The end of the year has proven to be precarious for the publishing industry. CosmoGirl, Cottage Living, and Radar all suffered untimely ends, and this trend has now begun affecting the niche of comics journalism.
Our own Lucas Siegel reported yesterday about the demise of Comic Foundry, which had been running on-and-off for years through the work of several unpaid staffers. Meanwhile, it was reported today that TwoMorrow’s magazine Write Now! will also be shuttered in Februrary, after its issue on the Spirit.
All this upheaval, while scary in its own right, leaves me with one question: with all the young turks out of commission, I wonder how this will affect the health of the Wizard publications?
December 3rd, 2008 at 4:06 pm
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Not you too, Write Now!
That’s my favorite (i mean FAVORITE EVER!) magazine. Seriously, this really hits hard. I’ll be sad to see Write Now! go. The “Nuts and Bolts” section was absolutely wonderful.
December 3rd, 2008 at 4:37 pm
And even CosmoGirl’s demise is a bit of a hit to the comics community; for a while, they’d been running a comics feature in the back. It had been The Adventures Of CG by Svetlana Chmakova, but I think it was replaced by something else. I’m not (surprise surprise) actually a CosmoGirl reader.
But yeah, these are losses. On the other hand, magazines about comics have long been struggling, against the Internet.
December 3rd, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Damn, I’ll miss Write Now!
Wizard can’t be far behind at this point, especially with all the staff changes they’ve had in the past year.
December 3rd, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Reasons for their demise seem to vary in these cases. I’m not sure there are any related conclusions to be drawn, to be honest.
December 3rd, 2008 at 6:53 pm
“Wizard” has had their own problems for some time, but the likelihood is we’ll not see them disappear completely. The brand is too valuable. I foresee more of a “Life” magazine future for “Wizard,” with regular publication being terminated in favor of Internet-only and the occasional “special publication.”
December 3rd, 2008 at 11:57 pm
Clay’s right. The loss of these magazine have less to do with the overall economy and more to do with both the costs of putting together a print magazine and the lack of sales of print magazines. While it’s disappointing, it’s not at all surprising that Comic Foundry has gone under. From day one, when I heard of its existence, I’ve said I’d be surprised if it made it 12 issues. Frankly, Write Now making it to 20 issues is quite a feat and a testament to the hard work that’s put into the magazine.
Sorry to loose both, but really not a sign of something ominous, IMO.