Posted in: Comics | Tagged: dc comics, Pat McCallum, Rebirth. DC Rebirth, rip, wizard

Pat McCallum, Wizard Co-Founder/EIC & DC Executive Editor Has Died

Comic book editor and publisher, Pat McCallum, has died. As a younger man, he worked at Gareb Shamus' parents' comic book store, and wrote a newsletter for customers of the shop. It was so popular and considered of such high quality that Gareb decided they should publish it as a magazine. That was Wizard: A Guide To Comics.

Pat McCallum, co-founder of the Wizard: A Guide To Comics in 1991 was a creative driving force for what became the most popular reportage in comics, often selling more copies than the comic books it covers, and he eventually became its editor-in-chief for years, until an infamous purge in 2006. Despite Wizard's abrasive reputation, Pat McCallum maintained a friendly relationship with pretty much the entire comic book industry and was considered one of the smartest folks at the publisher. This is also partially why he was recruited as an editor by publisher Dan DiDio at DC Comics after the end of Wizard: A Guide To Comics after twenty years in 2011.

Pat McCallum was responsible for bringing a number of other ex-Wizard Magazine employees in to revamp DC Comics' marketing and editorial, including the 2016 launch of DC Rebirth, for which he was one of the principal editorial figures. In 2017, he was then made DC Executive Editor for the DC Universe, a position he'd been working towards for much of his life. However, he left DC Comics in 2019.

His work on Wizard Magazine was a real inspiration to me in the early days of Rich's Rumours, All The Rage and Lying In The Gutters, seeking to entertain as well as inform. He also treated me with good humour when he moved to DC Comics, something I really appreciated. He will be missed by many.

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