A second life for Arthur Magazine

The story of the phoenix plays out on stages large and small, but a recent local example resumed sending tremors through the culture in its own lilliputian way during this time of war protest and eco-activism. Arthur, the firebrand counterculture music magazine, returned to publication in August after seemingly being deep-sixed last spring over a dispute with its publisher. In the spirit of Halloween, it lives again.

I had grown quite attached to the Glendale-based free monthly and had gotten into the habit of dashing down to Sunset Junction to score each free copy as soon as they hit the street. The news that it was  ceasing publication in March shocked me and even made me feel a little hopeless.

I saw it as another victory for the corporate tsunami that has engulfed the unwitting younger folk demographic so successfully since the days of my youth, when Rolling Stone actually mattered, along with Creem and a handful of other magazines and papers that didn’t run with the pack in obeisance to the flacks and marketing consultants.

But thankfully, Arthur is with us again.

War is over, if you want it. Welcome back.