G-FAN Acquisition

The Brooklyn Company, Inc., publisher of Starlog and Fangoria magazines, announced today that they have acquired G-FAN magazine from founder and editor J. D. Lees.

The amount of the acquisition has not been disclosed, but sources close to the transaction say "it is in the six-figure range." Lees has not been available for comment.

G-FAN started out as a mimeographed newsletter by Lees in 1993 for Godzilla and Japanese science-fiction and fantasy film enthusiasts. It subsequently grew in readership and became a professionally-published magazine. G-FAN has a readership base in many countries including the United States, Canada, Austria, Germany, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Argentina and others.

Lees and G-FAN sponsor the annual G-FEST conventions in the Chicago area. G-FEST XVI will be held as scheduled this July, but it is unclear whether it will continue after this year. G-FEST was not included in the acquisition.

According to the Brooklyn Company, they were interested in branching out into the Japanese science-fiction and fantasy genres and saw G-FAN as a valuable property to acquire. Their interest was further heightened when the magazine was named last year in the Chicago Tribune's "Our Fifty Favorite Magazines" list. Most of the primary writers will continue with G-FAN, but due to legal and tax reasons, they will now be salaried employees. Lees will consult with the new editorial board (to be named) and contribute articles to the new G-FAN.

G-FAN will continue as a quarterly until January 2010, then it will become a bi-monthly magazine again. G-FAN became a quarterly in 2004.

Mike Hunt, a spokesman for Brooklyn, said, "We are very excited about acquiring G-FAN. We have big plans for the magazine and we will announce our plans in the Summer issue. Our contacts with the Japanese movie companies have indicated to us that they plan to produce three new giant monster movies in 2010, so the timing couldn't be better."

UPDATE (4/2/09):

Sharp-eyed fans knew that this was an April Fool's Joke. The first comment smelled something fishy:

It is April 1st........

Another said (with a smile):

Very cruel!

Another seemed to have swallowed it:

G-FEST XVI better not be the last one, I mean, I'm not sure if I'll be able to go this year, but I hope that it isn't!

Its good to hear that there might be some monster films in 2010.

Another wouldn't like the idea if it were for real:

If it were in fact true, I would consider this to be a bad thing.

But suspicions mounted:

The amount of the acquisition has not been disclosed, but sources close to the transaction say "it is in the six-figure range." Lees has not been available for comment.

I LOL'd when i read that segment above. Yeah if only that were true. I'll bet Lees would be jumping up and down right about now.

Then again being that he started the magazine i think if this were true he would probably have mixed feelings about content control in tne new G-Fan.

Another wrote this:

I'm glad that Mr. Hunt is so excited about all this.

Others also caught the Porky's reference:

Yeah "Mike Hunt" gave it away for me.
Though I was getting suspecious at "six-figures" and "Our Fifty Favorite Magazines".

And...

Mike Hunt...lol...sorry...sometimes it's the little things that keep me going in life.