This week kicked off with some interesting news, with Wizard CEO Gareb Shamus announcing that the ailing entertainment company would be assuming the reins of FunFare, a toy magazine aimed at younger children.

Yet at the same time, we’ve also heard reports of even more layoffs, in addition to general complaints about Wizard’s online store. With competition looming in the convention department, and Wizard’s staff and funds shrinking to the point of consolidating into one New York office, what’s the company’s next step?

You may be surprised, but apparently it’s taking over a new convention — in Toronto.

According to the Beat, Wizard has announced that it has purchased the Toronto Comicon. “We’ve always had a strong following in Canada, so buying the Toronto Comicon is something that allows me to give back to our fans. These attendees are known to be serious collectors and comic industry followers,” Shamus said in a press release.  “I am thrilled to offer the guests, celebrities, artists, dealers and exhibitors to our Canadian audience for the very first time.”

Peter Dixon, the former owner of the con, will be “intimately involved” with the new management, who are scheuled to debut the all-new, all-different con in 2010. But with Wizard’s shrinking fortunes, is this a sound reinvestment strategy, or a Hail Mary in the face of opposition from exhibitors like Reed and websites like, well, us? What say you, Rama readers?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 at 10:09 pm and is filed under Conventions, Industry, Music, WildStorm. 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.