First Issue Review – Frontiers

The latest men’s magazine sector to experience the equivalent of last year’s ‘film mag explosion’ is turning out to be Science. The race is now on amongst publishers to see who can produce a title which most captivates our imaginations, as well as provide us with sound information as to what the future holds in store. Tricky ground really, trying to mesh together fantasy and science fiction with the harsh reality of how potentially dull it could well be to live on the planet in the next millennium. The bitter truth of the matter (as the ‘Curse of Tomorrow’s World’ has repeatedly highlighted) is that most of these “this is what we’ll be using in five years time” exercises are purely academic. Very few of the proposed inventions ever materialise and, chances are, nor would they work properly if they did; and they definitely wouldn’t have the impact on mankind currently being proposed.

Front Cover – FrontiersFrontiers could arguably be voted the magazine most likely to survive in this sector. For a start, this title has been well structured and obviously had its direction for the first few months of its life as precisely planned out as any serious scientific experiment should be. The editorial team look to have been hand picked for the mission. Rather than the usual assortment of ex-consumer mag sub-editors and lab technicians, these people are the real McCoy. Most come with Science related degrees, and all have extensive ‘hands on’ scientific experience of some sort. Their ‘strictly no geek’ approach, coupled with the amount of relevant professional experience they share between them, should give Frontiers the ability to carry through without becoming bogged down in New Scientist depth of discussion, or resulting in the tabloid ‘scientific sell out’ style of Focus. The true test of this, however, will lie in whether or not they produce a ‘Sex Issue’ in the first four months.

Frontiers has also made an effort to take us beyond the standard blueprint for a magazine of its nature. We are treated to columns from Patrick Moore (best of the lot); Heinz Wolf (a bit too political); Arthur C. Clarke (not bad for an old man), and Michael Rodd (still as boring as ever).

A pretty impressive array of features, including a fantastic interview with Michael Foale (UK astronaut on board Mir during the station’s ‘troubles’) prove to be well worth the read; and, just so they don’t rest on their laurels, a reader questionnaire has been placed in the first issue, which should tighten up any editorial loose ends. Buy this magazine, it’s everything a Science title should be.

Frontiers will be published monthly by Future, priced £2.50. It’s first issue carries a suprisingly low ad:ed ratio of 11:89. Advertisers include Nokia, Iomega, and Seiko.

Reviewer: Jim Sparkes