The thing about Wizard is that, at least in my case, it _has_ affected comic sales.
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.
no subject
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@