Husky movie maker Kevin Smith's about to become a pin-up! The director and writer, who brought us Clerks and Chasing Amy, will be appearing on a new issue of hairy men's man, A Bear's Life.

While some straight men would shy away from fag rag's, Smith seems excited. In a chat with David Letterman, Smith said:

Within that community there are bears - guys who look like me - and dudes who are really into them, who are called cubs. And, apparently, I'm the focus of a lot of admiration in this community. I'd be considered something of a coup, a score for a cub - the ultimate bear to get.

"And they called and said, 'Do you want to be on the cover of a magazine?' I was like, 'Are you telling me there's someone out there who sexualizes me? I'll be on that magazine, totally.'

Smith, we've been sexualizing you for years!

Free fag rag HX may have to start charging soon.

A Manhattan judge has ruled that "mere model and dancer" Manuel Alex Saez can proceed with a $1.25 million lawsuit against the New York-based weekly.

A dancer for Splash bar, Saez agreed to appear in an advert for the sweat-soaked hot spot. He did not, however, agree to a new name and career - HX referred to him as "Big City video porn star Alex". The magazine also promised readers "He'll definitely get your sprinklers working." Talk about a Splash!

Saez says the ad caused him "emotional and mental suffering and distress, and sleeplessness and aggravation". The magazine and its lawyers failed to convince the judge otherwise. And, what's more, they admitted to not checking up on Saez's porn stats - or lack thereof. Although, to be fair, it's an honest mistake. Have you been to Splash?

HX seem unfazed by the scandal. Lawyer Alan Effron told The Post he's sure further consideration will show the "magazine acted responsibly". Good for you, Effron, now you just have to prove it. Or keep fighting until a judge throws the suit out, which would probably be easier.

While gay folk at the New York Times decry a photo director's alleged homophobia, let's all take a look at America's great legacy of anti-gay attitudes in the media. Here famed newsman and Talk Back host George Putnam narrates the anti-porn propaganda video, Perversion for Profit.

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French fag-rag Pref pulls out all the stops for their annual sex issue.

In addition to a beautiful Marco Carocari shot spread of cover boy, Arno, the issue includes an absolutely delicious Greg Thompson snapped shoot with our favorite hazardous porn star, Johnny Hazzard.

As if that's not enough, the Parisian boys included fan favorite François Sagat and a photo editorial that can be summed up with one word: érotique.

The issue's so fucking hot, in fact, it comes with a warning label. That said, we've included a slightly NSFW gallery, after the jump.

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The news totally gets us down. So, in order to bring a little fashionable light into our lives, we headed on over to Refinery 29 to see what they have cooking. Imagine our elation when we came across The Power Issue subject, Gert Jonkers: publisher of fantastic fag-rag, BUTT.

Profiled in the website's "Hot For…" section, Jonkers tells the reader that he's recently adopted a " bourgeois" aesthetic and can't wait to see more Henley tank-tops out and about. Why is he so psyched about that particular item? Because the Amsterdam-based homo's positively itching for warm weather:

I'm really ready for some sun right now, and I love sunshine in general. I think it's okay to care about the environment and to switch off the light when you go out and stuff, but if global warming would lead to warmer summers and more sun, I'm all for it!

Well at least now we know who to blame…

Those kids over at Next Magazine have great senses of humor. You may recall our totally conjectured post yesterday in which we passed along some gossip concerning editor Gregory T. Angelo's unceremonious sacking - a sacking one source said would be presented as an amicable split. Another source confirmed the existence of said press release, but would say no more.

Well, today we received what Nexters claim to be the release. It's possibly one of the funniest things we've ever read. So says Associate Publisher Jeff Woodward:

The important thing is that Gregory T. Angelo’s reign of terror is officially over… It’s going to be difficult to pick up the pieces, though. But if my years in publishing taught me one thing, it’s that in the aftermath of Gregory T. Angelo’s historically epic failure, Next Magazine needed the best Editor money could buy. Unfortunately our budgets don’t allow for that kind of spending, so we got the best Editor we could afford. I’m proud to announce that Justin Ocean will be assuming the responsibilities as Editor of Next Magazine starting Monday, January 29.

Very clever. But, wait, it gets better…

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Here's a bit of news for all you homo-journos and their admirers: two New England gay publishing companies, Bay Windows Inc. and Edge Publications Inc., have joined forces to form the biggest queer periodical publishing company in New England.

Bay Windows is one of the country's most recognized GLBT brands, delivering high-caliber news and entertainment coverage to New England for over 25 years; combined with EDGE, a network of GLBT local online magazines that deliver eight major channels of local and national coverage to over 550,000 readers per month in major cities across the Northeast US, the new chain of publications in print and on the web will offer readers a definitive resource for news and entertainment coverage.

"The Bay Windows/EDGE connection strengthens two well-established, respected brands," said Bay Windows co-publisher Sue O'Connell. "We have some truly exciting plans for the next evolution of gay media."

While we're sure the plans are exciting, indeed, we suspect O'Connell's blowing just a bit of smoke to entice advertisers.

More important than ad revenue, of course, are the changes that will no doubt follow this merger. While no hirings or firings have been announced, such collisions typically have more than a few casualties.

So, if you're a homo-journo in New England, we advise you to keep an ear to the ground. Sure, it's pretty shitty to profit from someone else's misfortune, but we all gotta make a buck.

We've pasted the entire press release after the jump. You're welcome.

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We were tooling around Parisian Boys yesterday and came across their post lauding the forthcoming "Porn Issue" of Brit Fag-Rag Attitude.

Needless to say, we got a little excited. Head on over to Parisian Boys for some preview shots!

(Note: The site's a rough Google translation, so it's a bit disjointed.)

Nothing like a good trilogy, huh?

It may surprise you to know that we read every single comment that comes our way. Rarely, however, do we respond to the lovely (and, of course, not so lovely) musings left behind.

We can't resist posting a note left by the one and only Owen Hawk.

With regard to our last Michael Lucas/HX Magazine-related post, the handsome porn star writes:

I don't think our company is all that little anymore, but thanks for the sympathy. You left out one detail: Matthew Bank gladly accepted 10,000 dollars worth of advertising from Dark Alley this summer, for our major release The Show. Despite this, they still kicked us out of their expo. But, you know, whatever. This was good reporting!

Straight from the (hung like a) horse's mouth.

Thanks for writing, Owen. We feel like super stars knowing that you're out there reading our daily babbles. And double gold star for the flagrant plug of The Show. Shameless self-promotion always gets our attention.

(Also, on the same post, there's a rather catty comment from someone named Reichen. Could it be the Reichen? We don't know, but we'd like to think so…)

Previously:
Michael Lucas Publishing Scandal Revealed!
Michael Lucas Publishing Scandal II: This Time It's Personal

We thought you guys would get a kick out of this cartoon by Danny Shanahan found in this week's New Yorker.

Why? Because you're all sick, twisted individuals. How do we know this? Just call it a hunch.

As we've documented this week, mainstream gay mags often aren't all things to all people. Nor should they be. Which is why, even if we're not huge consumers of DNA, Instinct, or Blue, we're glad to see them out there. But when we stumbled upon A Bear's Life, we knew we hit on something big: a mag aimed at a niche of an already narrow audience.

A Bear's Life is for, as you may have guessed, the bears and cubs out there tired of seeing their "masculine" lifestyles all but ignored in the pages of Genre and Out. What's more impressive, however, is the magazine's approach to its readers: They aren't cast as outsiders, but an "integral part of society."

We never thought we'd see the day when a burly, hairy man graced the cover of a magazine. Glad we can check that one of our list.

A Bear's Life

Why yes, as one commenter pointed out, a good portion of Queerty's Morning Goods photo spreads feature heteros that cater to the homo eye. Those are there for your masturbatory enjoyment. But when it comes to a magazine like Out – which we showed you the first cover from new editor Aaron Hicklin yesterday – the cover is more than a photo spread: It's a statement.

Learning where Hicklin is taking the title, however, means we'll let his Footballer's Wives go by with a shrug.

While Hicklin won't be altering Out's sexual identity, he does plan to make it, like his own, a bit harder to pin down. "My buzzword has been, 'Let's be [David] Bowie gay rather than Cher gay,'" he said this week, at the end of his first month on the job.

Just as Bowie recorded concept albums, Out, said Hicklin, will publish more themed issues in hopes of stimulating the creativity of its writers and photographers. Hicklin's first full issue as editor, September, will have a back-to-school motif, complete with a fashion shoot inspired by "Lord of the Flies." "The fashion is where you can get all the pictures of cute, sexy boys you want, but shot in a way that's radical and thoughtful," he said.

But alongside the beefcake will be a beefed-up supply of serious reportage, with the goal to produce journalism that could just as easily be found in The New Yorker or Vanity Fair, said Hicklin. "The question I ask myself is, 'What would those magazines do if they were gay?'" he said. "I'd rather have mainstream magazines with an aesthetic I admire as the competition" than other gay titles, he added. "For an editor, you create the magazine you want to read. It doesn't have to be more complicated than that."

And while we'd love to read 12,000 words on the love life of some 1920s glamour girl a la Vanity Fair, we're sure Aaron will find a way to tie energy security in with choosing the best Wednesday night leather bar.

Memo Pad: Out Editor's Straight Talk [WWD]