Chapter 17 | Page 3a: Meet-Cute

Posted on December 17, 2025 by Brad Guigar

On Christmas Day, I'm sending out a special download with all of the Christmas Countdown comics! Get yours free when you sign up for either...

Transcript

Panel 1
 Caption: Meanwhile, at Evil Inc…
 Miss Match (walking in foreground)
 Lightning Lady (in background): Psst. Come here…

Panel 2
Lightning Lady: You’re gonna hear about this today…
Lightning Lady: It’s better it’s from me.

Panel 3
Miss Match (holding phone): So what? A waitress spilled soup on Cap…
Lightning Lady: Read the comments.

Panel 4
 Miss Match (angrily, as the phone in her hands erupts into flames): Meet-cute?! What the fuck is a “meet-cute”?!
Iron Dragon is walking by and sees this happening.

Panel 5
 Iron Dragon: A meet-cute is when two characters in a romantic movie meet for the first time in a charming or embarrassing way.
 Iron Dragon: Surgat loves rom-coms.

Panel 6
 Miss Match (annoyed): I guess you think you’re pretty smart, huh?

Panel 7
  Iron Dragon: No.

Panel 8
 Iron Dragon (looking at phone, smoldering in Miss Match’s hands):
If I were smart, I wouldn’t have let Lightning Lady borrow my phone this morning.

I’m running a Spice Rack Comics Showcase on Patreon — a creator-by-creator spotlight featuring samples from every artist in the collective.

So far, I’ve highlighted:
• The Cummoner — delightfully unhinged fantasy filth
• Pixie Trix — sexy mischief wrapped in razor-sharp humor

And we’re just getting started.

By the time the dust settles, I will have shared 87 pages of NSFW comics with Patreon backers — all pulled from the massive Spice Rack sampler PDF. It’s a fantastic way to discover new creators, expand your reading list, and support the indie adult-comics community.

If you’re a Patreon backer, keep an eye out — more artists are being featured every few days, and some of these comics absolutely go places.

(And if you’re not a backer yet… this is a pretty great month to give yourself a gift.)

Wizard Timeline

Posted on June 25, 2009 by Brad Guigar

[Edit: Updated with reader comments] I’m becoming obsessed with the story of Wizard Entertainment. This may be the most intriguing story in comics since the death of Superman.

Wizard, in case you didn’t know, was up-until-recently one of the 800-pound gorillas in the comics industry.

Its magazine, Wizard magazine, was the unofficial marketing arm of the Big Two comics publishers (Marvel and DC), and its regional conventions were the biggest on the American landscape. Only Comic Con International rivaled their size, but it had one date and Wizard boasted several weekends throughout the calendar year.

So, help me get my head around the following timeline. And, please, feel free to add any I missed.

1991: Wizard Entertainment launched.

1997: Wizard purchases the Chicago Comic-Con.

2001: “Anime Insider” magazine launched

Nov. 2004: Wizard announces the addition of WW Boston (the fifth WW, after Chicago, Philly, “Southern California” and Dallas).

July 2005: Wizard announces Wizard World Atlanta, which is scheduled on the same weekend that Heroes Con traditionally is held. The date selection becomes more controversial when it’s revealed that Heroes Con was allegedly in contact with the magazine about increasing its advertisement levels for the special anniversary show.

August 2005: Wizard backs off WW Atlanta, saying that 2007 is the targeted year for it if they can find a location.

Oct. 2006: Wizard World Boston is permanently cancelled. They announce dates for 2007. Wizard World Philly just happens to fall on Father’s Day Weekend for 2007, meaning it’ll be competing directly with Heroes Con.

April 2007: Reed Exhibitions launches New York Comic Con — a huge regional con that opens to successful reviews (despite some problems with the Fire Marshal).

Feb. 2009: Wizard Entertainment announces the latest in a series of staff cuts just weeks prior to New York Comic Con — at which the company hosts a panel: “Can You Work for Wizard Magazine?”

Feb. 2009: Wizard “postpones” Wizard World L.A. and cancels Wizard World Texas. WWLA is later officially canceled.

May 2009: Former Wizard staffers form MAD event management and announce the Long Beach Comic Con for Oct. 2-4. Marvel pledges support for the event with a limited edition incentive book which will be offered exclusively for show attendees who pre-order tickets.

May 2009: Wizard’s Amazon store’s negative-feedback rating plummets to 53%, when adjusted for the preceding 30 days. Reports from angry buyers (and the company’s seeming lack of response) are staggering.

June 2009: Wizard World Philadelphia, once again scheduled for the same weekend as Heroes Con, opens without traditional anchors such as DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, Image and Top Cow. Attendees show up for the last day with “R.I.P. WWP” T-shirts.

June 2009: Wizard CEO Gareb Shamus buys FunFare magazine and Paradise Comics’ Toronto Comic Con. There are now three, new Wizard-run conventions on the calendar — in New York, Chicago and Toronto.

August 2009: The list of exhibitors for upcoming Wizard World Chicago lacks the following names: DC Comics, Marvel, Dark Horse, Image and Top Cow.

November 2009: Gareb Shamus announces the purchse of New England Comic Con, with dates to be announced soon. The current 2010 schedule is:

Toronto Comic Con, Direct Energy Centre, March 26-28, 2010
Anaheim Comic Con, Anaheim Convention Center, April 16-18, 2010
Philadelphia Comic Con, Philadelphia Convention Center June 11-13, 2010
Chicago Comic Con, Donald E. Stephens (Rosemont) Convention Center, August 12-15, 2010
Big Apple Comic Con, Pier 94, October 7-10, 2010
New England Comic Con, TBD

June 2010: WW Philly is scheduled for June 11-13, so as not to directly compete with the Fathers Day scheduling of Heroes Con.