Top 5 Great Forgotten Magazines

By Ned Hepburn on April 22nd, 2009

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Magazine publishing is a fickle business; one minute you’re the hot new publication, the next you’ve been shut down… forgotten about by the end of the month. There’s been a fair few magazines that didn’t deserve the axing, and we here at Manolith thought we’d share a few of our personal favorites.

5. Spy Magazine

Spy magazine was a brilliantly well written monthly from none other than current Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter. Due to Mr Carter’s inexplicable obsession with the movie The Philadelphia Story, the magazine was named after the publication James Stewart’s character worked for in the movie. With Carter and Kurt Anderson at the helm it developed a satirical tone that combined serious journalism with a very ironic and detached voice – perfect for the onset of the 90’s. Sadly the magazine folded in 1998 after a series of bad business deals, but the legacy lives on in Carter’s Vanity Fair and Anderson’s New York Times column.

4. Men’s Vogue

Men’s Vogue was by all admission somewhat of a superflous magazine in the first place: with two well founded magazines (GQ & Esquire) already catering to the already slim pickin’s of mens fashion, Men’s Vogue seemed out of place. But for it’s 4 year run it did highlight the wealthy America during a time of war: an interesting take on a slice of life that most likely won’t be written about when the history books are being written about today.

3. Blender

A recent addition to the list, Blender was an American version of popular British magazine ‘Q’, which could best be described as a monthly cross between Rolling Stone and Maxim with more emphasis on the music. The American version was extremely well written and laid out. However, due to the advent of the blogosphere Blender soon found that nobody was buying because they’d all read the stories weeks before on the internet. This didn’t stop the Blender team from putting out a fantastic, snarky magazine with great comedic writers thrown in: it really remains one of the my favorites just on the sheer amount of times I’ve laughed out loud at them.

2. The Face

The Face was an extremely influential magazine run out of London from the mid 1980’s to the mid 2000’s. It started off as a predominately London-centric magazine documenting the bourgeoning New Wave scene before turning into – at the start of the 90’s – a “here’s what is going to be cool” list that anyone could pick up and read to know, with uncanny accuracy, what was going to be cool. They share the distinction of being the first magazine to put Kate Moss on the cover; and their issue edited by Harmony Korine stands out as being one of the most controversial issues of the time with some outlets refusing to stock it. However, after an ill-advised editorial shuffle the magazine became just another fashion magazine and the snark and well written blurbs began to wane; as did their positions on celebritydom and music in general. After 2 years floundering, the magazine closed in 2004.

1. Radar

Radar was a magazine that was too cool for school. A celebrity on the cover didn’t necessarily mean that Radar was going to stroke their egos the entire issue: the magazine clearly understood itself and was very self conscious of the fact that it was predominately a magazine about and for urban hipster kids. But it made itself work, and with articles highlighting The White Stripes, Michel Gondry, and others before their arrival to the mainstream, this was one of the best magazines around at its time.