I love magazines. There’s just something about them that I love. It’s a medium which gives you a glossy interface into a niche interest which, when done well, can feel like you’re enjoying a conversation with like-minded friends.
Your Sinclair is probably my all time favourite magazine from the past. It’s where I got all my 8-bit gaming fixes and I even stalked their London offices when I went down there on a family visit to the capital when I was about 10 years old. More on that in a future post. Other magazines from back in the day that I also used to love include C+VG, Starlog and Cinefex.
But there’s a new kid on the block. If you had to ask me to design my ideal magazine from scratch I would possibly come up with exactly this. I present to you… cereal:geek.
cereal:geek is an independent magazine which focuses entirely on 80s cartoons. It is the brainchild of He-Man aficionado James ‘Busta Toons’ Eatock (@cerealgeek). James has many impressive credits to his name. He has co-produced official He-Man DVDs, he is the current curator of the Official He-Man and She-Ra YouTube Channel, he wrote the incredible Unofficial Guide to He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. The list goes on. For more info on the man he even has his very own Wikipedia page.
The magazine focuses on all your favourite cartoons from the 80s including He-Man, Transformers, Thundercats, The Real Ghostbusters, Dungeons & Dragons, M.A.S.K., TMNT, Battle of the Planets, Inspector Gadget, Ulysses 31, Mysterious Cities of Gold, Smurfs and more.
The regular chapters include great features such as Analyze the Intro, What Became Of, 5 Things We Love About, Top Trumps of the Eighties, Unlikely Team-Up and Top Tens such as Top Ten Henchmen and Top Ten Side-kicks.
One thing that I think is incredible about the magazines is the artwork. Most of the artwork is totally original and commissioned especially for the magazine. There are so many images within the pages that I would love to have as prints framed on my wall. And the covers are just stunning.
There have been 16 issues so far and most of these can be ordered as back issues from cerealgeek.com or pre-ordered in the case of issues 15 and 16 which haven’t been printed yet. I’ve got them all except for Issue 2 which is no longer available as a back issue but can be preordered as a reprint. But it has to hit a minimum number before it can be reprinted, so please please preorder Issue 2 if you do choose to order any issues, so that I can complete my collection! :-)
This really is an amazing magazine and I find it remarkable that James has managed to pull it together himself and get some incredible artists contributing to it. Do yourself a favour and check it out now if you have any love at all of 80s animation. You won’t regret it.
Below are some examples of the gorgeous pages within cereal:geek.
