I still have no idea why anyone put trust in this completely inexperienced staff, and sixteen months later, I still have no idea what the appeal or purpose of this magazine even is.

Eight issues of intense examination, thorough online research, and extensive reviews, and I understand the phenomenon that was Wizard Magazine even less than when I started.

Better than the next two, sadly.

I think that's a perfect epitaph for the publication

And, while Patrick Daniel O'Neill and Tom Palmer were writing to a more mature audience, the bulk of the magazine appeared to be targeted at younger adolescents...not the crowd that was reading The Comics Journal nor Amazing Heroes.

Why put yourself through the pain of having to go through Wizard magazines? Lol I'd like to see all the "Hot" issues of the 90s.