Nickelodeon Magazine

Nickelodeon Magazine (shortened to Nick Magazine)
Current logo
Author	Nick
Country	(1993-present)
Language	English
Series	Nickelodeon franchise
Subject(s)	children
Genre(s)	humor
Publisher	Nickelodeon
Publication date	1990, 1993
Published in English	Jun. 1993 - present
Media type	magazine
Pages	varied
Preceded by	(NONE)
Followed by	(NONE)

Nickelodeon Magazine is a children's magazine based on Nickelodeon. Since 1990, it was published at a cover price of $1.95, but also had free distribution with a purchase from participating Pizza Hut restaurants; this first version of the magazine only saw two issues of release. The magazine returned to production in Summer 1993. Originally published on a quarterly basis, it switched to bi-monthly with February/March 1994 issue. It then went to 10 times per year starting March 1995, with the bi-annual December/January and June/July issue; and the list goes on.

In spite of being related to the network it is named after, Nickelodeon Magazine covered all sorts of topics for kids, whether inside the network or outside (though with an obvious preference for Nickelodeon programming over that of competitor networks such as Disney Channel and Cartoon Network). It contained informative non-fiction pieces, humor, interviews, comics, pranks, and recipes (such as green slime cake or pranks containing slime).

The magazine's mascot is Zelda Van Gutters, a Lakeland Terrier dog who appears throughout the magazine with sarcastic commentary about the contents of each page. On the table of contents, Zelda usually shows up to introduce herself as the magazine's "roving reporter". She is also the star of the magazine's regular photo comic strip "Ruffing It".

In May 2006 the magazine got a makeover with a brand new logo, though the interior content remained more or less the same.

The Comic Book

Every issue of Nickelodeon Magazine includes a section called "The Comic Book". Usually, this insert featurs regular comic strips from underground artists. The original editor of the section is Anne D. Bernstein. Since November 1996 the comics editor is Chris Duffy, who was joined by Dave Roman a few years later. Among the comics featured in Nickelodeon Magazine's Comic Book:

• Scene But Not Heard by Sam Henderson- The going-ons of a pink man and a bear, who compulsively pull pranks on each other. As the strip's name suggests, the comic is made entirely of pictures, but has no dialogue or sound.
• "Mervin the Magnificent" by Richard Sala—A bumbling magician solves crime with his rabbit sidekick.
• "Bill Beak" by Kaz—A conniving, mooching bird is foiled in his plans to live the easy life.
• Southern Fried Fugitives by Simon and Kim Deitch- The continuing adventures of a quartet of fried chicken pieces brought to life by a thunderstorm. This strip ended in December 1999.
• Sam Hill & Ray-9 by Mark Martin - A boy and his robot dog.
• Underpants-On-His-Head Man by Michael Kupperman- Originally appeared as one of "the worst comic book superheroes ever". As his name suggests, he wears his underwear on his head. His archenemy is his coworker, Pants-On-His-Head Man.
• Patty-Cake by Scott Roberts- A bossy little blonde with a flower in her hair.
• Fiona of the Felines by Terry LaBan- A girl who is raised by cats. Her strips are occasionally accompanied by a similar strip titled Warren of the Worms.
• Impy & Wormer by James Kochalka - These mini-strips (featured at the bottom of the pages, under the regular strips) feature a bug who does not speak proper English and constantly bothers a comparatively intellectual worm.
• Cody by Bobby London- Drawn somewhat like The Katzenjammer Kids, this strip's title character is often misled by the fibs told by his grandfather, Poppy.
• "The Uncredibly Confabulated Tales of Lucinda Ziggles" by Andy Ristaino—A little girl gets involved in fantastic adventures that nobody every believes.
• "Juanita and Clem" by Craig Thompson—Whimsical tales of an adventurous little girl (Juanita) and her less brave green friend (Clem)
• Grampa and Julie, Shark Hunters by Jef Czekaj- This strip's titular pair of a girl and her dim-witted grandfather started out searching for Stephen, the Largest Shark in the World. Their adventures from 1999 to 2003 have recently been reprinted in a graphic novel.
• Teeny Weeny, the Tiniest Hot Dog in the World by Mark Martin - A miniature hot dog with lots of enthusiasm.
• "Karmopolis" by Nick Bertozzi—Adventure strip in a world where everyone and everything is on wheels.
• "Twiggy Stumps: Outdoor Adventurist" by Brian Ralph—A flaky outdoorsman and his wisecracking skunk-pal, Juniper.
• "Yam" by Corey Barba—pantomime comic starring a todder with jet backpack, wearing a hoodie, in a whimsical world that feature humanlike cats, pet TVs, and other fantasy elements.
• "The Gag Station" by various. One panel gags, often featuring cartoonists such as Johnny Ryan, Mark Newgarden, Ellen Forney, Steve Weissman, Felipe Galindo, Ian Baker, and Mark Martin.

Other contributors included Dan Abdo, John Accurso, Bill Alger, Graham Annable, Ian Baker, Martin Cendreda, Greg Cook, Dave Cooper, Jordan Crane, Mark Crilley, Scott Cunningham, Stephen DeStefano, Evan Dorkin, Brent Engstrom, Feggo (Felipe Galindo), Gary Fields, Emily Flake, Ellen Forney, Francho (Arnoldo Franchioni), Dave Fremont, Tom Gauld, Justin Green, Tim Hamilton, Charise Maricle Harper, Paul Karasik, John Kerschbaum, Jacob Lambert, Roger Langridge, Chris Lanier, Robert Leighton, Alec Longstreth, Jason Lutes, Pat Moriarity, Dan Moynihan, Nate Neal, Mark Newgarden, Travis Nichols, Lark Pien, Johnny Ryan, P.Shaw!, Karen Sneider, Israel Sanchez, Jason Shiga, R. Sikoryak, Jen Sorensen, Art Spiegelman, Jay Stephens, Wayno, Todd Webb, Drew Weing, Steve Weissman, Kurt Wolfgang, and Gahan Wilson.

In addition, Nickelodeon Magazine's Comic Book also features comics from characters of the network's programming, which usually appeared just before a season premiere or special movie event for the property on the actual series. Among the Nicktoons that have been featured in the Comic Book:

• Aaahh!!! Real Monsters
• Hey Arnold!
• Angry Beavers
• CatDog
• Catscratch
• KaBlam!
• Oh Yeah! Cartoons
• Rugrats
• The Wild Thornberrys
• SpongeBob SquarePants
• Invader Zim
• Rocket Power
• The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron
• As Told By Ginger
• The Fairly OddParents
• ChalkZone
• All Grown Up
• My Life as a Teenage Robot
• Danny Phantom
• Avatar: The Last Airbender
• Mr. Meaty

Nickelodeon Comics

Nickelodeon Comics, formally titled Nickelodeon Magazine Presents, is a series of one-shot special issues put out by Nickelodeon Magazine. Each issue ties in with comics. Nickelodeon Comics mainly contains comics, either newly-made stories or two-page shorts reprinted from Nick Magazine, but also features articles, puzzles, and poster inserts.

Posters

Nickelodeon Magazine contains free posters that are pull-outs. These are also known to "hang-on-your-wall!" posters.

References