the cover of Longshot Magazine

In a recent Week In Review post, we mentioned the release of the first issue of Longshot Magazine – a new(ish) and noteworthy publication co-founded by Mathew Honan, Alexis Madrigal and Sarah Rich. Now, a closer peek into what's on those pages:

Formed under the precept that an entire magazine could be created, compiled and printed, all in a single weekend, the first issue was published in May 2010 under its original title, 48Hr Mag. Its makers, however, were forced to change the name of the magazine by CBS, who produces a television program of the same name (you can read the full story of the lawsuit on the NY Times blog). It is entirely fitting then, that for its new incarnation as (the more poetically-dubbed) Longshot Magazine, the title and theme of the issue is “Comeback”.

For this issue, the creators sent out a virtual call for submissions, and were overwhelmed by the response—more than 500 writers, artists and general creative types—both well-known and more obscure, sent in work. From the magazine’s website:

Over a 48 hour period from noon August 27, 2010, through noon August 29, 2010, hundreds of writers, editors, artists, photographers, programmers, videographers, and other creatives from all around the world came together via the Internet, and in offices in Los Angles, Portland, and San Francisco to make a magazine and build this website, from start to finish.

Illustration by Wendy MacNaughton, "the drive to GOOD magazine's offices in LA (our hosts for the making of issue one.)"

The result is an unpredictable and ceaselessly entertaining assortment of articles, stories, drawings and miscellany, and features the work of Wendy MacNaughton, (who graced us with a terrific catch-up interview earlier this week). Works by author (and JBP friend) Alissa Walker and VIP Choire Sicha of The Awl also appear in the publication.

During the 48 hour period, Wendy created illustrated documentation of everything from driving to the offices of GOOD magazine where they produced the first issue, and the bleary-eyed faces of the editors crouched behind their macs.

Illustration by Wendy MacNaughton who notes, "proper diet of pop chips, pizza, ice cream sandwiches, beer and coffee."

You can read selected articles from the first issue here (and see the complete list of contributors here). A couple telling examples include the "Which Celebrity Comeback Are You?" quiz, and an essay celebrating butter’s recent return to popularity, titled “This Isn’t Why You’re Fat”. If you like what you read, you can also order your very own print copy (with all the pictures!) from MagCloud.