Tagged: Wizard Entertainment

Marc Alan Fishman: 2014—A Comic Odyssey

Marc Alan Fishman: 2014—A Comic Odyssey

Each year Unshaven Comics has been around, we’ve declared a goal to meet. At first, the goal was simple: make a comic, and sell it at “the con”. Done. The following year? “Sell more books than we did last year.” Checkity-Check. To be fair, this has remained a sub-goal every year thereafter. In 2013, our goal was to attend literally as many conventions as we could possibly get into, and sell as much merchandise so-as to afford a trip to the glorious Valhalla of conventions, San Diego Comic-Con. Suffice to say, had we emptied out all our coffers? We would have succeeded. But, spoiler alert: We didn’t get accepted as artists for the alley at SDCC. So, we’ve wiped the tears away, and looked towards 2014. As suggested to me by Joe Olmsted, who I’ll actually talk about here in a just a bit, I’d like to share with you the conventions Unshaven Comics will be attending this year… and why we chose them.

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Meet the new Wizard World chairman, Mike Mathews

Meet the new Wizard World chairman, Mike Mathews

  • News
  • December 16, 2011

201112151733 SCOOP: New chairman talks about the new Wizard WorldWizard World without Gareb Shamus. The entire idea would have seemed ridiculous until just a few days ago when an SEC filing revealed that Shamus, the owner and founder of the company, had been removed as CEO. It was startling news which left everyone wondering what would become of the Wizard brand—once mighty in both media coverage and entertainment shows.

Answers are beginning to emerge. In an interview with The Beat, Wizard’s executive chairman Mike Mathews revealed that a new era has already begun at Wizard World, which will include outreach to the entire industry in a move to repair damaged relationships with both other industry players and fans.

In one of the most notorious examples of the bad blood which the old Wizard had given rise to, subscribers to the print magazine had not been given any make-up subscriptions for issues paid for but never mailed. However, according to Mathews, a letter is being sent out to old subscribers offering them a $100 credit towards Wizard shows.

Is Gareb Shamus Really Gone From Wizard World?

Is Gareb Shamus Really Gone From Wizard World?

  • News
  • December 6, 2011
Wizard (magazine)

A terse SEC filing on Friday has led to headlines all over comics: Gareb Shamus has resigned as CEO, President and Director of Wizard World, Inc., the convention-running entity of the Wizard empire. Seeing as how Shamus is the owner and founder of the company it came as a shock. But what does it really mean? Has Shamus really been ousted from his own company — or is it just a filing to reflect some internal resource shuffling?

The latest iteration of the shrinking of the Wizard brand began about a year ago when Shamus announced that the magazine would return as a downloadable PDF. As we noted at the time, Shamus seemed almost eerily focused on this new outing, promising an audience of millions and the ability to break new comics. “We can make things cool,” he told us at the time, a perhaps distant echo of Wizard’s one time ability to actually make any new Image artist cool in their early 90s, pre-internet heyday.

The PDF continued to come out at irregular intervals, and with a declining posse of warm bodies to actually produce it, as long time staffers Mike Cotton and Justin Aclin gradually faded into the forest, leaving a skeleton staff of Shamus, brother Stephen and convention runner Peter Katz, along with new hire Kevin Kelly, who came on board as managing editor a few months ago.

Just recently, however, a couple of very strange things happened — both so quickly that we never even had a chance to write about them….

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Gareb Shamus Resigns From Wizard World

  • News
  • December 4, 2011

As of last Thursday, Gareb Shamus is no longer president/CEO of Wizard World, Inc.  Being publicly traded, notice of this change had to be filed with the SEC.

This includes the company’s report and also includes Gareb’s letter of resignation. An SEC filing is about as official as you’re likely to get on the matter.

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C2E2 Floor Report: Unshaven Comics

  • News
  • March 25, 2011

Hello all! I know it’s been a good long while since we chatted. Allow me back into your hearts, and I shall tell you a tale. Unshaven Comics, for those not-in-the-know, is the small independent publishing company I am co-owner of. Unshaven Comics is myself, and my two best friends, Matt Wright and Kyle Gnepper. We formed back in 2007 when we were commissioned to create our first published work… “The March: Crossing Bridges in America”. We released the book in 2008 at the Wizard World Chicago, and sold our butts off. One of our customers? Mike Gold. Yup, that Mike Gold. And soon thereafter… well, you see my name on this site from time to time, so you get the picture.

Let’s jump ahead a couple years, shall we? While we liked doing our debut book… we craved the world of fiction. Thus, we launched “Disposable Razors”… a 3 part anthology series that allowed we Unshaven Lads the opportunity to explore the genres we love. At C2E2 (That’s the Chicago Comics Entertainment Expo) last year, we debuted issue 1. Matt and I got married. No to each other. And then we got houses. Not next to each other, but close. And Kyle moved into his own pad not far away either. Life got in the way, but not enough to stop us from creating. This year, we were proud to start our 2011 convention circuit with issue 2. And here’s where our real story begins.

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Alan Moore’s Miracleman to be auctioned to benefit John Ostrander

Alan Moore’s Miracleman to be auctioned to benefit John Ostrander

  • News
  • August 7, 2009

Alan Moore’s artist’s proof of the Randy Bowen sculpted Marvelman/Miracleman statue has been donated to the Comix4Sight.com auction to benefit comics’ legend John Ostrander. The benefit auction will be held Saturday, August 8 at 7:30 PM at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois, as part of this year’s annual Chicago Comic-Con.

John Ostrander is a 30-year veteran of the comics field and a playwright facing the possibility of blindness from glaucoma. He is in the midst of a series of difficult operations to protect his remaining eyesight and, like a growing number of Americans, needs to supplement his insurance in order to cover the surgeries.

“With Marvel Comics having announced in San Diego that Marvel has acquired ownership of all rights to the Marvelman/Miracleman character, bringing him back to the public after more than 20 years, and knowing Neil Gaiman’s support for the Comix4Sight efforts for John, we thought that nothing would be more in demand than a high end Marvelman/Miracleman item.” program coordinator Adriane Nash stated.  “By good fortune, Ken F. Levin, attorney for Neil Gaiman’s Marvels & Miracles company, is a long-time close friend of John’s.  Neil Gaiman has also been most supportive of our efforts.  When Ken heard about the auction, Ken spoke to Neil and Alan Moore, and Alan– also a John Ostrander friend– gave the statue to us for John’s benefit with Alan’s blessing.”

The statue is an extremely rare Randy Bowen “Artist’s Proof,” which almost never make their way to the marketplace. As an added bonus, the statue itself has been signed by co-designer Neil Gaiman. Finally, to further identify the statue’s uniqueness, the lucky buyer will also receive a certificate of authenticity from Marvels & Miracles, identifying it as Alan Moore’s own.  “We greatly appreciate the support and assistance from Neil, Alan and Ken, particularly right when the Marvel Comics agreement has been announced,” Nash stated. Ken F. Levin has agreed to be on hand to personally auction the piece.

The auction will be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois, next to the Chicago Comic Con being held at the Rosemont Convention Center. The event is being co-sponsored by Wizard Entertainment, publishers of Wizard Magazine, and is being covered live at getthepointradio.com.

Matt Wagner Batman art for Ostrander auction

Matt Wagner Batman art for Ostrander auction

  • News
  • August 6, 2009

More artwork is still coming in! Here’s Matt Wagner (Grendel, Mage, Madame Xanadu, among so many others) doing Batman.

At the 2009 Chicago Comicon, Comix4Sight has joined forced with Wizard Entertainment to hold a charity auction the evening of Saturday, August 8th.  The goal is to raise sufficient funds to help cover the costs of John Ostrander’s
treatments in his battle against glaucoma, and it is John’s expressed wish that should we raise funds
above his needs, that excess money is to be donated to The Hero Initiative to help them continue their great works aiding comic creators in their times of need.

And let us not forget this Batman/Hawkman piece by Andy and Joe Kubert, Gonzo Davros by Roger Langridge, writer/artist of The Muppet Show comics from BOOM! Studios, Captain America by Neal Adams, and Thom Zahler’s Cheeks the Black Lantern.

We’ll have more stuff up soon enough, promise.

Neal Adams Captain America art for Ostrander benefit auction at Chicago Comic-Con

Neal Adams Captain America art for Ostrander benefit auction at Chicago Comic-Con

  • News
  • August 4, 2009

At the 2009 Chicago Comicon, Comix4Sight has joined forced with Wizard Entertainment to hold a charity auction the evening of Saturday, August 8th.  The goal is to raise sufficient funds to help cover the costs of John Ostrander’s
treatments in his battle against glaucoma, and it is John’s expressed wish that should we raise funds
above his needs, that excess money is to be donated to The Hero Initiative to help them continue their great works aiding comic creators in their times of need.

Artwork is still coming in for the auction, and we’ll be showing you stuff prior to the auction. We already showed you this Batman/Hawkman piece by Andy and Joe Kubert, and Gonzo Davros by Roger Langridge, writer/artist of The Muppet Show comics from BOOM! Studios. Now, we show you Captain America by the amazing Neal Adams.

So if you don’t bid on this piece to help John out, we can only conclude that you hate America.

Roger Langridge Gonzo Davros art for Comix4Sight auction at Chicago Comicon

Roger Langridge Gonzo Davros art for Comix4Sight auction at Chicago Comicon

  • News
  • August 3, 2009

Yes, it’s Doctor Who meets The Muppet Show!

At the 2009 Chicago Comicon, Comix4Sight has joined forced with Wizard Entertainment to hold a charity auction the evening of Saturday, August 8th.  The goal is to raise sufficient funds to help cover the costs of John Ostrander’s
treatments in his battle against glaucoma, and it is John’s expressed wish that should we raise funds
above his needs, that excess money is to be donated to The Hero Initiative to help them continue their great works aiding comic creators in their times of need.

Artwork is coming in for the auction, and we’ll be showing you stuff prior to the auction. We already showed you this Batman/Hawkman piece by Andy and Joe Kubert, now we have Gonzo becoming half Dalek, brought to you by Roger Langridge, writer/artist of The Muppet Show comics from BOOM! Studios. Roger did a bunch of other pieces for the auction as well, and we can’t thank him enough.

Kubert Batman and Hawkman art for Comix4Sight auction at Chicago Comicon

Kubert Batman and Hawkman art for Comix4Sight auction at Chicago Comicon

  • News
  • July 28, 2009

Now that San Diego is over, we can look ahead ten days or so to the next convention.

At the 2009 Chicago Comicon, Comix4Sight has joined forced with Wizard Entertainment to hold a charity auction the evening of Saturday, August 8th.  The goal is to raise sufficient funds to help cover the costs of John Ostrander’s
treatments in his battle against glaucoma, and it is John’s expressed wish that should we raise funds
above his needs, that excess money is to be donated to The Hero Initiative to help them continue their great works aiding comic creators in their times of need.

Artwork has begun to come in for the auction, and we’ll be showing you stuff prior to the auction. We start off with this piece by Andy and Joe Kubert.

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