When I was in middle school, WIZARD: THE GUIDE TO COMICS was literally my Bible. I read every issues religiously, and still have numerous older issues that I love to thumb through. The book was amazing, and I loved every page of it. Recently, the book had fallen off the wagon, become a series of countdowns and omitting a lot of the fun, fresh content that made Wizard sell.
Now, that’s all a thing of the past.
I am receiving multiple confirmations from across the industry, through none yet from Wizard’s higher ups and PR people yet, that Wizard: The Guide To Comics, the magazine that covered the mainstream comics industry for twenty years and created all manner of careers in the process has closed, effective immediately. Or at least the print version has.
Almost all Wizard magazine staff have been laid off, and all freelance engagements cancelled.
This is pretty big news. Wizard was responsible for a lot of early success of indie companies, focusing on those primarily over Marvel and DC (though that would change as the magazine grew older).
As mentioned in the quote, the higher ups in Wizard haven’t made an official comment, but this wouldn’t be surprising in the slightest. As soon as more pops up, we’ll be sure to post it here.