Dullard Wizard

Look, when I buy a comics info mag, why the hell would I want to constantly see highlighted the guy I didn't vote for for president? Comics are supposed to be about a reality break. Wizard #211 and #212 both feature the CiC on their covers -- #211 a pic of Barack and Michelle Obama (from a comic, I assume) doing their "fist bump" and mentioning how the couple "rule" comics, toys and more. Uh-huh. Right. #212 highlights the FREE! Obama Topps [trading] card that's inside the issue. I'm sure kids are going wild trading the things that in a few months will be absolutely worthless. Much like the over-hyped comics editions that featured the prez.

#211 features a two-page spread on all the Obama "collectibles" available. Call me cynical, but isn't that John K. Limited Edition 9" Barack Obama on page 17 (see below) just a little ... offensive?

And wow -- look at all those comics Barack has been featured in! #212, on page 78, has two of these issues as their "Top 5 Premiums" -- the "hottest exclusives and variants." They write:

In this month's top five, the quickest way to make the moolah should be
pretty obvious -- slap a president with a 63 percent approval rating in the
book.

Is that right? George W. Bush actually had a higher rating than that after his first 100 days in office; where were all the guest appearances by him in comics in early 2001? Cheeyeah, right. A conservative Republican endorsed by modern comics writers? HA! And c'mon -- $200 freakin' dollars for Savage Dragon #137 -- just 'cuz Obama's on the cover? Outrageous. What makes that so laughable is that nobody even freakin' reads Savage Dragon.

#212 also has an entire page devoted to those Topps trading cards. Aww ... isn't this one sweet?

Then there's the advertisement for the President Obama issue of ToyFare (#143):

Dude, fix that friggin' collar, will'ya?

#211 has the "25 Reasons J.J. Abrams' New 'Star Trek' Film Will Live Long and Prosper." Now, the one thing that gets me about Wizard, perhaps above all else, is that its writers come off as omniscient "experts" on not just comics, but popular culture in general. And there's nothing more annoying about supposed experts just outright blowing simple facts. They did this in #209 when "informing" us about Iron Man; they do it again here with "Trek." With #8 on their list they get right an obscure fact -- that supposed Enterprise captain Robert April is "non-canonical" (Trek author Michael Okuda patterned April after "Trek" founder Gene Roddenberry) -- but in #15 they write the following:

Despite being the birthplace of arguably the series' most beloved character,
we've spent little actual time on Spock's homeworld, Vulcan (aside from the
"Amok Time" OS episode and a few scenes in "The Voyage Home").

But that's far from accurate. The prequel series "Enterprise" featured several episodes that highlighted Vulcan, including a two-parter that was almost entirely on the planet. What -- is "Enterprise" not treated as canon, too?

In addition, #23 states (regarding Starfleet Academy) "The breeding ground of Starfleet's elite has often been alluded to, but we've never really been allowed into the much-vaunted halls of Starfleet Academy." Really? Tell that to "Next Generation's" "The First Duty" which took place almost entirely on the Academy's campus! (This was the episode where Wesley Crusher, while at the Academy, got into some hot water hotdogging it up with some pals in their fighter craft, and it led to a fellow recruit's death.)