In another sign of the looming comics recession, ICv2 reports that Topps is shutting down WizKids, its core hobby gaming business, and temporarily discontinuing the WizKids product lines.

Topps CEO Scott Silverstein commented, “This was an extremely difficult decision. But in light of the current economic conditions, we feel it is necessary to align our gaming initiatives more closely with Topps current sports and entertainment offerings which are already being developed within our New York office.”  WizKids is based in Seattle, Washington. In its statement announcing the closing of WizKids, Topps also indicated that it was pursuing “strategic alternatives so that viable brands and properties, including HeroClix, can continue without any noticeable disruption.”

Founded by FASA veteran Jordan Weisman in 2000, WizKids launched the first successful collectible miniatures game, Mage Knight, and also produced the first constructible strategy game, Pirates of the Spanish Main, in 2004.  In addition to the successful comic book-based HeroClix CMGs, WizKids also released the Star Wars Pocket Model Game in 2007. WizKids was purchased by Topps in 2003, and Topps itself was picked up by Michael Eisner’s Tornante Company and Dearborn Partners in 2007.

The Venice Chronicles
By Enrico Casarosa
Atelier Fio/AdHouse, November 2008, $19.95

Sometimes it seems like people live in completely different worlds. For example, I live in an America where a guy named Andy can marry a girl named Chris, have a series of decent jobs in book publishing, and go on occasional vacations to theme parks.

But there’s also a world made up of people named Enrico – who have cool movie-industry jobs, like doing storyboards for Pixar – that marry equally cool-named people like Marit – a modern dancer – and go on long vacations to Venice with her parents, zoom across Italy to meet his parents, and have dinner with Hugo Pratt’s daughter along the way.

I’m thinking it’s the names: Enrico just goes with Marit in a way “Dave” or “Bob” doesn’t. If I’d been named Siegfried or Joao, my life might have been as interesting as Enrico Casarosa’s.

And, speaking of Casarosa’s life, we finally come to his new book, [[[The Venice Chronicles]]]. It’s a diary, in watercolor over pencils, of that trip to Venice (and other points in northern Italy) – which I think was in the summer of 2007. It has the look of a sketchbook, but most of the pages were drawn after the trip – though there are sketches and watercolors drawn at the time mixed in as well.

(more…)