BONUS NUMBER 126: RANDOM PICKUPS
(Did You Sleep With the Models?)
In Bonus Number 118, which posted on March 16, I noted the changes that I made to Honcho after I became editor-in-chief. Going through those early issues a few months ago, I found not many layouts that seemed likely to excite Substack viewers today. Some of the models, frankly, didn’t belong in the pages of our magazines. Other layouts suffered from mediocre photography, lazy design, or else they ended too quickly, like the color section below. Only two regular pages, plus a two-page centerfold, for a four-page total. The model had every reason to call out, “Where’s the rest of me?”
The black-and-white layout, on the other hand, is one of the more beguiling photo spreads from those transitional issues of Honcho. Football regalia, jock strap, a locker room setting, then everything off — what more could you ask of a model? Again, he deserved better. The photography is static, the model seems not fully engaged in the fantasy. Such a disconnect often means low chemistry between model and photographer.
These layouts from those early Honcho days were scheduled before I replaced the former editor. Despite their shortcoming, I thought present day readers might like to peek through the telescope of gay erotic history.
