Wizard Book Formats
From Titannica
There are a number of different Wizard Book Formats for the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks published by Wizard Books.
Contents |
[edit] 2002 Relaunch - Series 1
For the 2002 relaunch there were two formats for the main series of books, the "Special Limited Edition" and the "Standard Edition". These two formats are then subdivided dependent on whether the book is a Sorcery! book or not. Also of note are the different boxset designs as well as other non-standard covers.
[edit] "Special Limited Edition"
The first run of each book published by Wizard Books was marketed as a "Special Limited Edition". There were two versions of this, the main series based books and the Sorcery! based books, despite the fact that these two original series were merged into one series by Wizard Books.
[edit] Books Based on Main Series
The "Special Limited Edition" had a cover with the Wizard Books Logo in the bottom right hand corner. This silver circular logo was embossed with the words "Special Limited Edition" surrounding its circumference. The title of the book was in silver and was also in raised embossed writing. The name of the author sat atop the title but was not embossed. The spine had the title in a metallic finish and the back cover had the words "Special Limited Edition" across the top.[1]
[edit] Books Based on the Sorcery! Series
Although part of Wizard's main series, numbered according to when they were published, the Sorcery! books were differentiated in the cover design. The title on the front cover was not in silver but in gold. Also the name of the series Steve Jackson's Sorcery! was made prominent with the name of the book sitting below this in a smaller type. All of these elements, (author name, series name and book name) were in gold. In the "Special Limited Edition" this was embossed.
The Wizard Books logo for Sorcery! differed as well, but only in that it was gold not silver. This sat in the bottom right hand corner and in the case of the Sorcery! series, the number of the book as it appeared in the sequence of the Sorcery! series (as opposed to where it appeared in the sequence of the Main Series) was written in white type on top of the logo. In the "Special Limited Edition" the logo was embossed but instead of the words "Special Limited Edition" surrounding its circumference (as with the main series), the Sorcery! books instead had the words "Steve Jackson's Sorcery!" surrounding the logo circumference.
As with the main series, the spine had the title in a metallic finish and the back cover had the words "Special Limited Edition" across the top.
[edit] "Standard Edition"
These were very similar to the "Special Limited Editions" except that the embossed features disappeared, the metallic style writing for the titles was dulled and the words "Special Limited Edition" did not appear anywhere.
[edit] Wizard Only Books
It should be noted that the original Wizard publications followed the model applied to the Main Series, detailed above, with the addition of a banner under the title proclaiming it to be a "Brand New Adventure".
[edit] 2009 Relaunch - Series 2
The Wizard series was re-launched in September 2009 after a two year break with four titles, one of which was brand new (Stormslayer). The re-launch was accompanied by a redesign of the cover template, using a large "shield" motif within which a much smaller piece of artwork was contained. The books themselves were now presented in the slightly larger B Format as previously used on the Advanced Fighting Fantasy titles, with the Wizard Fighting Fantasy logo relegated to a spot on the lower back cover. The books were also renumbered.
| 2002 | 2002 | 2009 |
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| "Special Limited Edition" | "Standard Edition" | "Shield" |
[edit] Non-Standard Covers
[edit] The Warlock of Firetop Mountain Sample Adventure
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As well as the "Special Limited Edition" and "Standard Edition", The Warlock of Firetop Mountain was also published as a shortened sample adventure in an issue of the Cartoon Network Comic (Issue 68:December 2003). The cover was as for the "Standard Edition" except that across the bottom it had a red banner with white writing saying "Sample Adventure".
[edit] The Warlock of Firetop Mountain 25th Anniversary Edition
Although published by Wizard Books, this version had the same wraparound cover as the very first edition of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain from 1982. Notably, it was also in hardback.
[edit] Boxsets
- Main article: Fighting Fantasy Boxset
Although the boxsets are covered in their own article, the general format of the Wizard Boxsets is worth noting here because in the short time they have been publishing Fighting Fantasy material, Wizard have had two different styles of boxset.
[edit] Original Wizard Boxsets
The Original Boxsets were the following:
- Books 1 to 4
- Books 5 to 8
- Books 1 to 8
- Books 1 to 10
- Sorcery! Series Boxed Set - Wizard Original
- This contained all four books, from the Wizard Books release.
These were each published with artwork from the covers of the books they contained.
WizBoxset1to4.jpg
Wizard Boxset - Books 1 to 4 |
WizBoxset1to4.jpg
Wizard Boxset - Books 5 to 8 |
WizBoxset5to8.jpg
Wizard Boxset - Books 1 to 8 |
WizBoxset1to8.jpg
Wizard Boxset - Books 1 to 10 |
 Wizard's First Sorcery! Boxset |
[edit] New Wizard Boxsets
The same boxsets were re-packaged (with the exception of the ten book set) so that they all followed a standard format with the Wizard Fighting Fantasy Logo on the sides (silver for Books 1 to 4, Books 5 to 8 and Books 1 to 8 and in gold for Sorcery!). The only difference between sets, apart from the contents, was the main colour of the slipcase, as follows:
- Books 1 to 4 - red
- Books 5 to 8 - metallic blue
- Books 1 to 8 - yellow
- Sorcery! - silver/platinum
The words "Fighting Fantasy" were also on the sides of the slip case, in silver, except for Sorcery! where these words were replaced with the "Steve Jackson's Sorcery!" logo.
 The red Boxset |
 The blue Boxset |
 The yellow Boxset |
 The Sorcery! Boxset |
[edit] See Also
[edit] References
- ↑ Wizard Book #14, Armies of Death, was not published in the "Special Limited Edition" format due to printing reasons.
| Main Cover Formats | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Deathtrap Dungeon Video Game Cover | Wizard Book Formats | Succeeded by None |
