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OTHER MAGAZINE #2
($12.00/year from Other Magazine / 584 Castro St. #674 / San Francisco, CA / 94114 USA. Web:
www.othermag.org)
The Good by Melinda Adams
The
Other Magazines – "a magazine for people who defy categories" – has lived up to its tag lines with its first two issues.
Other, which was started by Charlie Anders and Annalee Newitz in the coffee shops of San Francisco, has had such odd stories in its pages as what it is like to be Bill Brent's butt. There are anti-tourism stories – travel journals that you can tell aren't sponsored by any hotel line or tourism board. Some great writers have contributed poems to the magazine, including Michelle Tea, M.I. Blue, Phil West, Doug Henwood. The art direction of
Other Magazine isn't all glossy with pictures of beautiful people on the cover. Issue number two has a group of young women forcing teddy bears into slavery and construction work.
Other is full of art by up-and-coming artists that will make you go "huh" in a good way. With articles about the "National Public Radio Syndrome" and stories about creating new races, you will have plenty to think about when you read this magazine.
The Not So Good by Louis Fowler
First off, let me say that I like the layout of this. The binding, the paper stock – it all makes me jealous. I wish I had the money to print something like this. Unfortunately, the publishers of
Other have all these resources and just waste it on little content and even less thought behind what they say. Of course, there are the usual anti-Bush rants – that's just expected – but I can truthfully say there are only two articles that are worth reading: one about the future of warfare from the perspectives of sci-fi writers and another about "fat makeover" novels. Everything else, though, is a waste of time and a chore to get through. Luckily, the time was cut in half by the inclusion of plenty of white space, full-page "art", poetry and unfunny comics. All this for $5? I don't think so.
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