"Wizard Magazine"

     Hey everyone. I wasn't about to let a whole month go by without making a new post. Things have been busy for me over the last month. I finished up another semester at Wright State University, making the Dean's list for only the second time in my life. Since classes let out I have been searching for a new job for the Summer and have taken some time off for myself to relax a bit. So, that being said I hope you can forgive the absence and can now rejoice in the return of your "Angelicomics" blog.

     "Wizard Magazine" was the go to guide for all things comic related in the 90s. Before the internet was a huge thing, these magazines offered a monthly publication insight into the newest comic news in both film and print. I remember that I could never afford a monthly subscription to the magazine; with a whopping 6 dollar price tag on every issue, the idea of asking my parents for a year round subscription just seemed unthinkable; of course I was already getting "Nintendo Power Magazine." One of my friends gave me one of his issues when he was done with it and that's when I really fell in love with the magazine. I remember looking at all the cool artwork and found the magazine quite refreshing from most publications in the very informal way it addressed its readers. The contests were really cool and you could even mail in an insert and a said amount of money to get an exclusive 1/2 issue. Looking back on some of the articles I can definitely say that they never really taught me anything though, but more the less were entertaining for a child of 10 to 15.

     My main attraction, initially, to the magazine was the massive price guide that came along with the earlier 90s issues. I was a collector of the Marvel trading cards back in the day that started around 92' or 93'. Keeping track of what they were worth was a hobby of mine and at this time in our history, comics were a higher priced commodity. The comic boom of the 90s really brought the reader, and more so the collectors, racing into stores to grab the new issue #1 or special edition of each book. Little did they know, but most of those comics would be in the dollar bin about ten years later. When the price of comics dropped dramatically, "Wizard" too struggled financially. Eventually the publication became smaller and the price guides were removed to cut costs and to me the book didn't feel worth the 6 dollar price any more. Up until that point I usually purchased the End of Year Spectacular issue which usually had the best articles and  was over 300 pages long. Those issues helped me to become more interested in drawing; and with such a collaboration on every page, my imagination grew into what it is today.

     Sadly "Wizard Magazine" is no longer in print. After 235 issues the publisher went bankrupt. I think there was a downward spiral in the magazine overall after the price guides were removed. The magazine no longer used comics as its main focus, but rather movie news or other references to comics in pop culture. My two biggest complaints were the sad attention the book was physically getting, becoming much thinner and the fact that the covers were no longer original, vibrant pieces of art; instead they were being replaced with photos of actors and even printed with multiple collector issues. I still look at my old issues of "Wizard" from time to time. I even purchase back issues at Half Price Books when I find a good one. Thanks to HPB each magazine is only 50 cents. Reading the articles and the contests brings me back to my youthful days.