Bizarre

1998 · rif. 22447 — 1998. Bizarre Magazine 1998-2001 a group of eight issues of the British counterculture periodical covering fetish subcultures alternative sexuality body modification underground music censorship and transgressive art during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Published by John Brown Publishing under the editorship of Fiona Jerome and David McComb during this period Bizarre combined investigative journalism provocative photography reader contributions and entertainment reporting covering subjects that received limited attention in mainstream British magazines. The seven issues from 1998 and one from 2001 document the magazine's treatment of sexual practices alternative fashion international underground scenes and controversies over obscenity and censorship. Its articles and imagery also record the commercial presentation of fetish aesthetics and other subcultural practices to a national readership. Bizarre Magazine. London: John Brown Publishing 1998-2001. Eight issues first editions comprising seven from 1998 and one from 2001. Perfect-bound in original color pictorial wrappers illustrated throughout in color and black-and-white. The covers employ stylized photography sexual imagery and sensational headlines including a topless woman draped with a live boa constrictor Tara O'Connor dressed in a latex dominatrix outfit and a goth model with a bleached buzz cut and facial piercings. Contents range from reporting on censorship the pornography industry and cosmetic surgery to profiles of punk performers fetish photography Japanese erotica and underground entertainment. Several issues incorporate reader-submitted material including amateur nude photography bondage imagery and personal accounts. The issues are as follows: 1 Bizarre Magazine. January/February 1998. "Banned!" Cover depicting a woman styled as one of the Droogs from Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange. Features a survey of international censorship concerning film literature and sexual expression alongside an illustrated exposé on alleged post-Soviet Russian black-market organ harvesting and reporting on the pornography industry. The issue addresses restrictions on controversial cultural material and the magazine's recurring interest in illicit markets and sensational subjects. 2 Bizarre Magazine. May 1998. "Tasty!" Includes "Porn Past Confessions" examining experiences within the adult entertainment industry and an article concerning the expanding cosmetic surgery industry and unsuccessful procedures. Contains the 16-page "Sealed Stranger Stuff" section featuring reader-submitted nude artwork and amateur bondage photography. This supplementary section documents reader participation in the magazine's presentation of fetish and erotic material. 3 Bizarre Magazine. July 1998. "Let's Rock!" Features "Top Ten Maddest Stage Performers" including punk performer GG Allin and Wendy O. Williams of the Plasmatics. Additional material includes interviews with heavy metal groupies profiles of shock-comedy performers and underground fire-breathers and a do-it-yourself body-piercing guide. The issue concentrates on extreme stage performance underground music and physical modification. 4 Bizarre Magazine. September 1998. "Kiss My Asp!" Cover photograph of a topless woman draped with a live boa constrictor. The principal feature "The Weirdest Sex Fetishes in the World-EVER!" surveys unconventional sexual practices through the magazine's characteristic combination of sensational reporting and provocative imagery. Also includes a profile of the French Foreign Legion. 5 Bizarre Magazine. October 1998. "Bollywood Babylon." Cover featuring a woman wearing South Asian adornments. Includes coverage of Indian cinema articles concerning Laotian "Opium Tribes" censorship in Indian television and notorious Mumbai criminal syndicates. The issue extends the magazine's international coverage through accounts of Asian popular culture illicit activities and restrictions on media. 6 Bizarre Magazine. November 1998. "Read Yourself Raw." A special issue examining aspects of Japanese underground culture including erotic publications and motorcycle gangs. Its coverage addresses Japanese sexual imagery and youth subcultures for a British readership extending the magazine's reporting beyond European and American alternative scenes. 7 Bizarre Magazine. December 1998. "Game On!" Cover featuring television game-show host Tara O'Connor wearing a dominatrix-style latex outfit. Contents include profiles of mercenaries reporting on "Russian Murder TV" and "The Drugs Do Work" an article concerning psychotropic substances and rave culture. Also contains a reader-submitted fetish photography section documenting the magazine's practice of incorporating amateur erotic imagery alongside its editorial features. 8 Bizarre Magazine. March 2001. "Punk Is Dead." Cover featuring a pale-skinned goth model with a bleached buzz cut and facial piercings. The issue includes a retrospective examination of punk's commercialization and its absorption into mainstream fashion and popular culture. Its cover styling draws on goth and punk aesthetics accompanying the discussion of underground styles increasingly adopted by commercial entertainment and fashion industries. Founded in 1997 Bizarre appeared during a period when fetish fashion body piercing industrial music rave culture and other underground practices were becoming increasingly prominent in British popular media. Its coverage of pornography censorship and unconventional sexuality appeared alongside commercial advertising and highly stylized photography documenting how underground practices were presented to a broader consumer audience. The reader-submitted erotic material is particularly notable for recording direct participation in the magazine's sexual and visual culture while the 2001 punk retrospective addresses the commercialization of an earlier countercultural movement. Light wear and rubbing to extremities; interior pages bright and complete. Sealed sections where present have been opened but remain intact. Overall in very good condition. unknown