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Wizard Magazine # 129, by Adam Hughes.

Gaylactus, by Phil Jimenez.

(He’ll devour you.)

HE’LL DEVOUR YOU.

(from Wizard: the Comics Magazine # 147)

Wizard: the Comics Magazine, Vol. 1 # 157 by Steve McNiven, with Inks by Mark Morales, and Colors by Morry Hollowell.

This recreation of Frank Miller and Joe Rubinstein’s iconic Wolverine Miniseries # 1 cover was later used as the variant artwork for the Wolverine Omnibus.

This issue of Wizard had 3 Wolverine recreation covers. Joe Quesada, Danny Miki and Richard Isanove recreated Incredible Hulk # 340:

and John Cassaday and Laura Martin recreated Uncanny X-Men 141:

Star Wars-Boba Fett: Salvage, Vol. 1 # ½ Wizard Exclusive, by Tim Bradstreet.

Basic Training: Mike Wieringo - How to Make Characters Move

Wizard: The Comics Magazine #78 (February 1, 1998)

“the Alan Moore Q&A”, from Wizard: the Comics Magazine, Vol. 1 # 130 - by Alex Ross.

Wizard: the Comics Magazine, Vol. 1 # 108, by Joe Quesada, with Colors painted by Alex Ross.

Wizard: the Comics Magazine, Vol. 1 # 32, by Todd McFarlane and Frank Miller.

Basic Training: “How I do Sound Effects!”

from Wizard: the Comics Magazine # 65.

Artwork by Walt Simonson, with assists from Vaughn Bode, Will Eisner, Wally Wood, John Workman, and Tom Palmer.

Wizard: the Guide to Comics, Vol. 1 # 38 by Adam and Andy Kubert, with Inks by Matthew Ryan. Adam penciled Wolverine, and Andy penciled Sabretooth.

I hate to admit, I kinda miss Wizard magazine.

In retrospect, the articles were very hit and miss. There was good content there, it was just a mixed bag. And the “price guide” was garbage. It was basically a promotional tool for the CGC.

But. The artwork that showed up in Wizard was incredible. Some of the best in the business did covers and splashes and pinups for Wizard. I am gonna be posting a bunch of the covers and stuff over the next few days - because WOW was there ever some badass cover artwork. Lots of really fun pinups and stuff. More to come.

Yeah. Hero Illustrated was great.

And the interviews from the Comics Journal are pretty much solid gold across the board.

Wizard’s content was a mixture of running gags like the dude in the bunny suit with the hammer, and the April Fools joke where they advertised an upcoming series with promotional artwork from top name talent, but it was a joke. Mike Mayhew on Hong Kong Phooey. Steve Niles writing the Boo-Berry, Count Chocula, and Frankenberry as a real horror book, etc.

They had cool stuff like “basic training” (I just reblogged the Arthur Adams one where he gives a lesson on drawing texture), and then the rest of the magazine was -basically- puff pieces. It was the comic book world equivalent of the E! channel. Frank Miller once gave a speech at a Con where he called Wizard “a Bible written by Satan”. It was all sales pitches and nerd-humor. It was very much so an industry branded sales tool. You weren’t getting hard hitting truth bombs. No stories broke in Wizard. It was entertainment. It was puff.

But, just like the E! Channel, they had some amazing visual content.

Wizard: the Comics Magazine # 155 by Jim Lee, with Colors Painted by Alex Ross.

Basic Training: Arthur Adams - Texture: Friend or Foe?

Wizard: The Comics Magazine #72 (August 1, 1997) [Wizard: The Guide to Comics #72]

Last Man Standing: JLA Year One Vs. the Founding Avengers, as illustrated by Mark Bagley, with inks by Art Thibert, and published in Wizard: the Comics Magazine # 118. This is a link to guy that wrote a blog post that includes the original text from the article!