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Wizard Timelinein Conventions by GuigarThursday, June 25, 2009 - 11:05 AM[Edit: Updated with reader comments] I'm becoming obsessed with the story of Wizard Entertainment. This may be the most intriguing story in comics since the death of Superman. Wizard, in case you didn't know, was up-until-recently one of the 800-pound gorillas in the comics industry. Its magazine, Wizard magazine, was the unofficial marketing arm of the Big Two comics publishers (Marvel and DC), and its regional conventions were the biggest on the American landscape. Only Comic Con International rivaled their size, but it had one date and Wizard boasted several weekends throughout the calendar year. So, help me get my head around the following timeline. And, please, feel free to add any I missed. 1991: Wizard Entertainment launched. 1997: Wizard purchases the Chicago Comic-Con. 2001: "Anime Insider" magazine launched Nov. 2004: Wizard announces the addition of WW Boston (the fifth WW, after Chicago, Philly, "Southern California" and Dallas). July 2005: Wizard announces Wizard World Atlanta, which is scheduled on the same weekend that Heroes Con traditionally is held. The date selection becomes more controversial when it's revealed that Heroes Con was allegedly in contact with the magazine about increasing its advertisement levels for the special anniversary show. August 2005: Wizard backs off WW Atlanta, saying that 2007 is the targeted year for it if they can find a location. Oct. 2006: Wizard World Boston is permanently cancelled. They announce dates for 2007. Wizard World Philly just happens to fall on Father's Day Weekend for 2007, meaning it'll be competing directly with Heroes Con. April 2007: Reed Exhibitions launches New York Comic Con -- a huge regional con that opens to successful reviews (despite some problems with the Fire Marshal). Feb. 2009: Wizard Entertainment announces the latest in a series of staff cuts just weeks prior to New York Comic Con -- at which the company hosts a panel: "Can You Work for Wizard Magazine?" Feb. 2009: Wizard "postpones" Wizard World L.A. and cancels Wizard World Texas. WWLA is later officially canceled. May 2009: Former Wizard staffers form MAD event management and announce the Long Beach Comic Con for Oct. 2-4. Marvel pledges support for the event with a limited edition incentive book which will be offered exclusively for show attendees who pre-order tickets. May 2009: Wizard's Amazon store's negative-feedback rating plummets to 53%, when adjusted for the preceding 30 days. Reports from angry buyers (and the company's seeming lack of response) are staggering. June 2009: Wizard World Philadelphia, once again scheduled for the same weekend as Heroes Con, opens without traditional anchors such as DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, Image and Top Cow. Attendees show up for the last day with "R.I.P. WWP" T-shirts. June 2009: Wizard CEO Gareb Shamus buys FunFare magazine and Paradise Comics' Toronto Comic Con. There are now three, new Wizard-run conventions on the calendar -- in New York, Chicago and Toronto. August 2009: The list of exhibitors for upcoming Wizard World Chicago lacks the following names: DC Comics, Marvel, Dark Horse, Image and Top Cow. November 2009: Gareb Shamus announces the purchse of New England Comic Con, with dates to be announced soon. The current 2010 schedule is: Toronto Comic Con, Direct Energy Centre, March 26-28, 2010 Anaheim Comic Con, Anaheim Convention Center, April 16-18, 2010 Philadelphia Comic Con, Philadelphia Convention Center June 11-13, 2010 Chicago Comic Con, Donald E. Stephens (Rosemont) Convention Center, August 12-15, 2010 Big Apple Comic Con, Pier 94, October 7-10, 2010 New England Comic Con, TBD June 2010: WW Philly is scheduled for June 11-13, so as not to directly compete with the Fathers Day scheduling of Heroes Con. posted Thursday, June 25, 2009 - 11:16 AM (#48322)
June 2009: WWP alienates fans and vendors alike by making them wear paper wristbands for three days. Costume contest is as poorly run as in previous years, but this year, with an arbitrary limit of 39 (!) contestants. Fans swear never to go to WWP again. posted Thursday, June 25, 2009 - 12:08 PM (#48323)
1991 - May 2009: Wizard takes shots at Canada at least once in every issue. Two years from now... May 2011: Wizard files for bankruptcy. Comic fans rejoice. Seriously though, when I was a kid, I loved Wizard magazine. Back then, it felt like a magazine about comics. Now days, it's like they just take little clippings of the other magazines they produce to make up the majority of their monthly content. Don't get me wrong, I like reading about movies and video games, but that's not what I bought Wizard for. I bought it, because I wanted to read about the comic book industry. I wanted to find out about what was new, discover what was old but new to me, and get advice on which books that month were worth buying....I suppose I have the internet for that now, but still... Now days, I the only wizard books I pick up are those 'Best of Twisted Toyfare Theater' collections. --
I had too much sugar today... posted Thursday, June 25, 2009 - 01:27 PM (#48324)
sometime before this timeline - Wizard bought the Chicago Comics Convention. Then five years later, it launched Wizard World East, also known at Wizard World Philadelphia. Nov. 2004 - Wizard announced the addition of WW Boston (the fifth WW, after Chicago, Philly, "Southern California" and Dallas). July 2005 - Wizard announced Wizard World Atlanta, which is scheduled on the same weekend that Heroes Con traditionally is held. The date selection becomes more controversial when it's revealed that Heroes Con was in contact with the magazine about increasing its advertisement levels for the special anniversary show. The same press release continues to claim that Wizard World Chicago is the "second largest pop culture convention in the U.S.," while not revealing how they created their numbers or why they've managed to ignore Anime Expo or Otakon's numbers. August 2005 - Wizard backs off WW Atlanta, saying that 2007 is the targeted year for it if they can find a location. Oct. 2006 - Wizard World Boston is permanently cancelled. Oct. 2006 - Wizard announced dates for 2007. Wizard World Philly just happens to reschedule around Father's Day Weekend for 2007, meaning it'll be competing directly with Heros Con. posted Thursday, June 25, 2009 - 11:38 PM (#48332)
2010: WWP schedules its convention for June 11-13, so as not to directly compete with the Fathers Day scheduling of Heroes Con (2010 Fathers Day: June 20). Whether this will help WWP walk back the damage done or is simply too little, too late, remains to be seen. posted Tuesday, June 30, 2009 - 10:51 AM (#48376)
In Response to Fossey (#48370):
I found out a bit more while surfing...Anime Insider was orginally a quarterly publication under the name of Anime Invasion, the following year it went bi-monthly (2002), and was renamed to Anime Insider in 2003. The above item may be too much minutia to be of any real help. January 2008: Stephen Shamus promoted to Senior Vice President of Business Development and Joe Yaranella promoted to Senior Vice President, Operations March 2009: Anime Insider shut down. Final issue was #67.
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