Nickelodeon Magazine

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Nickelodeon Magazine

Nickelodeon Magazine's 1st Logo
Editor	Laura Galen (1993-2007), Julie Winterbottom (2007-2009)
Categories	Children, Entertainment
Frequency	Monthly
Circulation	Worldwide
Publisher	Nickelodeon
First issue	1990 (from Pizza Hut) 1993 (standalone)
Final issue	December 2009
Company	Nickelodeon
Country	USA
Language	English
Website	http://www.nick.com

Nickelodeon Magazine was a children's magazine based on the Nickelodeon cable channel. Its first incarnation appeared in 1990, and was distributed at participating Pizza Hut restaurants; this version of the magazine only saw two issues. The magazine returned in Summer 1993 with different type of content, primarily humor and comics. Originally published on a quarterly basis, it switched to bi-monthly with the February/March 1994 issue. It then went to 10 times per year starting March 1995, with a bi-annual December/January and June/July issue.

In spite of being related to the network it was named after, Nickelodeon Magazine covered all sorts of topics for kids, not just what was on the network. The magazine contained informative non-fiction pieces, humor, interviews, comics, pranks, and recipes (such as green slime cake).

The magazine's mascot was Zelda Van Gutters, a Lakeland Terrier dog who appeared throughout the magazine with sarcastic asides on the articles. She was also the star of the magazine's regular photo comic strip "Ruffing It".

• 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.
• 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.
• Impy & Wormer by James Kochalka - These mini-strips (featured at the bottom of the comic pages, under the regular strips) starred a bug who does not speak proper English and constantly bothers a comparatively intellectual worm.
• Juanita and Clem by Craig Thompson — Whimsical tales of an adventurous little girl (Juanita) and her less brave green friend (Clem).
• Karmopolis by Nick Bertozzi — An adventure strip in a world where everyone and everything is on wheels.
• Mervin the Magnificent by Richard Sala — A bumbling magician solves crime with his rabbit sidekick.
• Patty-Cake by Scott Roberts - A bossy little blonde with a flower in her hair.
• Sam Hill & Ray-9 by Mark Martin - A boy and his robot dog.
• 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, with no dialogue or sound effects. In the magazine's tenth anniversary issue, there was a "blooper strip" where the man and bear are talking. Also, there is an advertisement for a Scene But Not Heard musical in Grampa and Julie comic.
• 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.
• Teeny Weeny, the Tiniest Hot Dog in the World by Mark Martin - A miniature hot dog with lots of enthusiasm.
• 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.
• The Uncredibly Confabulated Tales of Lucinda Ziggles by Andy Ristaino — A little girl gets involved in fantastic adventures that nobody ever believes.
• Twiggy Stumps: Outdoor Adventurist by Brian Ralph — A flaky outdoorsman and his wisecracking skunk-pal, Juniper.
• 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.
• Yam by Corey Barba — A wordless comic starring a todder with jet backpack, wearing a hoodie, in a whimsical world that features humanlike cats, pet TVs, and other fantasy elements.

The Spring 2007 Comics Special of Nickelodeon Magazine, featuring Timmy, Cosmo and Wanda from The Fairly OddParents.

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, Vincent Deporter, 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 featured 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 were featured in the Comic Book:

Nickelodeon Comics

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

Posters

Nickelodeon Magazine contained free posters; they were usually prank messages to hang on your bedroom door or elsewhere in your house.

Last Nick Magazine

In December of 2009, the last issue of Nick Magazine was sold in America. On the inside cover, there was a message to the readers from Laura Galen, the Senior Vice President/Editorial Director that read as follows: "This issue, the 159th of NICKELODEON MAGAZINE, will be our final one. Yes, we know- it's sad news. For the last 16 years, it has been our pleasure and privilege to entertain and educate you. And we hope that our many, many loyal readers have enjoyed every issue of what we think was a fantastic kids' magazine. It's one of our greatest joys to meet people who grew up with Nick Mag. One thing we're really proud of is that we've helped to instill in them a lifelong love of reading. Often, when we tell people that we work at Nick Mag, their first response is, "Wow! That must be so much fun!" Yes, it was."

UK version

A different version of Nickelodeon Magazine launched in the UK on February 16, 2011 when DC Thomson and Nickelodeon UK partnered together to create a magazine for British kids.