Posted on: December 10, 2007 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Altar #7 / $4 / 1:00 / 68M / http://www.altarmagazine.com /

Altar Magazine is ending with this issue. The magazine is joining forces with Clamor, which will be a great thing considering that Altar and Clamor both had issues with previous issues that the other magazine could conceivably work well with. This is one of the most solid endings that a magazine can have. The writing in this issue is without reproach, especially when one turns to the piece that details positive sexuality by Teri Smith. Each subsequent piece is a beating on the drum, a call to action. These pieces do not show the writings of disaffect youth that are just trying to rebel against their parents, but are done by very intelligent and talent authors that will enflame disaffected hearts. Don’t get me wrong – this is supposed to be a political magazine – but so many of these political magazines seem to lose steam at some point. Altar, burning the brightest that it can, does not lose steam when one is half-way or mostly done with the magazine. Rather, the magazine gets stronger in its second half; “Never Lie to Mommy” is a nice derivation from the directly political pieces that preceded it. There are a few reviews in this issue of the magazine, but the article format is where Altar is supposed to shine, and does time and time again in #7. I wish I could say to pick up future issues of Altar, but I have no doubt that Mandy’s contributions to Clamor in the near future will mean that Clamor takes on some of the brilliant luster that this magazine had going for it.

Rating: 9.0/10

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