Comics Fans of the World Unite and Take Over! Let’s Install Augie at Wizard

For those of you who do not know, Wizard Magazine recently fired their Editor In Chief. Then, oddly, they posted the gig on Mediabistro.com (Must be logged in to view).

This week, Augie De Blieck Jr. wrote an excellent column on what he would do if he were Editor In Chief. I gotta say, he makes some excellent points and has some good ideas. In fact, they’re such good ideas, they just might work. In fact, there has been some discussion on Wizard‘s boards as well.

So right now, officially, iFanboy is sponsoring the “Get WIZARD to hire Augie” campaign!

Here’s how you can help:

1) E-Mail Wizard with a link to Augie’s column saying, “hey, you should hire this guy!” Wizard‘s HR guy, Rob Felton’s e-mail address is: rfelton@wizarduniverse.com. (Post on this thread if you emailed Wizard!)

2) Take the below banner and put it on your sig in other message boards. Put it on your myspace page and you can link it to this article if you like.

augie_war.jpg

Wizard could be a good magazine, let’s have our voices be heard and put one of OUR people in charge of it!

So what do you think? The thing is, we need a good comics magazine. We’ve discussed this here before. And before you say that we should do one, calm down. We have day jobs that keep us very busy. Starting a new magazine is a huge endeavor (trust me) with money that we don’t have, and you can’t buy or invent the brand that Wizard has created. Now, if they hire someone who knows what they’re talking about, and not that Mike Cotton guy, then maybe Wizard could truly be the magazine we want it to be…

Comments

  1. I think, I think I’m tearing up here. That…that was beautiful.

    *sniff*

    I’m with Augie!

  2. Having read Augie’s article, I would definitely read Wizard if he was in charge. I am on board.

  3. And here I believed it when Ron said he didn’t pay attention to the site during the work day. bwah ha ha

    And I still can’t believe I’m up on Digg right now.

  4. i’m with augie. I might even read wizard if he were in charge; well at least I’d steal a copy or something

  5. ugh, seems like those wizard guys are the worst kind of fanboy- the will argue for something no matter how bad or wrong it may be. Gotta love any guy that responds with “nope” and “im against this” and considers himself a good debater.

    for the record i hopped on wizard #14 babes of x-men issue, which got me back into comics, i hopped off somewhere around 100 when the book became unavoidably mierde

  6. I’m with augie. they got my email.

  7. Ditto. That was good reading. Augie is the man.

  8. Reading Augie’s article made me realize just how pathetic Wizard is.

  9. Sent my e-mail

  10. just sent mine. his column was really good. smartass comments aside, I probably would buy his version of the magazine.

  11. Sent my email. I read Wizard for a long time, and Augie would certainly get me to start buying it again.

  12. I email them. Augie makes a lot of great points.

  13. The eyes…

    … they haunt me.

  14. I just emailed them. GL Augie!

  15. Just sent mine off. I’ve been a reader of Wizard since I started reading comics, and the drop in quality has been evident since the removal of the Report Card feature. They really don’t even try to present an even-handed view of things anymore.

    I’m with Captain Augie Man.

  16. im w/augie!!! it was nice to have someone put into words all my feelings about wizard w/o all the biiterness & anger. too bad theyre probaly to stupid to listen to a good formula..

  17. I�m with augie, and they will be getting my e-mail soon..But when that happens, JOSH has to swear, he will take over the pipeline podcast to fill the void…He showed he has the stuff (voice) for it.

  18. I KNEW Josh’s impression of Augie would be brilliant. Thanks for that, Josh!

    (This is Darren/DarrOn from California)

    Actually I just listened to the Pipeline Podcast for the first time ever….and I’m mighty impressed. Now I have THREE podcasts to liste to, hehe.

  19. This IS the same Augie who doesn’t like Morrison because Morrison is too smart for him, right? I mean he has said that before.

    Maybe he IS a good fit for the idiocy that is Wizard.

  20. How ’bout this?: I don’t think Grant Morrison’s too smart for me, but I think he thinks he is.

    “Ach! I’m gwin ta put 100 crazy ideas on every page! [snorts white powder off of table, spins away like Tasmanian devil]”

    “Or… you know… you could pick the three best ones. And… like… develop those. Into a story.”

    We3, I loved. New X-Men, I liked and hated and loved and disliked and hated.

  21. Wow. I am impressed with Augie DeBlieck Jr. He seems intelligent and articulate in his writing, and his bulletin points on how to turn the magazine around are very convincing. Unfortunately Wizard has a different agenda other than making the magazine better. The agenda is to make money and sell as many copies as they can based on the cover alone. The rest of the publication doesn�t matter to them at all. How about Augie for President of the USA! Or Augie as Supreme dictator of the world! Augie For Christ Savior of Nerd Kind! I think I need to go pray now.

  22. Actually, John, I believe I said Grant has a tendency to write while drug-induced and that affects his clarity of storytelling, which so often is all over the place. Others mistake that for a level of brilliance which I cannot comprehend in my straight edge mind. (My only drug addiction is insulin.)

    Of course, Grant is sober now. Which just shows you how long term the damage is from hallucinatory medication taken for recreational purposes.

    I’m in deep trouble now, aren’t I?

    DarrOn and K-Dizzle – thanks for giving the podcast a shot. I’m glad you like it. I just posted the new one tonight, so hit refresh for the latest and greatest.

    Conor – Be glad mine is not a video podcast. The eyes would truly be haunting then.

    Everyone else – thanks for your continued support. I appreciate all the kind words and e-mails.

  23. I’m with Augie – I sent my email!!!

  24. Still never held a copy of Wizard, but generally speaking I find I Am With Augie. In fact, just about the only way I would pay for a comics magazine in a world with 4,000,000 comics blogs is if my favorite online comics writers put one together. And required every creator to talk about bowling for at least a few minutes.

  25. Flamewar!!!!!

    Man, I gotta say, I haven’t been in an old fashioned message board dustup in some time. All you iFanboy folks are so damned intelligent and well-behaved.

    Someone call me “teh ghey” and let’s get it on!!

    You know what those Wizard posters should do? They should listen to our show. Maybe not, actually.

  26. I regret clicking on that link. The tone of the whole thing has soured my mood. I need to go read some jokes or something.

  27. Oh it just got way better…

  28. dude, i just read the whole thread and those people are gigantic douchebags. How is what Augie wrote remotely offensive? How does iFanboy’s opinion not count because some asshole never heard of it?

    I can’t continue to ask these questions. My head hurts.

    Augie, if you see this, fuck these guys. your column is great please stop engaging them. it won’t ever end

    Look at me going all peace negotiator and shit

  29. fRED – What fun would this be if it ended?

    By the time this is done, we might need Jimmy Carter, though.

  30. How does iFanboy’s opinion not count because some asshole never heard of it?

    Well, they have now. Pub is pub.

    Italic, I love it.

  31. just saying

    these people are kind of idiotic

    the whole argue with a fool thing

    ok i gave it a shot

    kick their asses augie

  32. how do they not get the banner thing? that’s like everywhere; the leap between the two isn’t that huge.

    And Ron, it is funny. They’re just morons

  33. Hey Fred, You gotta be a Hulk fan… 😛

  34. i am and that final page in 101 was awesome

    it was like the recent wolverine moment with the claws in the head

    perfect – let the character be the character

  35. I for one will not be reading any more of that rag. What a bunch of snobs that are so disconnected from their readership. Not one message board (other than theirs) has ever had something positive to say about Wizard.

  36. That whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth. It was almost funny; a group of people disputing the accusation that the magazine was alienating in a way that made me (who went in with no opinion) never want to get near it again as long as I live. By the bottom of the first page of comments, I felt the way it felt that time I saw my neighbor’s dog get hit by a car: “Oh my God, I have to get as far away from this as I can right now.”

  37. With all due respect Augie, I have to disagree with you on a couple of points. Wizard’s survival depends on broadening its exposure on newsstands, therefore things like Lost and starlets on the cover are essential. You start doing covers with Civil War on the front and stores are going to put it next to ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ when it needs to be next to ‘Entertainment Weekly’.

    I know that comic readers are sensitive to the ‘humorous’ aspects of the magazines, but if you look at most of the men’s magazines (that actually sell)on the rack today like Maxim, Stuff, et al, it’s filled with the same stuff. Wizard actually bites most of their jokes from these magazines. (Keep in mind that these mags sell.) Personally, I could take it or leave it, but I understand it and I don’t condemn them for doing it. Comics readers are particularly sensitive to this issue because they think any type of potty humor makes them look even dorkier to your average person who might read the mag. Hey, get over it. You are dorky. I’m dorky. Everybody who reads comics are dorky to some degree. Just accept it and love yourself for it. Stop worrying so much about it and laugh a little.

    I do love the idea of the cranky columnist though.

    I’ve seen the transformation that Wizard has made recently and I like it. They’re doing trade reviews now, though they tend to use kid’s gloves; they’ve done nice, in-depth feature articles like they one they did on the creator of plastic man; for some time now they’ve been doing ‘directors commentary’ on books.

    Things I’d like to see Wizard do in the near future:
    1. an in-depth article on Richard Donner’s cut of Superman.
    2. interviews with screenwriters on adapting comics to television and movies
    3. ‘directors commentaries’ on historic books like Maus, Watchmen, Dark Knight, etc.

  38. Aspiring to be Maxim is not a noble goal.

    The most watched comedy on American TV is Two and a Half Men. Should every comedy aspire to be just like that show, content-wise?

    The fact of the matter is that Wizard used to sell in the multiple hundreds of thousands and now it’s down to around 50,000 so something they are doing is wrong.

    If the only major comic book magazine isn’t a must read for most if not all comic fans then something is majorly wrong with it.

    Comics readers are particularly sensitive to this issue because they think any type of potty humor makes them look even dorkier to your average person who might read the mag. Hey, get over it. You are dorky. I’m dorky. Everybody who reads comics are dorky to some degree. Just accept it and love yourself for it.

    I’m sorry, but this makes absolutely no sense. I read comics so therefore I should like lowbrow, unintelligent humor? I should accept stupidity because “I’m a dork”? I don’t think so. In fact, that flies in the face of the exact reason we started this website six years ago.

  39. But aspiring to Maxim’s sales is.

    Superman used to sell in the millions. Today it doesn’t. Superman is better today. The problem is not content, it’s exposure and market size. Wizard is better off expanding away from the niche than driving further into it. I’m not saying it can’t improve, but certain realities of publishing a magazine have to be faced. ‘Two And a Half Men’ is not that bad, actually. It’s still on the air, while ‘Arrested Development’ is not. Better doesn’t necessarily mean successful.

    Smart people can like lowbrow. Guys in suits and comic dorks should both be allowed to like boob jokes. I’m smart and I like lowbrow in certain doses. Maybe Wizard just needs a jokewriting editor or something. Would ‘highbrow’ humor work better in a magazine that deals mostly in guys who wear shirts tight enough for nipples to show through? I’m not so sure. Seriously, what’s more lowbrow than Power Girl’s costume?

    Ironically, the very term ‘fanboy’ carries a negative connotation in the world at large, so you’re flying in the face of yourself. (Ha!) Much of your podcast is fun and irreverant; things are not taken too seriously. Wizard is no different. Me, I’m cool with both of you. I like Wizard. I love your podcast. I don’t see that much difference in the tone of either, it’s just that you guys are better at it.

    What would be better is if there were a competitor. One magazine can’t be all things to all people. No reason why two mags couldn’t survive if they were completely different. If there were another choice out there…

    Of course, you’d have to be a fool to sink money in the comic industry right now unless you’re going to get a movie deal out of it.

  40. Hey, you guys should have a contest about how you would fix Wizard…

    Incidentally, the Wizard movie special came out and there’s a Avengers casting call in it. Ha!

  41. Just sent my email off to Wizard. Having just recently dropped Wizard for all of the reasons that Augie points out, this couldn’t have come at a better time.

    Go Augie!!!

  42. I think everyone can have an opinion on an author, morrison in this case. If Augie de Blieck(?) should get the job…We all should hope this opinion should not affect all fans who have other opinion on the author… Reading his column & listening to the podcast make me think it won�t, so that should be no reason to not support the guy…

  43. And talking about Morrison habits…Before podcasts (and the fact that I only have access to imported overpriced Wizards, so I don�t buy it…you�ll see into that Augie ;)) I bought a book of interviews with comic authors. There, Morrison told the writer that one time he was taking LSD at the Himalayas and he was contacted by aliens, the author of the book asked: But, don�t you think that could be the effect of the drugs; and Morrison said: No, because when I take LSD I usually see little devils and this time they were aliens i�d never seen before…” Thought that was hilarious.

  44. I just sent mine in. Until Augie is EIC and gets wizard back on track to being a comic magazine, not a flea market buying guide, I will no longer read the magazine.
    I remember back when they could admit that a book sucked, not politely make jokes a year after the fact in order not to offend the kickbacks marvel send their way.

    AND KEEP WOLVERINE OFF OF EVERY OTHER COVER. I remember when that was just a joke, not the nearly literal reality.

  45. My first dictate as Editor-In-Chief, by the way: Major Marvel and DC characters MUST be clad in the Wizard robe and hat on the cover.

    I don’t care how much Marvel and DC might bristle at brand dilution, it’s happening. I want Wolverine on that first cover with magic wands shooting out of the backs of his hands, a robe flowing behind him, and the Wizard’s purple-and-yellow hat atop his dome.

    How many more people want me for EIC now?

  46. I think Daniel Way is actually already planning to do that in origins

  47. Wizard robes? Oh well now that changes everything. Count me in! 😉

    Seriously though, I don’t know if there’s any money in it, but what thoughts have you had about taking your ideas and creating your own webzine?

  48. Horatio: A webzine wouldn’t happen. I’m exclusive to CBR in that way, and any webzine I’d put together would be, more or less, a competitor to myself. I can do whatever I want to in print, but I don’t have the funds or the time to seriously take up that challenge.

  49. You’re one of the best enunciators the world has ever seen, ever thought of going into tv or radio?

  50. I think I’m going to spin off an Augie-based fan site…iAugie.com?

    who’s in?

  51. He can have Gordon and Patrick the Interns.

  52. I would definitely lurk on that site. Gordon is a straight-up pimp.

  53. Ron – I demand lots of AJAX on that site!

    Conor – I’ll split ’em.

    Horatio – Thanks kindly. I did do radio for about seven years. Nothing special, just a one hour local PSA thing — reading news, weather, intro songs here and there. I’d love to do more, but nobody needs me. Besides, I’m in the NYC metro market. It’s REALLY tough to break into the biggest media market in the world.