H Bomb Drops, But Not at Doors

The bomb has finally dropped.

The staff of the much-anticipated H Bomb Magazine, which has gained nationwide media attention this spring, finally released their premiere issue on Monday.

Editors and friends toasted the debut of H Bomb Magazine in the back room of Redline, a popular Cambridge bar.

The cover prominently features the backsides of two nude models.

At the party, one of the magazine’s editors, Camilla A. Hrdy ’05, said the staff would be door-dropping the magazine to the first-year dormitories starting at 2 p.m. yesterday. As of last night, however, only a few copies from the release party and those bought at the Coop or Nini’s Newsstand could be found circulating around campus.

Yesterday, the Coop stocked its shelves with 167 copies and expected a shipment of 300 more later in the afternoon.

Nini’s Newsstand stocked their shelves with more than 300 copies.

“A lot of people have been asking about it. We contacted the editors in order to sell it,” said Chris Kotelly, a Nini’s Newsstand employee.

The copies distributed contained white stickers on page five on top of pictures of the Eleganza fashion show. After writing in an e-mail that applying the stickers was delaying the publication’s door-drop, H Bomb Magazine Editor-in-Chief Katharina P. Cieplak-von Baldegg ’06 could not be reached for further comment last night.

The stickers can be removed easily without damaging the photos.

Those who have seen the magazine so far have generally reacted positively.

“I wasn’t amazed [by H Bomb], but I wasn’t disappointed either,” Timothy M. Pittman ’06 said.

Chris W. Clayton ’04 was more enthusiastic: “I liked it. I think it’s great. I was surprised by how much I liked it. I really enjoyed the articles.”

Elena C. Bassett ’07 echoed Clayton’s sentiments.

“I thought the articles were actually really good. Very pertinent to what people want to read. I didn’t think it was too risque,” she said. “The shock factor was a lot less than I expected.”

Article topics range widely, including a piece by Gigi M. Garmendia ’06 titled “Miss CrimsonHookups.com,” a poem titled “Animal” by Tom P. Lowe ’05 and an essay by Natalia H.J. Naish ’04 on “Art vs. Porn.”

The magazine features roughly three dozen photos, and includes ads for Playboy, as well as for Cambridge businesses Hubba-Hubba, Daedalus and Redline, among others. About a dozen of the photos depict nude and topless Harvard students.

This morning, the Rev. Mark D.W. Edington, chaplain to the College and assistant minister in the Memorial Church, plans to criticize the licentious mentality at Harvard and take subtle jabs at H Bomb Magazine.

In an advance copy of his remarks that Edington sent to The Crimson last night, he described sexuality as “amazing stuff,” but cautioned students to steer clear of sexual exploitation.

“For the moment, try to understand, cowboys and cowgirls, that you’re actually worth a lot more than what our sad sexual culture is trying to sell you out for,” he wrote. “No matter how you cut it, crop it, light it, or shade it, whether you publish it, print it, or just pick it up and read it, exploitation is still a denial of anyone’s, and everyone’s, dignity.”

“You don’t have to believe that each of us is made in the image and likeness of a Creator to accept at least that premise. And it will still be true whether the H-Bomb manages to, um, go off, or simply turns out to be more dud than stud,” he concluded.

H Bomb Magazine gave special thanks to many persons and organizations, including “the Porno Fairy” and “The Harvard Lampoon for lowering expectations.”

The Lampoon, a semi-secret Sorrento Square social organization that used to occasionally publish a so-called humor magazine, door-dropped a parody of H Bomb Magazine across the College on April 12.

Alexis Z. Tumolo ’06 said she had qualms with the cover photo of the real H Bomb Magazine.

“I don’t like how she is pinching his ass on the front. It should be tender like chicken,” she said.

—Staff writer Adam P. Schneider can be reached at aschneid@fas.harvard.edu.