The magazines in question are Boston University's Boink Magazine and Harvard's H-Bomb Magazine. Both publications landed with a splash a few years ago, but according to online reports, newsstands haven't seen new editions of either one for some time.
The most recent issue of Boink wasvolume six, which is still listed online without a date. According to one Boston-area comics-shop owner, the magazine hasn't delivered a new edition in "awhile."
That's a long way from the heights that the publication first aspired to reach. Back in 2007, Boink founders Alecia Oleyourrk and Christopher Anderson said they were planning to create a new TV show based around the Boink brand. At the time, they were hashing out a book deal. That book was published, but the show never happened.
At the same time, Harvard's H-Bomb also hasn't put out anything recently, though one of its editors said a new issue was due out "in a few weeks."
Women's studies professor Gail Dines of Wheelock University suggested that these magazines' troubles stem from a changing economy and changing tastes.
“I don’t think there’s much of a future for it,” she said. “I think a magazine like that can’t keep up with the porn market. It was too tame.”