So Wizard Magazine’s officially declared itself the “#1 Men’s Pop Culture Magazine!”

In a comment at her livejournal, rachel_edidin explains the problem:

It’s relevant because it’s visible, and because it markets itself as the comics magazine. Also, it owns a huge number of other comics periodicals and many major conventions.

So the fact that it’s now advertising itself as a men’s magazine says a good deal about its attitude toward women in comics and sets the tone for a LOT of affiliated industry coverage and events.

Rob S. finds it hard to care:

So earlier this week a Mildly Amusing Dinosaur of a Comics Magazine has announced (via cover blurb) that it will now be a Mildly Amusing Dinosaur of a “Pop Culture” Magazine for Men. And some fine folks who don’t need that blurb to tell them what they already know–that, blurb or no blurb, it has the sense of humor of a dim Starfleet Academy fratboy–are jawing on and on about it. And I’ve tried to join the conversation a couple of times, but really just can’t get into it.

Because–as Kalinara notes–this book is a Dinosaur. All of its primary functions have gone by the wayside, either through humor and opinion blogs, internet news sites or auction sites like eBay (who needs a price guide?). So it’s left to grope around blindly in the jungle as more specialized mammals scamper out of reach of its tiny, useless arms.

It’s a Dinosaur. It’s closer to being oil than being relevant.

So it’s hard to see what all the fuss is about.*

Cheryl Lynn shares her real source of irritation:

But don’t let me see your reporters at MoCCA (which at this point has evolved into the best damn place to meet cute, smart hipster girls) pretending they’re legitimate comics journalists. What the hell did Wizard have a booth there for if they were only going to bring us gems like Match the Rack? That’s very desirable booth space that could have gone to an independent artist or a news organization that actually gives a damn about something that isn’t WWH, Countdown or tits! And why the hell did Wizard reps approach female fans and ask them to fill out surveys at conventions this summer? Why ask us to participate and then slam the door in our faces? That is so damn irritating. No point in reaching out to women if you don’t have anything to offer. That’s just a waste of time that winds up making everyone cranky. Just stick to making your existing audience happy and the rest of us will go buy Comic Foundry and UVC.

While Ragnell thinks it all makes sense now:

Its not hard to arrive at a working hypothesis here: Sales were falling. They needed a way to bring them up. They could expand beyond comics or try to capture more of the comics-buying community. They explored the option of opening to a wider comics-reading audience and surveyed female convention-goers.

They looked at the results of the surveys and realized they would need to change things they didn’t wish to. Maybe they were just too chickenshit to risk a change, or had no faith that the male audience would be willing to read news and views without round shiny breasts next to every paragraph, or maybe they just didn’t care enough to make the effort.

So what do you think?

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 3rd, 2007 at 10:25 am and is filed under Features, Internet, Variations on a Theme. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.