Wizard Entertainment
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Wizard Entertainment, formerly known as Wizard Press, is a Congers, New York-based publisher of several notable magazines in fandom: InQuest Gamer, Wizard, ToyFare, and Anime Insider, along with various special issues for each magazine and the annual Toy Wishes holiday guide.
Since the first issue of Wizard magazine was published in 1991, Wizard Entertainment has grown from a publisher of one monthly magazine to a multi-title publishing company with diversified interests in branded products and related convention operations. The magazine originally started as a price guide to comics but evolved into focusing squarely on pop-culture, specifically targeting young adult males. The magazine still features to price guide to comics and action figures in the back of the magazine.
The company’s Wizard World conventions attracted more than 125,000 attendees in 2005, making it the largest pop-culture event series in the country. Wizard currently hosts four annual conventions in Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Texas. These are among the larger comic book conventions in the United States, with Wizard World Chicago in second place behind Comic-Con International in San Diego for overall attendance at a single event.
[edit] History
Gareb Shamus, the company’s CEO and Chairman, founded Wizard magazine in January 1991 shortly after he graduated from college. Based in Congers, New York, Wizard has grown over the past seventeen years from one monthly magazine to a multi-title publishing company with diversified interests in branded products and related convention operations. Wizard’s publications reach more than 2 million consumers a month, in 40 countries with translations into 5 languages.
Wizard’s first magazine debuted in July 1991 – the immediate response was tremendous and Wizard: The Guide to Comics was launched (the magazine would later be re-titled as Wizard: The Comics Magazine and again as Wizard: The Magazine of Comics, Entertainment and Pop Culture). The publication has grown dramatically since with a current monthly circulation of 200,000. Wizard has won numerous awards including four Folio Gold Awards for Editorial Excellence and has been voted “Magazine of the Year” thirteen years in a row by hobby shop retailers. Wizard has been awarded “TOP 10” magazine launch of the 1990’s by Mr. Magazine, Samir Husni, a world-renowned magazine industry analyst.
Following Wizard’s success, a second monthly magazine was launched in 1995- Inquest Gamer. Over twelve years, InQuest Gamer proved to be the ultimate source for information about collectible card games, role-playing games, and all strategy gaming. InQuest Gamer was one of the first in the United States to report on some of the world’s hottest hits, including Magic: The Gathering, Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh. In 2007, publication of Inquest Gamer was canceled.
ToyFare: The Toy Magazine was launched in 1997 and in its first month instantly became the favorite magazine of toy collectors and enthusiasts. ToyFare a Folio Gold Award winner and has consistently been the first in showing the world the hottest new toys including Star Wars, Spider-Man and Batman.
[edit] Conventions
Wizard Entertainment purchased the Chicago Comic-Con, a convention in Chicago, in 1997 to expand from its core publishing business into trade/consumer conventions. In just a few short years, the now renamed Wizard World Chicago event boasts a weekend attendance of over 58,000 people. Wizard World is now the largest producer of consumer events in its industries with four annual shows taking place in Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Texas and reaching over 125,000 consumers each year.
Wizard also publishes TOY WISHES: The Ultimate Guide to Family Entertainment, the leading resource for what toys to buy during the holidays. Every year TOY WISHES appears in over 100 TV interviews and in over 500 newspapers, including “The Today Show”, “Good Morning America” and USA Today. TOY WISHES produced “The Ultimate Toy Awards” TV show with Dick Clark that aired on NBC December 5th, 2004.
More recently, Wizard launched Anime Insider, the best selling U.S. magazine covering the exploding Japanese animation and manga market. Each area of expansion has been built on the strategic foundation of tapping into young adults’ powerful interest in pop culture and providing specialized, insightful and entertaining offerings to Wizard’s large core audience.
Wizard Entertainment forayed into the world of actual comic book publishing, creating the imprint Black Bull Entertainment, and the first comic title released was the miniseries Gate Crasher in 2000. Despite attracting some top talent such as Garth Ennis and Jimmy Palmiotti, and relatively positive sales for their respective titles: Gate Crasher (ongoing series), Just a Pilgrim, Beautiful Killer and Shadow Reavers, Wizard Entertainment has not pursued further publications through Black Bull, and the line is considered dead.
In 2006, Wizard relaunched its Web site, WizardUniverse.com, with a new design and a new focus on editorial content rather than convention- or merchandise-related content to provide an Internet destination for readers interested in its various publications' subject matter. That year, Wizard also relaunched its message boards, one of the most popular elements of the site in the late 1990s. In 2007, Wizard announced it would revert to the original WizardWorld.com format, which it did for a brief time.
