On the Rag, Vol. 46 (UPDATED)

UPDATE: I guess we now know who the "mystery buyer" of HX was: as of today, HX.com forwards directly to NextMagazine.net, which means last week's HX with Bruno on the cover was in fact the 18-year-old freebie's swan song issue. Given the shrinking ad dollars for all media, it's not really a surprise. But while we didn't necessary "need" competing gay rags, it was fun to compare them to see what they thought was "big" in the city any given week. This merger represents just the latest nail in the print media coffin.

A weekly look at what's making news in New York's free gay rags:

Next asks the question on every gay's mind: To Bruno or not to Bruno? Meanwhile, following the recent news that HX had been sold to a mystery buyer, we find ourselves without a new issue for the first since it launched in 1991. Here's hoping publication resumes soon. Until then, I present you with the oldest copy I could find in my apartment, from back in August of 1996. In it, Rex Chandler was starring in "Making Porn" (LOVE Rex -- "Manrammer" is a classic!), the Tunnel hadn't been closed from all those drug busts yet, and the HX Personals were doing swift business, with Love & Romance, Sex Only, Raunch & Kink and Who Knows leading the way ...