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Post by fenris on Dec 24, 2011 20:25:05 GMT
Genre magazines are dropping like flies this year. Starburst, TV Zone, Cult Times, Shivers (the only magazine to give extensive coverage to Hex when it was being broadcast), Film Review and Xpose all permanently vanished from the shelves in March, when their publisher Visual Imagination went bust. Having initially been revived as an on-line publication, Starburst is returning to news-stands as an actual magazine on 14th February 2012; Source
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Post by orokiah on Feb 2, 2012 14:24:13 GMT
Having initially been revived as an on-line publication, Starburst is returning to news-stands as an actual magazine on 14th February 2012. Thanks for the heads-up on this, fenris. I used to read the online follow-up to Dreamwatch (which is no longer being updated, by the looks of things), but I had no idea Starburst was also still knocking around. I've been reading through the FAQs regarding the relaunch on their website; a couple of bits that caught my eye: “The Old Print Edition ended with Issue 365. Will the new Print Edition continue with 366?”
Issues 366 – 373 have been published online at starburstmagazine.com. If we were to ignore that fine body of work, it would be a slap in the face to all of our writers who have made the new Print Edition possible. The new Issue will continue with Issue 374. We are aware that many people have collected Starburst, and wish to have a complete run. We are therefore currently compiling all of the content of Issues 366 – 373 and will be releasing them as limited edition print versions over the next 18 months.And then there's this: “Will this be classic Starburst (70’s/80’s), or continuing with a format similar to Issue 365?” We will not be returning to the later format of the Magazine. In my opinion this was a format that was not popular with the Starburst readers. We have Dez Skinn back involved with Starburst for the first time in decades, and I am a fan of the glory days. It is safe to say that there will be a massive flavour of the classic era. We even have lots of the old Writers back on board. This will be a new Starburst however. We have a new and exciting style and format that we can’t wait for you to read. We will bring you the best of what you loved about Starburst, whilst creating something new and original.Hmm. I started buying genre magazines in the early 90s - 'classic era' Starburst means nothing to me. The later, so-called unpopular era is the only one I'm familiar with. Intrigued to see how it'll turn out.
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Post by fenris on Jan 12, 2013 1:55:27 GMT
Digital Spy reports that yet another genre publication has bitten the dust; Comics Buyer's Guide is to cease publication after a 40-year run. The title will fold after the release of March's issue #1699, publisher F+W Media has announced. F+W Media cited "general poor market conditions and forces working against the title's sustainability including the downturn in print advertising and the proliferation of free content available online for this highly specialised industry" as the factors behind the move. Comics Buyer's Guide was founded by Alan Light in 1971 under the moniker of The Buyer's Guide to Comics Fandom and published in a tabloid newspaper format. Krause Publications acquired the weekly periodical more than a decade later and eventually transformed it into the monthly magazine format it exists in today. Senior editor Maggie Thompson and editor Brent Frankenhoff will continue to work in the comics field after the publication is discontinued.Source
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Post by fenris on Aug 15, 2013 16:02:39 GMT
Another genre publication is leaving for that big newsagents' shelf in the sky; Titan Comics and Mark Millar have announced the discontinuation of CLiNT magazine. The anthology publication will conclude with this month's issue #2.8. CLiNT has been discontinued to make way for traditional comics publishing projects from both Millar and Titan, as well as because of the impact of digital sales on newsstand titles. "I'm extremely proud to have worked with some of the best people in the industry since we started putting this together, four years ago, and feel Titan are onto something great, with what Nick [Landau] has dubbed Phase Two of his grand plan: a wide range of American-format comics, appearing under the watchful eye of über-editor Chris Teather," said Millar in his farewell letter to CLiNT readers. "If CLiNT was the supergroup, this is us returning to our solo careers, refreshed and re-energised, with new sounds and new purpose - and always with one eye on reforming for the big stadium tour not too far down the line." CLiNT magazine debuted in 2010, and has featured contributions from celebrities such as Jonathan Ross and Frankie Boyle, as well as running serialisations of Millar's work.Source (Digital Spy)I'm not particularly a fan of Millar. He can do good work (I bought his first published series, Trident Comics' Saviour, in the late Eighties and absolutely loved it), but in recent years his ego appears to have run rampart and he seems to be coasting, apparently content to be a poor man's Garth Ennis. That said, although I considered the 'oh-aren't-we-daring-and-anarchic' pun title of CLiNT to be very childish (or is that just my age talking?), the magazine did seem to be a genuine, well intended attempt to revive news-stand comics in the UK, and it's a shame it's failed (the similarly-themed Strip is also encountering problems).
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Post by fenris on Apr 7, 2014 23:57:23 GMT
Two more high profile magazines have departed for that great newsagent's shelf in the sky; Front, the monthly men's lifestyle magazine has published its last issue, some 16 years after it was launched as a rival to Loaded. The magazine, which covered girls, entertainment, fashion and sport, was published by The Kane Corporation, run by British millionaire Dominic McVey, who made millions importing micro-scooters from the US. Front was first published by Cabal Communications in 1998. Its circulation had fallen in recent years in the declining men's market, from 38,000 copies per issue in the second half of 2010 to 30,000 copies per issue for the six months to December 2012, it's last official audit. In the second half of 2012 its digital edition was averaging 635 downloads per issue. A message on Front’s Facebook page today read: 'Sadly it looks like this is the end for Front. It's been a lot of fun being the best, sexiest magazine in the world, and we couldn't have done it without you lot. Thanks for being so rad, you all rule. Now do one last thing for us... go get drunk!' A Twitter message from the magazine’s account simply said: 'Stay rad.' The final issue featured model and body piercing artist Rebecca Fox as it's cover girl ( Coronation Street actress Tracey Shaw had adorned the cover of Front's first issue ) and included features on the 'idiocy' of Kanye West and a history of pop punk.Source (MediaWeek)Nuts, the weekly that along with arch-rival Zoo shook up the men's magazine market a decade ago but attracted criticism for their sexist portrayal of women, is to close. IPC Media said on Monday that it had entered a 30-day consultation with the 25 staff who work on the Nuts magazine and Nuts.co.uk website about the closure. Paul Williams, managing director of IPC's Inspire division, said: "After 10 years at the top of its market, we have taken the difficult decision to propose the closure of Nuts and exit the young men's lifestyle sector. IPC will provide impacted staff with all the support they need during the consultation process." Nuts launched in January 2004, just ahead of Bauer Media's Zoo, and at the height of its popularity had an average weekly circulation of more than 300,000. However, both magazines have suffered years of sales decline, along with most other paid-for titles in the men's sector. Nuts had a circulation of just over 53,000 in print in the second half of 2013, according to the latest official ABC sales figures, plus nearly 9,000 digital editions. Zoo, which has always lagged behind Nuts in sales terms, had a circulation of less than 30,000 in the same period. Nuts and Zoo's circulations dropped by one third year on year in the second half of 2013, after both titles' publishers pulled them from Co-op stores. This came after they refused the supermarket chain's demand that both magazines be distributed with modesty bags to shield pictures of naked women from shoppers. The retailer said it was acting on the concerns of its customers when it ordered Nuts, Zoo, Front and Loaded to hide their lurid front covers or be taken off its shelves. Nuts and Zoo were defined from the outset by publishing more overtly sexual content than more expensive monthly rivals such as Loaded and FHM, which were forced go more downmarket in response. However, after 2007 sales of both weeklies went into longterm decline, not least because readers who wanted to look at scantily clad, topless or naked women could find far more risqué material online for free.Source (The Guardian website)
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Post by fenris on May 5, 2014 15:52:26 GMT
Another high profile magazine is departing for that great newsagent's shelf in the sky; Nuts, the weekly that along with arch-rival Zoo shook up the men's magazine market a decade ago but attracted criticism for their sexist portrayal of women, is to close. IPC Media said on Monday that it had entered a 30-day consultation with the 25 staff who work on the Nuts magazine and Nuts.co.uk website about the closure.The final issue of Nuts magazine is currently on sale. Fittingly, the front cover has a black & white photo of glamour model Lucy Pinder shedding a tear against an all-black background (the cover girl on the first issue a decade ago was Nell McAndrew). Pinder has been the pin-up girl most closely associated with Nuts during it's ten years of publication, and at one stage was exclusively under contract with the magazine. However, the model who holds the record for appearing on the most Nuts covers within a twelve month period is Abi Titmuss, who was a cover girl twelve times during the magazine's first year.
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Post by fenris on Jul 15, 2014 16:35:35 GMT
Future Publications, the publishers of SFX, are launching a new sister magazine in March: Comic Heroes will be dedicated to reviewing & reporting on comic books and the currently in-vogue genre of superhero movies. It's going to be published quarterly and unfortunately will be on retailing at the too-pricey-for-me cost of £7.99 per issue. Comic Heroes no more; Announcement - Comic Heroes Magazine. We’re really sorry to inform you that Comic Heroes is no longer available. Comic Heroes issue #24 (on sale 18th July 2014) will be the last issue available on subscription, in stores or digitally. We’d like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all our readers for your support.SourceDespite being a dedicated comic book reader for almost forty years, I never bought Comic Heroes as it was just too pricey. Still a shame that it's bitten the dust though. On the flip side, this will hopefully mean that comic book coverage in SFX (which shrunk after Comic Heroes was launched) will increase as a result.
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Post by fenris on Jul 20, 2014 16:37:41 GMT
I've never been particularly keen on magazines dedicated to a single TV show. In order to have unrestricted access to the writers, the cast, the designers, and to make use of the authorised photos, such magazines aren't allowed to be critical at all, and are effectively little more than mouthpieces of the show's publicity department. Also, there's a limit to how much you can actually write about a single show, especially during the wait between seasons. As a result, such magazines tend to have a low page-count, and often rely on extensive use of photos to fill space. Arguably this makes them grossly overpriced. I had thought that the concept of magazines dedicated to single television shows had died out. * For example, Trekkies are arguably the most obsessive fans of all, but after Star Trek: Voyager was cancelled and Paramount decided to give the franchise a rest (at least on television), Titan Publishing's Star Trek Magazine couldn't survive without an on-going TV show to sustain it. Paradoxically, Titan's Supernatural Magazine folded in early 2013 but the TV series is still marching merrily on, with a new season greenlit for this Autumn. Recently, Titan have instead published one-off Specials dedicated to genre TV shows, usual timed to coincide with season launches. Both Grimm and Once Upon A Time have received this treatment. However, someone at Titan apparently still believes in the regular monthly magazine format: Sleepy Hollow Magazine debuts in September, and the official publicity blurb states that it's ' the first issue', indicating that further issues will follow. * Doctor Who Magazine, which remained in publication during the fifteen years that the show was off-air, is the indestructible exception to this rule.
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Post by fenris on Sept 19, 2014 16:09:47 GMT
Another genre magazine has departed to that newsagent's shelf in the sky. The next issue of SFX Special Edition (#68, on sale from next Tuesday) will be the last; We’re really sorry to inform you that SFX Special Editions are no longer available. SFX Special Edition #68 (on sale 23rd September 2014) will be the last issue available on subscription, in stores or digitally. We’d like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all our readers for your support.SourceIt was also announced on the SFX website yesterday that their forum will close down and be removed from the 'net on 30th September 2014. The SFX forum used to be extremely busy, but it never recovered from being shut down for several months last year as a security measure after the forum of one of publisher Future Magazines' other titles was hacked. Many regular contributors never returned when the SFX forum eventually came back on-line, having presumably found someplace else to post during it's absence, and it has limped along as a shadow of it's former self.
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Post by orokiah on Oct 20, 2014 17:31:20 GMT
Another genre magazine has departed to that newsagent's shelf in the sky. The next issue of SFX Special Edition (#68, on sale from next Tuesday) will be the last. It was also announced on the SFX website yesterday that their forum will close down and be removed from the 'net on 30th September 2014. The SFX forum used to be extremely busy, but it never recovered from being shut down for several months last year as a security measure after the forum of one of publisher Future Magazines' other titles was hacked. Many regular contributors never returned when the SFX forum eventually came back on-line, having presumably found someplace else to post during it's absence, and it has limped along as a shadow of it's former self. I read that their website is going too: the content being amalgamated into some gaming site. Talk about death by a thousand cuts.
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Post by fenris on Nov 13, 2014 17:09:15 GMT
I read that SFX's website is going too: the content being amalgamated into some gaming site. Talk about death by a thousand cuts. Indeed. Here's the initial Official Announcement that was made on the SFX website, which predictably tries to put a cheery, positive spin on it's own demise (' A massive new entertainment portal'? It's just a website). We have some exciting news of big changes for our website. We’re in the process of launching a massive new entertainment portal! SFX.co.uk, TotalFilm.com, and GamesRadar.com are teaming up for a new destination for all your film, TV, games, comics and books needs. From this November, SFX.co.uk and TotalFilm.com will join up with gaming giant GamesRadar.com, to bring you the most up-to-date film and game exclusives, reviews and offers in one place. A channel on GamesRadar.com will host our film and sci-fi content on this technically advanced site, enabling you to view, share and comment on stories more easily and on a more mobile-friendly website. Fans who also love videogames will now get a wealth of gaming and entertainment news and exclusive offers when visiting the site. All the articles from TotalFilm.com will be available on the new channel at launch, while older SFX.co.uk content will appear in the archive in January. We know that there could be teething troubles as we accommodate all our great content so if you spot any articles that need a bit of polish, do let us know and we’ll get right on it. Thank you for visiting SFX.co.uk and TotalFilm.com over the years and for supporting what we’ve done. Here’s to the future! See you at GamesRadar.com.I haven't bothered including a link to the source article, because in a few days the website I'd be linking to won't exist.
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Post by orokiah on Dec 3, 2014 11:34:55 GMT
I haven't bothered including a link to the source article, because in a few days the website I'd be linking to won't exist. Heh. How long till the magazine goes the same way?
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Post by fenris on Dec 30, 2015 23:47:59 GMT
Two more high profile magazines have departed for that great newsagent's shelf in the sky; FHM and Zoo have become the latest victims of the rapidly-declining lads’ mag market as it has been revealed both are closing down. While FHM has enjoyed a 30-year existence, Zoo is younger at 11 years - but both have fallen out of favour with young men as they turn away from magazines towards their smartphones. The suspension of the publication of both titles could affect about 20 jobs, and it follows circulation falls of 20 per cent for FHM and 12 per cent for Zoo over the past year. FHM was first published in 1985 as For Him Magazine, but the title later changed to FHM and it went from a quarterly to a monthly publication in 1994. The brand launched a series of international editions and became well-known for its '100 Sexiest Women in the World' poll, with recent winners including Michelle Keegan and Jennifer Lawrence. Zoo meanwhile arrived in 2004 in the newly-created weekly men’s magazine market and featured a 'cheeky' approach towards topics from women to sport and music to technology. But following the downfall of both, publisher Bauer Media admitted in a statement today that ‘over time young men’s media habits have continually moved towards mobile and social’. Meanwhile a message on the FHM website said: ‘Unfortunately it's true and it has been announced today the intention to suspend publication of FHM.’ And a statement on the Zoo homepage said: ‘Gents, we have some news. It is with regret we have to inform you of the intention to suspend publication of Zoo.’ The two magazines are said to now have a combined digital audience of more than five million, although FHM had a print circulation of 67,000 for the first six months of the year while Zoo’s was just 24,000, reported The Guardian. That is compared to huge sales of 700,000 copies for FHM in 2000, while Zoo was shifting 200,000 copies in 2004 - and had a peak circulation of 260,000 in 2005. FHM and Zoo publisher Gareth Cherriman said: ‘I greatly appreciate Damien McSorley’s leadership and the dedication and effort from both teams. I would like to thank our advertisers and retailers who have supported the brands and I’m sure that everyone who has worked on FHM and Zoo over the years will be sorry to hear this news.’
A 1990s PHENOMENON: THE DRAMATIC RISE AND FALL OF LADS' MAGS. Lads' mags may have taken off in the mid-1990s, but some of the many titles that became synonymous with the booming sector had already been around for some time. The likes of FHM and Arena had been catering for the male market since the middle of the 1980s and more emerged in the following decade. But although many titles prospered in that era, circulation for some of the best-known magazines started to suffer with the rise of the internet. Men's monthly magazine Arena was set up in 1986 with the aim of providing a mix of fashion and style. But circulation declined in its last decade and it was closed down by publishers Bauer in 2009. In the same year, it was announced that the UK print edition of Maxim would be closed after 14 years, having been launched in 1995 by Dennis Publishing. In 2004, two new weekly titles, Nuts and its rival Zoo, were launched within weeks of each other leaving more established lads' mags reeling - but they often encountered controversy for their portrayal of women. Front pages predominantly featured pictures of scantily-clad women and in 2013 it was reported that Co-op would no longer sell Nuts. It came after the title rejected an ultimatum to use 'modesty bags' or be removed from shelves, according to reports at the time. Despite having a weekly circulation of more than 300,000 at its height, the circulation of Nuts was in decline by 2007 and in 2014, IPC Media announced it was closing the title. Then in March this year the publishers of Loaded announced the magazine would be also closing down after 21 years. At its height, the title was one of the leading players in the booming sector, commanding a six-figure readership. Now, Zoo and FHM will also be closed - and it comes 16 years after the latter had its best-selling edition featuring Gail Porter, which shifted more than a million copies.
Source (Daily Mail)
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Post by fenris on Aug 27, 2016 15:29:43 GMT
Over the last several years, genre magazines have been becoming an endangered species, but Future Publications (publishers of SFX and Total Film) are fighting against the tide. Last year they revived the previously-defunct Comic Heroes, and last week (25th August to be exact) they launched new quarterly magazine Horrorville; Calling all horror fans! The first issue of our new quarterly magazine, Horrorville, is on sale now. It's 116 pages dedicated to all things horror. In the first issue we delve into the likes of Blair Witch – director Adam Wingard’s terrifying new sequel to the found footage classic; talk to author MR Carey about turning The Girl With All The Gifts from a bestselling novel into a thrilling new movie (and there’s an early review of the most exciting zombie flick in years) and find out more about new films like The Greasy Strangler, Cell, and Abattoir. We also have the inside word on the new Exorcist TV show, a run-down of 50 must-see horror classics, plus interviews with The Woman In Black’s author, Susan Hill, and lit horror supremo Adam Nevill. Also cult director Peter Strickland tells all about the films that have influenced him. Plus with news, reviews, and our Marathon Man battling through every single Nightmare On Elm Street film, it’s a frighteningly good read. Source (Gamesradar).Tempted, but at £7.99 per issue it might be a bit to steep for me.
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Post by fenris on Sept 14, 2020 19:16:50 GMT
Have to report that another genre publication is sadly no more. I hadn't seen an issue of sci-fi/fantasy/horror magazine Sci-Fi Now on sale for a while, so have just searched the 'net for info and - as I suspected - it ceased publication back in July, though it's official website is continuing as an 'on-line platform' (sound familiar?). Sci-Fi Now had graced the shelves in newsagents, corner shops and supermarkets' magazine sections for thirteen years.
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