Say it ain't so, Bat Boy!

I am, as the master of metaphor Ed Anger would say, pig-biting mad. As of August 3, the Weekly World News will cease publication. A light of integrity in the benighted wilderness of journalism, WWN reported the news that other media outlets were afraid to surface, to wit:
- Saddam and Osama's Forbidden Love
- Abraham Lincoln was a Woman
- Bush's Plan to Protect White House: Paint It Black
- Aliens Back Bush for President
- Cheney is a Robot

In addition to offering the only plasible explanation for the current administration's policies, WWN kept close tabs on reclusive celebrity favorites, the ones People and OK! simply couldn't coax out of hiding like Bigfoot, Elvis, and the immortal Bat Boy, who was featured on many a cover beginning in 1992, and eventually became the subject of an off-Broadway musical. Wikipedia opines that Bat Boy has a chaotic sense of morality, but isn't Bat Boy simply an allegory for conflicted American values? Stealing cars, living in the NYC subway, running for California governor, endorsing Al Gore, doing good works, and generally being misunderstood: Bat Boy holds a mirror to us all.

WWN also offered solid editorial content: two-fisted opinion from Ed Anger, medical information from Lester the Typing Horse, and advice -- first from forthright Dottie (to whom Dr. Laura may owe a great debt) and later from the folksy Dolly. Truly, WWN delivered all the news that fit, and then some, if you include the ads for 800-number psychics, mystical prayer shawls and miracle supplements within its pages.

As a designer, I found WWN to be the foremost authority on the use of 300 pt. type anywhere. How can you argue with a headline you can read from the back aisle of Kmart? Their photo editors' adept use of Photoshop rendered the Loch Ness monster with empathy and power, even on newsprint. The checkout lane is going to be a much sadder place without it.

More details here.