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odditycollector Feb. 10th, 2007 09:39 pm)
odditycollector Feb. 10th, 2007 09:39 pm)I mostly avoid Wizard Comics Magazine, that classy publication known for such hard hitting journalism as "Match the Butt to the Bitch!" and "A tribute to Frank Cho's neighbour, now dead:
He died with The Mighty Avengers still unread.
He'll never now get to see Cho's latest tits,
and we hope that we'll never smell *his* rotted bits!"
However, I was told that there was a mention of DC's new Big Barda Bust in the latest issue of Wizard. Since I posted a while ago about how utterly disgusting that statue is, I felt I should see what they said. Out of duty. And, okay, a fair chunk of train wreck syndrome. I could just *imagine* what they'd think of it.
As it turns out, no. I couldn't.
One thing I will say about Wizard - they never, ever fail to surprise me at just how low they'll go.
I've included the page below the cut. The whole thing is appalling, although Barda, I think, gets the worst of it. The other women are drooled over as "static" and "sexy". As well as that, Barda is directly insulted.
If you'd rather not look at the image, I can't say I blame you. Here's what you're missing:
They introduce the character as a "buxom broad." But it's okay! BIG Barda is "way hotter than her name makes her sound." She's no *fat* broad, fanboy! HO HO HO!
I suppose I should here include a rant on how the world would be improved if Wizard Entertainment was struck from it by rogue meteorite. But I think we can just take that for granted. Frankly, the staff at Wizard aren't the only examples of human slime with access to printing presses, and I'd have little trouble simply ignoring the whole production as akin to a group of thirteen year old boys circle jerking around an older brother's Wonder Woman figure and posting the pictures online.
Except for one question.
Why are you okay with this, DC Comics? And Marvel. And Dark Horse. And every other comics publisher who actively cooperates with Wizard.
Why do you continue to associate with this publication? Why do you still grant them interviews and exclusive news?
They obviously have no respect for your characters, no respect for your audience, no respect for women, and no sense of basic human propriety. They are vulgar and offensive, and in playing along, you are equally vulgar and offensive.
When Wizard poked crass fun at a dead man in Marvel's name, why the hell didn't Marvel respond with: "Apologize, in print, and grow the fuck up. And maybe, MAYBE, we'll start returning your calls again." Instead, I'm left with the impression that the folks in the comics industry are laughing right along. AHAHA! If the book stinks, it's 'cause we accidentally got DEAD GUY IN! Brilliant!
If the female audience is important to you, DC, as you claim, why do you filter your news through a magazine with such vile, misogynic attitudes? If the male audience is important to you, why aren't you bothered that Wizard treats them as socially inept, barely literate pedophiles?
Wizard is far more puerile than most porn magazines, and Wizard is the public face of the comics industry. And the reason it is the public face of the comic industry is that the publishers of comics encourage and support it.
And as long as that's the case, I call bullshit on anyone claiming that it's the stories, or the characters, or the readers that matter.
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Actually, it might be that no reputable company IS.
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Because their current business model is Hustler-lite.
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That's...
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Wish we could get a full feminist comics magazine. Or at least a Feminist pop culture magazine that dedicates a section to comics and specfic.
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But whether or not there's a proper alternative to Wizard, DC and Marvel should not simply laugh along with its behaviour. If they do, they forfeit any right to claim no, they do care really, the industry is getting better.
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Wizard would LOVE...
Not professional. I don't blame the designers for that because SOMEONE SHOULD READ THE DAMN THING BEFORE IT PRINTS.
And the Big Barda thing... wow. I love Big Barda and I hate to see the character denigrated.
Excellent points all around.
Joel, "I Against Comics"
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Yup, I am old.
And they wonder why comics are dying out.
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Re: Yup, I am old.
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Well, the pictures could be faked!
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Re: Yup, I am old.
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Thus Wizard Magazine is basically just an organ to promote Wizard products, the products of their biggest supporters, or products sold by their store. And guess what, I bet, their store is selling?
The only challenge to Wizard is web-based news magazines, and their character isn't unimpeachable by a long shot.
All this, of course, is not just a Wizard issue but a fandom journalism issue in general; you have to balance the company promoting its own interests while still getting a story. This is where reviews come in, allowing a magazine to be critical of a product. Wizard, shock, doesn't have any.
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So long as they can still deliver comics "news," they can - they sell copies to people who want the inside 'scoop' on comics they are already reading. But I don't believe that the sales of mainstream comics depends in any noticeable amount on Wizard's poorly written articles. Wizard is not a respectable magazine, and by treating it as such DC and Marvel and et al lose whatever credability they ever had.
All this, of course, is not just a Wizard issue but a fandom journalism issue in general
Well, it's hard to imagine an actor who agrees to an interview with a publication, fandom-related or not, to agree to return if the final article is full of boob jokes and snarky comments about their recently deceased aunt. Instead, there might be a lawsuit.
The comic companies, however, are like, "You're doing us such a service! Same time next month?"
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They are the 800 pound
gorilladiseased, rotted toad on the block.And, despite being treated as why aren't you bothered that Wizard treats them as socially inept, barely literate pedophiles?, the fanboys keep lapping it up.
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OTOH, if Wizard announced they'd no longer be covering features on DC, Marvel, et al... I can't imagine it'd effect the sales of the *comics* much at all. People were going to buy Civil War anyway, you know?
What *are* the numbers for Wizard vs Newsarama, vs CBR, anyway?
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That's a damn good question.
See, I'd trust numbers nat the latter two gave us. But given the way that Wizard counts con attendance, I'd take anything they handed out with a grain of salt.
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The thing is, these are all small changes and it's frustrating that there isn't a larger, more vocal opposition. But the fact that there are changes at all is encouraging.
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The thing is, these are all small changes and it's frustrating that there isn't a larger, more vocal opposition. But the fact that there are changes at all is encouraging.
As far as I can tell, the magazine itself is getting *worse*. The above scan is from the most recent issue. And they continue to be rewarded by the companies - with interviews, with previews and sketches, with "Official Spoilers: one of these people will die".
It seems like Wizard is publishing what DC and Marvel and etc want as well.
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What makes me even more upset is that I play Dungeons and Dragons, TOO, and my purchase of whatever-latest-supplement is coming out supports, in part, this magazine. I buy as much from third-party d20 sites/publishers as possible, but it's very difficult to avoid the books for the game that WoTC created.
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tnx
;))
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During high school, all the nearby comic shops closed and I stopped reading. Once I graduated, I subscribed to Wizard for the first time in about three years, just to see what was going on in the industry I had at one time adored.
The very first issue I received contained their first bit of coverage of a little something of which you may have heard: Identity Crisis. I had returned home.
Since that single issue of Wizard shocked my long dormant fanboy in to coherency, DC Comics has probably received at least five thousand dollars from my pocket.
Now, I am in no way defending Wizard. I, too, remember the days when it was a good, solid source of reporting on the industry. It's always had its puerile bits (the first issue I ever bought, back in the eighth grade, contained a five page "Sexiest Women in Comics" cover feature, complete with fold-out cover containing the likes of Rogue, Wanda Maximoff, and Sue Richards in come-hither poses), but never to the misogynistic levels of the past few years. (And on another topic, it didn't run five page features on crap pop culture like "Lost.")
But the possibility remains that its "reporting" may actually influence sales, and that may be why the big companies continue to tolerate the rag. Maybe sales are not affected to a grand extent, but I'm sure DC likes having my $5000 regardless. And I must admit, I do still read Wizard, because it still does provide a useful function - giving me an idea of what is coming out of the industry in coming months, and keeping me up to date with things like Civil War, in which I have no interest in reading but which I would still like to be aware. I no longer pay for it, however.
-m@
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