Whatever happened to Geek Monthly

Geek Monthly, a magazine celebrating all things geeky, seemed to have been designed just for me when it initially hit the shelves. The covers featured celebrities who not only play geeks on TV but also, in some cases, are geeky themselves. The definition of geek, while broad, worked--and included girl geeks. The writing was witty, often snarky, but not insulting towards geeks nor towards women. And despite calling themselves Geek Monthly, they started off bimonthly and cheerfully unconcerned about the contradiction.

I subscribed immediately.

And I have to say, on the whole I loved it. I read snarky product reviews of video games and movies alongside reviews of art that plays along the dividing line between pop and fine. From their pages, I added collectibles to my "if I had unlimited funds" wishlist and bookmarks to my "online timewasters" tag. I loved that the editors were equally willing to devote time to 80s pop culture as to science fiction films.

I knew it was a new magazine--just starting out, as the editor's page often reminded me. The month they announced they actually were going monthly was very exciting: Geek Monthly was the little magazine that could!

But following that announcement, the mailings became even more erratic. Despite going 'monthly,' the next issue didn't arrive for nearly two months. Then Geek Monthly merged with Rocket, and to announce the new and improved magazine a special edition was produced-- which was exclusively available at Comicon. Lovely for those who had not yet encountered Geek Monthly, a major source of aggravation to subscribers who were left waiting, again. Fortunately, a friend who attended Comicon brought one back for me. Otherwise, it would have been a Geek-free summer (the release before Comicon arrived in June, and the one after came in September).

I received one issue after Comicon. I never received any sort of renewal notice, nor had I been sure when I needed to renew, as I had subscribed for "one year," but that had been under the bimonthly scheme. Today, as I was doing some housecleaning, I came across an old issue and wondered whatever happened to Geek? It simply faded from my mailbox.

After the briefest poking around online, I find that the magazine is still running, although they seem to have abandoned their MySpace page. (Bad form for a commercial blog, guys. Update it or pull it!) I'm not sure I'll be re-subscribing. Towards the end, some articles pinged me as not-so-girl-inclusive, and I get enough of the boys' club at the comic shop, thanks. But I'll keep an eye out the next time I hit the bookstore.