Phenomena

There’s this newsstand that I go to from time to time at a local strip mall. Sure the top shelf to the left as you enter the store is nothing but porno mags, most of which must be pretty raunchy as that shelf is a sea of white cardboard and brown paper wrappers. Not that I pay that close attention. But it is annoying to have to bend down to the bottom shelf just to get a look at real magazines like Asimov’s and F&SF, Biblical Archaeology Review and Minerva, and of course the two UFO magazines they carry. Which, I should add, until recently were the only magazines- besides Fate and that Skeptics quarterly or whatever it’s called- on the shelf covering fortean or U.F.O. related phenomenon. I mean they don’t even carry Ancient American. So imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon not one, but three, count them THREE, new titles! Well, ok, new to this particular newsstand at any rate. I almost didn’t notice this magazine as it was squirreled away between magazines on the entertainment side of the rack. But that bold (at least) 28-point sized font face audaciously declaring ATLANTIS FOUND caught my eye. “Hmm,” I thought, “what’s this?” Glancing down I saw the other articles wit blurbs on the cover were “UFO’s Back in Time” and “The Triangle Land”. The latter apparently about New Troy? It seemed interesting so, of course, I bought a copy. One of only two on the shelf.

Synopsis

What is this magazine called Phenomena, indeed! At a glance I thought it was going to be something between Fate and UFO Magazine. Until I saw that blurb running across the top declaring: “Exclusive! Death of Princess Diana - New Information Revealed.” WTF? Conspiracy theories, discussions of Plato’s Atlantis, and U.F.O. articles all in one magazine? Crazy as it sounds it’s true. More than that there are dozens of news blurbs and articles ranging from “Voynich Manuscript a Hoax?”, “Alien Abduction Stress”, “Wright Brothers Wrong”, “Artificial Sweeteners” and “The Amazing Military UFO Encounters of 1975” to “Into the Fringe of… Esoteric London”. Egad, what an eclectic magazine! You know what these varied topics reminds me of? OMNI! Man do I miss my Omni magazine. Sadly I noticed no genre fiction featured. Seems like print markets for writers of imaginative science fantasy are fast dwindling. Kind of sad, but then again there are articles aplenty to whet your gamer appetite and stretch your disbelief.

Rating: Its slick and glossy with a well-put together format that has eye catching interior artwork, all in all a very nice looking magazine. The content is varied with few annoying ads to distract you. Best of all articles that can fit on a page aren’t broken up just to squeeze an ad in, which really goes back to the previous point, no annoying ads purposefully put in your way. Just for that I am going to give the magazine 5 golden apples and tack on 3 more just for looks and add 1 more for reminding me of Omni. That makes for a total rating of 9 golden apples out of 10.

Full Name: Cinescape Presents: Phenomena (Issue Number Three; May / June 2004)

Page Count: 96.

Price: $4.99 US / $7.99 CAN

URL: http://www.phenomenamagazine.com

If you are a player with a Game Master who likes to run out of this world espionage with borderline X-Files type themes this would make a very good gift as it’s chock full of ideas waiting to be strip mined. For instance there is an article, “Are You Ready For RFID?” Which is all about “automatic data capture technology that uses low-powered radio transmitters and receivers” embedded as tiny microchips that can, it would appear, track how many times an item is lifted off a shelf, or a coat is tried on, or. . . Well I am sure your Spycraft GM could probably think of a few diabolical uses for an item like that. Or maybe you are a player in a irreverent group that might play games where a quote like, “Do we really need to continue to be spoon-fed religion like babies?”, might be something your angst filled character might utter as they fight against the minions of money grubbing corporative Theocratic darkness. If so then you’ll definitely want to read the social commentary piece, “Gospels For Our Times”. Or, hey, here’s a thought: You could just get the magazine to read it! It would make the time go faster on the bus ride to school, during your lunch hour at work, to make the time spent communing with nature on your porcelain throne more refreshing, or just for the fun of it! Reading. It’s the only way to sharpen the mind and learn new things.