Category:Man in the Moon

Title: Man in the Moon

Editor: Albert Smith and Angus B. Reach

Publisher: Clarke

The Man in the Moon was a very successful comic magazine in its time. It was a monthly periodical that had a relatively short life-span, only running from January of 1847 to June of 1849. In 1849 a weekly Saturday edition of the magazine appeared, but that was relatively short lived, only being featured for six months. The Man in the Moon was plagued by many logistical problems, from constantly changing editors to staff desertion. The first editor was Albert Smith who worked with as many as three co-editors at a time. Smith only worked on the first two volumes of The Man in the Moon and was replaced by one of his co-editors, Angus B. Reach. Reach retired while editing issue number 28, and it is believed he was replaced by Mr. R. B. Brough until the end of Volume 5. The Man in the Moon was the most successful rival of Punch, the leading comic magazine of that time. However, though a viable rival, The Man in the Moon was not as widely popular, and Punch is now the most studied of the British comic magazines.^[1] The Man in the Moon seemingly did instill an unholy terror in the staff of Punch, much to the detriment of The Man in the Moon whose "publication was such a threatening rival to Punch in the late 1840's that Punch elected to "poach its staff."^[2] The Man in the Moon was quite obvious in its rivalry with Punch which was demonstrated through the biting wit and sarcasm found in its articles, short stories, and poetry. The Man in the Moon contained less political content than did Punch; it instead focused on everyday topics.^[3] The Man in the Moon satirized common practices, new ideas, and basically everything that was open to ridicule in Victorian society, such as the much attacked idea of what a Gentleman and Lady should be. Each issue was prefaced with a fold-out comic strip story that was continued on through several issues. There were also other short stories that came in installments and themed articles that were common to many of the issues. The Man in the Moon presented brilliant satire and was meant to be read by the general public and especially appealed to "fast men about town and to those interested in theatrical and light literary matters."^[4] The title page of every volume claimed that it was sold “at every railway station in the kingdom," demonstrating the voracious ambition needed by such a competitive comic magazine.^[5] The purpose of the magazine seemed to be to present strong opinions and ideas about literature and life in a satirical and pleasing manner. While the magazine was successful in conveying humorous ideas, some letters to the editor suggested that the readership at times found it offensive.

Notes

1. ↑ WD.
2. ↑ WD.
3. ↑ WD.
4. ↑ WD.
5. ↑ WD.

Submitted by: Tucker, Becky: section 1, Winter 2009 and Templeman, Coryse: section 1, Winter 2009