Legends Magazine
Encyclopedia
Legends Magazine is a literary and music magazine
founded by writer Marcus Pan in October, 1990. It covers themes of dark horror
, fantasy and science fiction
and surrealism
in its literary scope and reviews and discusses music
in the gothic
, punk
, heavy metal
, electronica
and similar darker genres. It also includes book reviews, DVD
reviews and issues related to the goth and punk
subcultures. The magazine has released over 150 issues and ran for 15 years, with the full text of all articles available at their online website in full. Legends tries to stick to a monthly publishing schedule as much as it can.
that covered science fiction, fantasy and gaming, it was intended to be a short lived project of three issues in length. It nonetheless continued and evolved, adding more work from other writers and artists as time drew on.
Around 1996 the Legends Online site was born on the World Wide Web
and eventually the text of all articles and scans of all imaging was available online. The magazine added such notable writers as Dan Century, Cameron Rodgers, Logan Russell and Sue Simpson to its staff who later went on to writing careers of their own. The musical aspect started to find its way into more mainstream sections of Legends a couple years after the website version went up.
At this time Legends struggled to embody a music magazine format while not losing its literary side, an act that may be a failure or a success depending on whom you ask. The music aspect continued to grow as interviews with such artists as Alien Sex Fiend
, Distorted Reality
, Nashville Pussy
and Dave Smalley
, to name only a few, brought more widespread readers to the magazine. Literature and fiction is still embodied in the magazine, though months can go by before a fictional feature comes up, but music has taken hold as a major aspect of the magazine's continuing format.
In addition to these main ideas, Legends also features the 'Off the Shelf' book review column, DVD and movie reviews, 'Horrorscopes' by Auntie PanPan and, up until recently, political columnist and satirist the Mean Little Man. The professionalism of the magazine itself began to change in mid-2003 when editor Marcus Pan partnered with Mean Little Man productions.
In mid-2003 Legends Magazine' s editor Marcus Pan partnered with Mean Little Man Productions in an attempt to further Legends Magazine' s reach and potential. Marcus would continue to handle the creative and writing direction of the magazine while MLM would further the marketing and promotions of same. As time wore on for a couple years it became apparent that the two parties were incompatible when it came to working together on a business scale, with MLM arguing that the direction of the magazine wasn't being taken seriously enough while Marcus argued that the direction of the magazine was fine and fulfills the goals that he had in mind since inception - promoting music, writing himself and providing a forum for new fiction writers and essayists. The partnership was almost immediately dissolved following the 150th issue party.
The partnership however began a new era for Legends Magazine as the work done by MLM provided new features to the periodical. The website was redesigned and is still in use today and the hardcopy edition of the magazine itself took on a much more professional look and feel with the same layout also still in use. While the MLM and Marcus Pan partnership may have dissolved, it did bring plenty of good things to the table that the magazine continues to use and build on.
district. The party featured live music by Bitter Grace
, Bunker Soldier, State of Being, Amber Spyglass and Christopher Eissing, all bands except Bitter Grace having come from different states. It also featured DJ CSB running the turntables in between music and handling the stage.
Ticket sales for the event were dismally low and the magazine nearly folded after having to cover the bar guarantee that was agreed to with the club. While the party went well, it was under-attended causing havoc in the Legends Magazine ranks. The party itself was featured on Manhattan television on a show called the Vampyre Lounge and the publicity was done well, but few came out to see the results. Following the party Legends foundered for a few months before finally returning with the 151st issue months later in September, 2005.
The party, however, resulted in the splitting of Mean Little Man Productions and editor Marcus Pan's partnership as a falling out occurred during the course of the evening.
' s history was a heavy blow to the periodical at the time, Legends Magazine stumbled on now back under the sole direction of editor Marcus Pan. The arrival of Legends #151 proved its continuation in September, 2005 while two months was spent in hiatus to recover from the dissolving. Writers such as JHR, Sue Simpson, Jeff Franzmann, ACyD Burn and Kim Mercil, among others, continue to provide content to the issue and while expenses for the magazine were scaled back as much as possible (bands and labels receiving tear sheets of their reviews rather than a full copy of the issue) for the time being it continues to print.
Currently Legends Online, the web version and companion site to the hardcopy edition, continues strongly receiving as many as 20,000 hits a day and as many as 50,000 readers per month. The full text and electronic versions of all issues are still available and once again become available immediately (during the Mean Little Man partnership online versions were delayed a month for marketing reasons). October, 2005 marks Legends Magazines 15th anniversary.
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
founded by writer Marcus Pan in October, 1990. It covers themes of dark horror
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
, fantasy and science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
and surrealism
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
in its literary scope and reviews and discusses music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
in the gothic
Gothic rock
Gothic rock is a musical subgenre of post-punk and alternative rock that formed during the late 1970s. Gothic rock bands grew from the strong ties they had to the English punk rock and emerging post-punk scenes...
, punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
, electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
and similar darker genres. It also includes book reviews, DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
reviews and issues related to the goth and punk
Punk subculture
The punk subculture includes a diverse array of ideologies, and forms of expression, including fashion, visual art, dance, literature, and film, which grew out of punk rock.-History:...
subcultures. The magazine has released over 150 issues and ran for 15 years, with the full text of all articles available at their online website in full. Legends tries to stick to a monthly publishing schedule as much as it can.
History
Legends magazine began in October, 1990 under the direction of Marcus Pan who continues as editor-in-chief. Originally started as a self-serving fanzineFanzine
A fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...
that covered science fiction, fantasy and gaming, it was intended to be a short lived project of three issues in length. It nonetheless continued and evolved, adding more work from other writers and artists as time drew on.
Around 1996 the Legends Online site was born on the World Wide Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
and eventually the text of all articles and scans of all imaging was available online. The magazine added such notable writers as Dan Century, Cameron Rodgers, Logan Russell and Sue Simpson to its staff who later went on to writing careers of their own. The musical aspect started to find its way into more mainstream sections of Legends a couple years after the website version went up.
At this time Legends struggled to embody a music magazine format while not losing its literary side, an act that may be a failure or a success depending on whom you ask. The music aspect continued to grow as interviews with such artists as Alien Sex Fiend
Alien Sex Fiend
Alien Sex Fiend is a deathrock band from the UK, composed of the married couple Nik Fiend and Mrs. Fiend . Currently, the band is based in Cardiff, Wales.-History:...
, Distorted Reality
Distorted Reality
Distorted Reality is a synthpop band from Germany / USA.- Band history :Distorted Reality is the synthpop band formed in 1997 by a collaboration between Martha M. Arce from Miami, USA and Christian Kobusch from Bielefeld, Germany....
, Nashville Pussy
Nashville Pussy
Nashville Pussy is an American hard rock band from Atlanta, Georgia. Their musical style mixes boogie rock, Southern metal and psychobilly. Much of the band's lyrical themes mostly revolve around sex, drugs, drinking, fighting, and rock 'n' roll...
and Dave Smalley
Dave Smalley
Not to be confused with Dave Smalley Dave Smalley is an American musician, best known as the punk bands DYS, Dag Nasty, All and singer/guitarist with Down By Law. He is known for his influence on pop punk music and his early contributions to the emo genre...
, to name only a few, brought more widespread readers to the magazine. Literature and fiction is still embodied in the magazine, though months can go by before a fictional feature comes up, but music has taken hold as a major aspect of the magazine's continuing format.
In addition to these main ideas, Legends also features the 'Off the Shelf' book review column, DVD and movie reviews, 'Horrorscopes' by Auntie PanPan and, up until recently, political columnist and satirist the Mean Little Man. The professionalism of the magazine itself began to change in mid-2003 when editor Marcus Pan partnered with Mean Little Man productions.
Mean Little Man Productions
The partnership however began a new era for Legends Magazine as the work done by MLM provided new features to the periodical. The website was redesigned and is still in use today and the hardcopy edition of the magazine itself took on a much more professional look and feel with the same layout also still in use. While the MLM and Marcus Pan partnership may have dissolved, it did bring plenty of good things to the table that the magazine continues to use and build on.
Legends 150th Issue Party
Legends Magazine held a party surrounding their 150th issue release on June 25, 2005 at Club Rare in New York City's ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
district. The party featured live music by Bitter Grace
Bitter Grace
Bitter Grace is a Manhattan goth rock band active since around 1985. Formed by Gustavo Lapis Ahumad in New York City, the band is known for their live set that includes lighting, smoke and theatrical effects. Plagued with consistent line-up changes over the past two decades, the band still plays...
, Bunker Soldier, State of Being, Amber Spyglass and Christopher Eissing, all bands except Bitter Grace having come from different states. It also featured DJ CSB running the turntables in between music and handling the stage.
Ticket sales for the event were dismally low and the magazine nearly folded after having to cover the bar guarantee that was agreed to with the club. While the party went well, it was under-attended causing havoc in the Legends Magazine ranks. The party itself was featured on Manhattan television on a show called the Vampyre Lounge and the publicity was done well, but few came out to see the results. Following the party Legends foundered for a few months before finally returning with the 151st issue months later in September, 2005.
The party, however, resulted in the splitting of Mean Little Man Productions and editor Marcus Pan's partnership as a falling out occurred during the course of the evening.
Continuing On
While the dissolving of the most prominent partnership in Legends MagazineCurrently Legends Online, the web version and companion site to the hardcopy edition, continues strongly receiving as many as 20,000 hits a day and as many as 50,000 readers per month. The full text and electronic versions of all issues are still available and once again become available immediately (during the Mean Little Man partnership online versions were delayed a month for marketing reasons). October, 2005 marks Legends Magazines 15th anniversary.