Is This The Grand Return Of XY Magazine?
Last summer, with Peter Ian Cummings, the owner of twink mag XY, in bankruptcy, the magazine’s mailing list (undoubtedly filled with underage and closeted names and addresses, and the old men who loved them) was expected to be sold to the highest bidder at auction. Thankfully that didn’t happen, and XY‘s database was reportedly destroyed. But now comes word that XY is going to live once again.
Rising from the ashes of 2007 when it was shuttered, the XY name is making a return, according to “a small group of former staff members,” who emailed us to say they are “overjoyed to announce the return of the only national glossy magazine for young gay men. XY published stories by gay teens along with survival guides, coming out stories, lusty fashion shoots, and listings on local support groups for teens across the States. We’re bringing it back for those who loved its bold, honest stories and photos all those years ago. We’re bringing it back for a new generation who will be exposed to the same surprises and pulse-racing content that made XY legendary.”
Indeed, checking XYMag.com reveals a short update from Jan. 3 — the first new update since November 2008 — from Kevin Alonzo, Greg Frederick, and Eric Bogs. The Facebook page is active. There are calls for contributors.
It’s unclear how a spattering of former editors have scored the XY trademark, brand name, and website from bankruptcy court (did it come cheap?), but make no mistake, XY is under new management and no longer affiliated with Cummings nor his old company. (That’s why your XY subscriptions won’t be valid.) And I’m not sure how realistic it is to think they can resume running a print magazine in this climate. (Maybe by selling XY.com and using the proceeds for start up costs?) According to their FAQ, “We are hoping to have XY50 ready for readers in 2011,” so don’t count ‘em out yet.
HEY GUYS. ITS CHRIS MARTINSON (ON THE COVER ABOVE). I WILL BE TRYING TO WORK WITH XY MAGAZINE IN THE NEAR FUTURE!
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I never understood how this magazine was supposed to get to it’s demographic. It’s not like closeted gay teens can have this delivered to the house every other month, and living in Iowa makes it impossible to find it at a book store.
Not that I’m bitter.
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Say what you will about the controversy surrounding the mag, but finding their survival guide in a barnes and noble as a teenager was nothing short of revelatory. In a weird way it was like having a gay uncle that you could ask about stuff… just a positive, nonjudgmental sort of message. And yes the photos were all scandalous, and the articles could be a little strange and coddling at times, but that was part of its charm.
Anyhow…If they can keep the good stuff they did without going all strange and dramatic again… and hopefully with a good plan to keep it afloat… well, I say let ‘em try again.
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@brandon H: We have distribution contracts with Borders, Barnes & Noble, many alternative/gay bookstores, as well as college bookstores. We’re still fighting hard to get on the shelves of Walmart and Hudson News.
We’ll also be setting up an online shop to buy one-off issues.
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@Jake: We hear you! Not receiving subscription copies is/was a common complaint from our readers, and all I can do is apologize. XY is under new management, and unfortunately we do not have access to XY’s subscriber database, and cannot honor XY subscriptions. When the previous business entity (Peter Ian Cummings / XY3000 Corporation) declared bankruptcy, the FTC ordered that the subscriber database be destroyed.
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@justiceontherocks: No, it can’t work like that. The new folks have no obligation to give you money they didn’t receive. Your beef, so to speak, is with the previous publisher.
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@justiceontherocks: Rayr. Put the knives away, dear.
Oddly enough I once got a bonus subscription for next to nothing, from their website … and it kept coming even though I never paid them anything else. So uh, maybe I was getting yours all this time?
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I tried sending an e-mail to the email address on your website and it was kicked back. What is the valid contact e-mail for XY magazine?
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@Step 3 Entertainment: Sorry about that! You can reach us at contact@xymag.com, or submit work for consideration at http://xymag.com/contribute.
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@Adonis-of-Fire: Why can’t you have a preference without insulting other people’s differences? You act a lot like a homophobe.
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@Adonis-of-Fire: Isn’t Adonis normally portrayed as essentially a hairless little twink? I’m so confused.
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Fantastic! The news of XY Magazine printing again is great. The Magazine was amazing, and with so much going on in the world today, gay teens need information and support more now than ever before. Kudos to everyone involved on getting it going again. Thanks.
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@Adonis-of-Fire: Actually both gods are described as images of male youth and perfection. Statues and paintings of them also lacked pubic/body hair as was common for art during those periods.
So yes hairless eternally young men gifted with physical beauty which for some means twink. Not that I’m very fond of the term.
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@Adonis-of-Fire: Actually both gods are described as images of male youth and perfection. Statues and paintings of them also lacked pubic/body hair as was common for art during those periods.
So yes hairless eternally young men gifted with physical beauty which for some means twink. Not that I’m very fond of the term nor would I call any of these boys adonis or god like in appearance. Greeks noted physical prowess as a trait their demi gods and gods had, and these boys look like they’d snap in half if they tried anything other than looking like jail bait.
I will say the shirtless guy in the picture has nice bone structure in his face, so he’s probably grown into his body if he maintained a workout.
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@Adonis-of-Fire: This is from the Wikipedia page “Adonis …He is an annually-renewed, ever-youthful vegetation god, a life-death-rebirth deity whose nature is tied to the calendar. His name is often applied in modern times to handsome youths, of whom he is the archetype.”
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What went wrong with this magazine is that the models and people whose pictures were on this magazine, had their contacting information printed on every copy. That’s what made it get into all this trouble. If they had turned it down just a notch graphically, and made it something more about the articles and self submitted pics.
But I see how this magazine actually served me as a guide, I used to have it mailed to me by a friend who moved to NYC and I was still in Guatemala by then. It served me as a motivation, as a means of hope since I was really all alone psychologically. There’s barely any acceptance in those corners of the world, and much less for someone under 18 since you’re not considered mature enough for a “decision” like this. So I overall praise this magazine, but it was their own fault that they were closed down.
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I was a long time follower and friend of Peter and still think he’s an awesome guy. His new gay magazine, “B Magazine,” is the continuation of XY, and will be on the shelves of Barnes & Noble by the end of the year. As far as XY itself, I think these plans have been scrapped. They currently have no Facebook page, and I’ve heard they’ve pulled out of the project.
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COOL!