Dynamite was a magazine for children founded by Jenette Kahn and published by Scholastic Inc. from 1974 until 1992. The magazine changed the fortunes of the company, becoming the most successful publication in its history and inspiring two similar periodicals for Scholastic, Wow and Bananas. Kahn edited the first three issues of Dynamite. The next 109 issues were edited by Jane Stine, wife of children's author R. L. Stine, followed by Linda Williams Aber (aka "Magic Wanda"). The writer-editor staff was future children's book writer Ellen Weiss, future novelist-lawyer Alan Rolnick and future screenwriter-playwright Mark Saltzman. The first issue, Dynamite #1, was dated March 1974 and featured the characters Hawkeye and Radar from the television series M*A*S*H. The final issue, Dynamite #165, was dated March 1992 and featured actress Julia Roberts and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Contents
Description
Dynamite magazine served as an activity book each month, offering tricks, recipes, games, and contests. It also served as a monthly update on popular culture, and it was a way for children to pass the time before the advent of cable television and VCRs. Dynamite magazine was available through subscription, in limited quantities at newsstands, and through monthly orders circulated by school teachers using Scholastic's Arrow Book Club.
In 1984, Scholastic Inc. reduced the number of color pages and lowered the publication rate from twelve monthly issues of Dynamite per year to six (and subsequently five) issues per year. Editors developed more features about teen idols in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with cover stories on Johnny Depp, Alyssa Milano, Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, and Will Smith, along with two 8 x 11 mini-posters per issue. Features from the later years included the Dynamite Activity Center, Dynamite Puzzle Pages, and spooky stories by R. L. Stine (aka Jovial Bob Stine), who would later create the Goosebumps series.
Features and format
Dynamite's features included "Magic Wanda", a how-to guide to selected magic tricks; "Bummers", a focus of kids' one-line woes, which would begin with the words: "Don't you hate it when..."; "And Now a Word from Our Sponsor" a commercial parody in comic form; the puzzle pages of the ghoulish Count Morbida; "Hot Stuff," a section featuring gags and new items in stores; the birth and growth of a horse called Foxy Fiddler; reprinted origin stories on Marvel and DC superheroes (and later the comic superheroes the "Dynamite Duo"); and "Good Vibrations," an advice column. Dynamite covers profiled three decades in television series (from The Six Million Dollar Man to Beverly Hills, 90210), cartoons (from "Snoopy" to "Garfield"), movie stars (from Bruce Lee to River Phoenix), music stars (from KISS, John Denver, or Elvis to Paula Abdul and Rick Springfield), and other assorted themes.
In addition to items on the back covers to punch out or assemble (such as puzzles, games, postcards, mobiles, bookmarks, or masks), Dynamite also included bonus inserts, such as fold-out posters, greeting cards, calendars, or records. Often the magazine would contain additional bonus inserts such as baseball cards, stickers, or glow-in-the-dark items. Occasional 3-D posters with glasses were also popular, featuring images such as King Kong, skateboarding, and outer space.
The magazine's reader input included an invitation for readers to send in their own "Bummers". Dynamite offered a $5 royalty for any bummer it accepted and an incidental note that readers did not have to draw the accompanying picture.