Sunday, November 4, 2007
Who still reads Wizard magazine?
There’s been an uproar on some comic book blogs over the fact that Wizard has decided to crown itself the #1 men’s pop culture magazine. The idea is that by Wizard declaring themselves to be a men’s magazine, they are purposely and unnecessarily going out of their way to exclude female comic book fans.
I don’t see why that is such a bad thing. To be excluded from the intended demographic of this particular magazine can only be looked at as something positive. To be excluded from Wizard is a good thing.
I can’t imagine why anyone - man or woman - would want to read Wizard. Anything that can be learned from the pages of Wizard could have been learned months ago online on Newsarama or Comic Book Resources. When was the last time something broke in Wizard? It was the New York Post and not Wizard that broke the story that Spider-Man was going to take his mask off in CIVIL WAR #2. It was the New York Daily News that broke the story that Captain America was going to be killed in CAPTAIN AMERICA #25.
It wasn’t Wizard magazine that broke these stories.
Wizard has become irrelevant and outdated. I get my comic book news and information from sources that update content on a minute by minute basis, not on a month to month basis like Wizard. That’s not to say there wasn’t a time for a monthly comic book magazine that could be purchased at any grocery store. That time has simply passed.
Sometimes I wonder if the only people still reading Wizard are female comic book fans looking for something that offends their feminist sensibilities. One has to look no further then to the website When Fan Girls Attack to see this strange phenomenon in action. Why else would they go out of their way to read something they know they’re going to find offensive?
If Wizard is in fact the #1 men’s pop culture magazine, whatever magazine came in at #2 must be really bad.
I still read Wizard and am, in fact, a 24 year old male.
Some people still do like the good old fashion feel of print in our hands when we sit on the bus or on the toilet.
And to say that Wizard never ‘breaks’ anything is a little excessive. There are, in this months issue, not only exclusive art from Avengers/Invaders (that will no doubt be scanned later for internet consumption, which I may or may not use for a wallpaper, but that’s besides the point) as well as, so far, the only place I’ve heard abou the new Marvel Masterpiece card set coming out (which nowhere I can find has news about)
And as a last note, maybe its just in Canada, but if I don’t get my Wizard within two days of it’s release at my local comic shop I don’t get it there. If I don’t check the next nearest two within a week, I’m out of luck as well. Lastly, if I don’t go to Chapters by the second week of the month that I have to settle with ToyFare…
Although I agree with most of what you’re saying, there is a flaw in your basic argument. Wizard probably is the "#1 Pop Culture Magazine" for men. It’s true what you say, that most of their content is outdated, but as you pointed out, this is all by web sites, not other magazines. Their crown could read "Most popular useless collection of paper stapled together."
What magazine would beat them as the "#1 choice"? I can’t think of any. Sure, Wizard is pretty lame, and the last time I read one was a year ago from last August when I was on vacation in Ocean City, MD, and that was only because every other magazine at the CVS was about soap operas. I should have taken one of those. At least the tats were real; not cartoons.
Oh, I’m not arguing that Wizard isn’t in fact the #1 pop culture magazine for men. I just don’t think it matters. In fact, even the phrase “pop culture magazine” seems an awful lot like an oxymoron. Especially considering it’s a monthly magazine and not a weekly magazine.
I just think Wizard is irrelevant.
By the time Wizard hits the grocery store magazine racks, it’s full of old news. The only pop culture it can hope to cover is the pop culture of two to three months ago. Or even worse, that editors of Wizard thought current pop culture was going to be like two or three months ago.
Wizard is pretty irrelevant. I still pick up an issue now and then if I’m at Sheetz when a new one is out and I feel I have too much money in my pocket. When I was a teenager I thought it was the shit, but now I mostly find it boring and pathetic. It tries embarassingly hard to be funny, but isn’t; there are countless better sources for news about comics and movies and other geeky stuff; and they’ve shrunk the price guide so much that it isn’t of any use to a collector, either.
The few times a year I’ll read it are purely out of habit. There is no rationally defensible reason to buy Wizard.
I actually always hated the price guide, mostly for the same reasons Rick stated about the news (being irrelevant). Even moreso, have you ever noticed how expensive the "Wizard 1/2" editions are? And all the other Wizard printings? Gee, I wonder why that is….
The Wizard 1/2 editions aren’t 50% off?
I actually read Wizard each and every month back when I wasn’t reading comics. They became my groundhog in a way. I would read Wizard to see if comics still sucked. If it looked as though they still sucked, I would crawl back into my non-comic reading hole for another month.
Now that I think about it, comics never really stopped sucking so I wonder why I started reading them again….
Why else would they go out of their way to read something they know they’re going to find offensive?
Because it needs to be acknowledged, that’s why. Around the globe, on a daily basis, events occur which offend the "feminist sensibility" - and most often, those events are ignored by most women because we’ve been taught to "suck it up and deal" or to "stop blowing things out of proportion." From the minor to the major incidence, women are often made out to be hysterical and hypersensitive - or else we’re ignored or exluded, as your entry here points out. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to want to recognize that societal attitudes toward women are consistently less-than-respectful.
Besides, the first step of recovery is acknowledging there is a problem. Right?
Rachel, it’s not that I don’t see the need to speak out against sexism. I’ve been very critical of some of the the sexist and misogynistic things Marvel has done. Like the Mary Jane statue and the cover illustration for HEROES FOR HIRE #13.
I just don’t think what a magazine like Wizard decides to call itself really matters. The only people I know that actually read the thing are the same people that are complaining about how offensive it is. It’s been years since Wizard has any real relevance in the funny book world. A part of me things that by complaining about what Wizard does, people make it more relevant then it really is.
Rick,
I see your point, and my initial reaction was to read that tagline in a much more simplistic way: not that they’re excluding women, but simply that they can back up with statistics the fact that men buy that mag more than any other. :shrug: Who knows?
Anyway, I think a lot of what we choose to fuss about gives more relevance to the problem than it needs. Did you read my blog entry about Leo Yankevich, the misogynistic anti-Semite who also happens to be a poet and an editor? People threw up a huge fuss about him in the world of formal poetry even though, in the grand scheme of things, he’s small potatoes. Certainly he gained more publicity - and therefore more importance - through that whole mess than he could have by any other means.
I think it’s a matter of choosing your battles. And Wizard magazine certainly isn’t mine - hell, I’m still calling you a geek for even blogging about it.
And I in no way meant to imply that I think you’re sexist; I hope I didn’t manage to do that. I’ve read enough of your entries and comments to know you have a fair amount of respect for people of all genders.
Rachel
Hey! You deleted my comment. It was funny as hell. Spoil sport.
My understanding of the term “pop culture” is one that incorporates in film, television, music & fashion. Wizard is a comic book driven magazine. On what planet does it make it into the top ten of “pop culture?” It’s probably the number one publication of articles about mostly super-hero comic books, but it’s a pretty ridiculous leap to claim it’s the tops in anything else.
On the for men tip–i don’t really have much of an opinion on that. It doesn’t really make sense as a marketing idea, as if plastering that on the cover is going to increase sales or spark a new readership. It seems to have successfully irritated some people, and it’s the first time i’ve heard Wizard mentioned in a while (other than to talk schmack about it) so it at least worked to get it back on the radar. Can’t imagine that’s going to help sales to the people it’s pissed off, either.
I’m the #1 hottest guy for women in my living room. ’cause you know, I’m the only one here… that was pretty easy to say.
Seriously though the statement “The #1 men’s pop culture magazine” is lacking the all important word “comics.” In other words, Wizard is distancing it’s self from being a comic magazine.
Who still reads Wizard magazine?
Probably just people that have been for years and continue out of habit. Having it in their pull list for example.
I agree Wizard is being outdone by CBR and the like. They break news, they have interviews and most importantly have huge online communities. That builds “brand loyalty.”
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