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The E-Zine Revolution
Magazines on the WWW.
By Devin D. O'Leary
JANUARY 20, 1998:
One of the first most frequently (and least effectively) exploited
uses for the World Wide Web has been the creation of "e-zines"--so-called
electronic magazines. Time magazine, Newsweek and
other well-known newsstand offerings have, of course, jumped online,
parroting their corporal versions with cybernetic look-alikes.
Corporate America has also jumped online with deplorably hip tripe
like Slate. Like the Kinko's-fueled zine revolution that
preceded cyberspace, though, there are hundreds of eager, edgy
journalists out there cranking out some inventive and informative
bits of reading and gawking material. A quick spin through the
Internet turns up some interesting representatives for the future
of electronic magazines.
Buzzcut (www.buzzcutt.com)--This slick e-zine bills itself
as the online journal of modern mythology. Concentrating on everything
from comic book to movies to books, trading cards and television,
Buzzcut attempts to analyze pop culture and its collective
hero worship. Buzzcut is currently a quarterly, and its
second issue--dedicated entirely to Batman--is up and running.
This is one glossy, well-designed package, fully exploiting the
medium's capacity. Graphics abound and the text is well written
(though most of the journalists employed here seem to know far
more about Spider-Man than Beowulf). In the current "Dark
Knight" issue, for example, you can check out an interview
with long-time Batman writer Denny O'Neil and a philosophical
article entitled "On Being Bad: Have Batman's Villain's Lost
Their Vigor?" Future issues already on tap include "New
Storytelling" and "All Horror." While undeniably
professional, Buzzcut still has a little way to go before
living up to its highbrow concept of "thoughtful study of
modern mythology" (as opposed to geekboy insights on sci-fi
fandom).
Retro (www.retroactive.com)--Retro Magazine has
the distinction of irony working for it. Retro uses this
most modern of technology to spotlight "a variety of classy
subjects from the first two thirds of the 20th century."
There's groovy music (check out some fine '60s soul at the RETROradio
site), swanky cinema (this week's Home Bijou checks out How
To Steal a Million--"a caper film starring Audrey Hepburn
and her fabulous Givenchy wardrobe") and some cool old comic
strips (this time around we've got "Life With Father").
New articles are posted every so often, but much of Retro's
content lies in its archive library. Dig through the Tip Tray
to obtain lots of handy tips on living the retro lifestyle. Outfitting
your house, building a bar, glossing up your fashion, wardrobe
and hairstyle are just a few of the categories designed to turn
you into a swinging retro-style bachelor or bachelorette in no
time. The writing is breezy and quite informative. Design is simple
but effective.
Rapture (www.theglobe.com/rapture/rapture.qrv)--Rapture
claims to be about "politics, art, global culture, music,
book reviews, film and coffee." In other words, "everything
we could possibly cram into a magazine." While hopelessly
lacking in identity, the multitude of articles contained herein
are well-informed, up-to-date and off-the-beaten-path. The movie
reviews, for example, spotlight several marginalized art flicks
and not the usual Hollywood dross. Dig deep and you'll find an
interview with Alan Ginsberg, a look at bizarre trading cards
and some rambling artsy writing. Rapture is produced by
"The Globe," an online universe of chat rooms and other
services. For being such cyberheads, they haven't exactly exploited
the medium in creating Rapture. While the content closely
approximates many of your better alternative papers, the execution
doesn't rise very far above newspaper format.
Babel (rampages.onramp.net/~babel/)--On the opposite end
of the spectrum, though, we've got Babel, which claims
to be an online mag, but carries the medium so far into the future
that few will recognize it. Babel's table of contents consists
entirely of a series of computer-illustrated doorways. Click on
a doorway to enter a section of the magazine. Each doorway leads
to a different room with a different personality. Click on the
flaming iron gate, for example, and you'll be led into the "Realm
of Beelzabubba." Click your way around a map of the fat devil's
dungeon room, and you'll find all kinds of odd stuff. Babel
is actually more of a strange ranger search engine than a
magazine. Clicking around the rooms will link you to other Web
sites chosen for their weird, interesting or informative content.
Clicking around Beezabubba's room could get you a trip to Columbia
University's Dante studies archive or a detailed article on the
history of automotive Jesus fish versus Darwin fish. Unlike a
common magazine, you never quite know what you'll get here. Babel's
only annoying habit is using odd, truncated frames which force
you to scroll down at every image, but do allow you to constantly
view the "visitors to date" counter. Go a couple frames
into Babel, and you'll find yourself having to scroll down
every couple lines. Still, Babel is an interesting experiment
into the future of e-zines--call it the stream of consciousness
magazine.
devin@alibi.com
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