Featuring: JeffsFort – Managing Editor / Administrator
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As most of you may know, IMAGINE Magazine was created back in August of 2011 for Comicality. It was the offspring of a community inside joke. Our own “TurtleBoy” took a comment Comicality made in jest, and totally ran with it as only HE could have. Today it’s not exactly the same publication it once was but, became something Comicality was very proud of and a labor I absolutely loved because it gave me the opportunity to work very closely with someone who had already become a close friend and brother to me without question. It was my plan to be sure he never got overwhelmed where I could with a few different projects, by simply being his “Guy Behind the Curtain”. Only once IMAGINE was back up to speed did I peek out from behind the scenes now and then, even included a version of myself in the mascot banter that we had fun including. (No, my interview doesn’t count. When we did that I had no idea I’d end out being the one to post it. A weird coincidence is all that was.)
Since Comsie’s passing, I wanted to pay tribute to how much I love and appreciate him by continuing on a small portion of the work he was doing. I absolutely can’t write the way he did but, I was already assembling all the articles he created and after some feedback from other members of “The Shack”, stepped forward to resume a posting schedule that Comicality himself set during our soft relaunch: Volume 39. Today, I am piecing together Volume 119, which to me is crazy and almost beyond belief. Right now I feel we were able to give friends and extended family of such an iconic author time to heal following his passing, even if in doing so we have had to ignore the fact that the person I originally stepped up for was only there in spirit, no longer in body. I worked hard to continue the work I was doing as well as begin to create the exclusive content that was uniquely IMAGINE Magazine from him, while Myke D. continued posting the story chapters that have always connected us to our communities within Gay Authors and the Fort Family. Himself, The Story Lover, ACFan, and myself continued on to create the covers that Comicality used to show so much love for, simply because we all pitched in and tried so hard. I have zero regrets for making a man who tried so hard for us, feel that effort being returned.
I’m posting today because even though the magazine’s traffic has not seemed to slow, and thanks for that but, participation absolutely has. Far too many issues have been content created by only one person which was never the intent and honestly, just too much every month. As much as I loved carrying this project into the future, it isn’t realistic to think I can keep up the pace and not have quality suffer or start to feel forced. I need to consider the future, I need to consider my own health, and I need to consider the implications of continuing to be the sole voice of a project that was intended for many. If that means considering retiring the idea before ruining the spirit it has always been posted in, then I need to consider that as well.
Over the years, People have offered monthly pieces that simply became the reason to have new issues. On top of Comicality offering his take on new talent, new authors, and writing tips, we have also seen movie and book reviews, tabloid style/community based stories to make us all smile, we’ve seen interviews with many talented authors and reviews of much of that work. We’ve been introduced to some pretty amazing music, acting, photography, and to some social media links that open windows into quite a few people we have learned to love and all of it from the community, not from just one man.
So, I need to ask for people to consider helping on a bit more than a one-off basis. If you’d be willing to share your thoughts on a story you are reading once a month, would you be willing to let me post it? If you love watching movies and spend time in chat or on social media talking to people about why they need to see them as well, would you be willing to share them with IMAGINE’s readers? Still picking through Comsie’s forums, reminiscing the old WDOTW (if you know, you know) posts or conversations regarding the teen pop that fueled Comicality’s writing sessions, would you be willing to do a small monthly piece to keep those memories alive? Has anyone ever truly read a Comicality story and reviewed it, seems like IMAGINE would be an amazing place to share that too. We didn’t create this community, but we did play a part in building it. It’s our choice to either carry it into the future or, let it slip into the past and our memories. I really hope people would be willing to help keep the project that became IMAGINE Magazine alive.
Either way, I have received a ton of amazing feedback from readers thanking me for not letting the magazine just stop when Comicality passed. Every issue I have worked on since has both been hugely satisfying, amazingly stressful to get right, and like picking at the scabbed wound left just over a year ago when the person I was doing this all with up and left us; never truly allowing it to heal. I need to ask for help or, I need to face the fact that the acting put in to be the fictitious ‘team’ that runs the magazine is taking a toll and will eventually result in a decline of quality in future postings. To prevent that, I need you all to help me make that decision.
August of 2026 will mark IMAGINE Magazine’s 15th Birthday! 15 years of craziness, and nonsense, and love. Which means we have a little less than a year before that landmark issue goes live. So I am going to lay out two options for our future before this goes any further.
I am going to give half of the remaining time before that issue goes live to allow for growth. February 2026. For people to step in and claim a page or two once a month. Possibly even take the magazine by the horns and learn to do some work in the back end, even take over as Chief Managing Editor at some point because let’s face it, Comsie was younger than I am and no tomorrow can ever be guaranteed. As time goes on and old friends leave us, this becomes very obvious. We are still going because this was a team effort. If something happened to me tomorrow, I can’t guarantee it wouldn’t all just end. I can’t continue being the only one holding all the keys on this, unless we’re putting it to bed.
If by February the content is still not sustainable, I will take the remaining 6 issues to plan out the magazine’s retirement from a structured posting schedule, on our terms instead of out of necessity or loss. That will mean two full years of IMAGINE Magazine being community driven after its driver was forced out of the bus. This was always meant for us all to get to a better place before finally having to hire a new driver or, finally needing to pull over. Making that a possibility has always been my gift both to him and to all of you and right now we will be skidding to a stop as if we were driving some sort of get away car thanks to you all, LOL! I just know that no matter what happens I will regret having to be the one to make this particular decision so, I will ask you as it’s community to make the decision for me.
If you would like to respond, please feel free to post on one of the forums: https://gayauthors.org/forums/topic/49667-a-serious-post-from-imagine/ -or- https://www.voy.com/15900/95668.html or email jeff@imagine-magazine.org with your feedback, ideas, offers, questions… whatever. Just like Comicality, I would love to know this community will continue to remain whole well after I’m gone. If not, it is a memory I will protect for the rest of my days, and take with me to whatever comes next, wherever that may be.
::HUGZ::
– JeffsFort –
