BOYTOONS MAGAZINE #162 – Goodbye Black Inches Magazine! The End of an Era!
Howdy Gang…
Hope everyone is having a great week. Well, between the trip to Seattle (which went really well, but also flew by like a whirlwind), a futzed up shoulder and the usual load of stuff to work on, I’ve been a very busy boy indeed. But I really felt this was important to mention.
This morning I got an email from my friend, the dialog doctor on Naked Justice: Beginnings #1 Donald MacLean. He came across an article regarding Mavety Media Group, the folks who publish Black Inches, Latin Inches, Torso, Mandate, Inches and Playguy. I’m sorry! Did I say “publish”? Well, that should read “published” — past tense!! :(
Yup! After being in business since 1975, Mavety has decided to pull the plug on it’s gay publications. The internet is apparently largely to blame for the demise of their gay mags. Seems there’s a lot of this happening lately! First Playgirl went all digital, and now the Mavety titles have gone the way of the dinosaur.
As you all know, I worked for Mavety as a freelance illustrator for 7 years, and only recently stopped creating art for them. I suppose I saw this day coming. Still, it’s very sad. Those magazines were an important part of gay erotica and it’s a real shame to see them go. I’ll miss Black Inches most of all. It was so cool to have a magazine dedicated entirely to beautiful black men. It was a true honor being a part of that publication for so long. I always really enjoyed creating illustrations of hot black men for them (like the one on the cover of today’s issue).
Here’s the link to the article Don sent me. It’s from the BOY CULTURE blog. It’s quite informative! It’ll give you more details on the demise of the magazines, and also a really cool overview on how they were initially created by a STRAIGHT man with a vision!?!
Meanwhile, I am trying to get caught up (so what else is new) on everything around here. I have some cool new stuff to share with you and I’ll be posting more goodies very soon – including a WICKED interview with the one and only Steve MacIsaac, so stay tooned!
Hugz + kisses,
Patrick XOXO
Illustration © Copyright 2009, Patrick Fillion. All rights reserved.
4 comments
It’s very sad indeed. But this is happening to a variety of media. Print is slowly but surely being replaced by digital. Comics, newspapers, magazines and hardcover books are all feeling the change and have thusly started to go digital in some way or another. We saw all this happen with the music industry and now, it’s happening to the print media and film/tv industry. In the future everything will be on-demand and digital and it’s happening faster than any of us realize.
Although I’m the 1st one backup print media (with the exception of newspapers!) because I just like the tactile feeling of pages in my hands, I definitely understand that it’s a changing world and we kinda can’t resist change.
Besides, as certain industries die, new ones ALWAYS pop up to take their place.
Saw this just before via Butt mag. Very sad.
Digital is happening super fast and for me it’s kinda cool. As a lot of publications don’t make their way down here and I have to order in – which can take weeks to arrive. I am an impatient bint, so digital stuff is cool as it is such instant gratification. Also allows me to try things out before I get print comics and comics etc.
I am so looking forward to seeing your interview with Steve! Hope the panel in Seattle was cool and your shoulder is on the mend. :D
Hiya JC…
Thanks for the very insightful comment. I really appreciated your point of view on this. And you are completely right — we really can’t fight the changes that are happening. I realize that some of this will have a positive impact on environmental issues, but I too am a big fan of print. I would miss comics and books a great deal if they ever stopped being printed. I just don’t care to read much on the computer since it tends to hurt my eyes a bit.
Ah well — can’t fight the future I suppose, but as the future changes things, a lot of good people lose their jobs and opportunities too. And though I realize there will always be new opportunities to arise because of change, the period of adaptation is never easy.
Lotsa luv to ya, buddy!
Patrick XOXO
Hey Sarah…
Thanks for the kind words, my dear. The shoulder is all better now! WHEW!!!
Yes, digital format can be a nice way to access stuff quickly, efficiently and hassle free. I can appreciate all of those things. In part, it’s why Fraser and I felt so strongly that we needed to start up Class Access.
But I suppose you could say I am old fashioned, and print is a medium that I find so very artful. I love the feel of print — choosing papers, inks, varnishes, that sort of thing. I find the actual physical production of a comic can be as much fun and as rewarding as the writing and drawing of it. LOL!
As for magazines going all digital, it’s sad for me because I was a part of them for so long. I feel very strongly that they were a huge and very important part of homo erotica. To see them go is a real shame.
But as I said to JC, one cannot fight the future, and all one really can do it try and adapt to the changes.
Lotsa luv to you, my dear.
Patrick XOXOX
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