The March of ‘Radar’

The new Radar arrived in yesterday's mail. We've seen it before, when Roshan & Co. leaked its cover to the Huffington Post's uniquely uncynical media blog, Eat the Press. But actually holding the thing in our hands suddenly brought back memories of so many Radars perdu. And so we took a walk down memory lane, examining all six Radar covers (you can click on them for larger versions) and noticing what's changed and what's stayed the same in the nearly four years — four years! — since the mag's first premiere issue.

• Number of covers featuring Photoshopped celebrities: 4 (Paris and George on No. 3; Tom Cruise on No. 4; Angelina’s hair on No. 5; Colin Farrell on No. 6)
• Number of covers featuring Paris Hilton: 3 (pictured on Nos. 2 and 3; name-checked on No. 4)
• Number of covers featuring Photoshopped male celebrities’ heads on near-naked, white-underwear-clad bodies: 2
• Number of covers featuring witty allusions to iconic high-design covers: 1

• Number of times the magazine’s slogan was “Pop, Politics, Scandal, Style”: 5
• Number of times the magazine’s slogan was instead “Pop, Politics, Gossip, Glamour”: 1 (No. 3, “Summer 2005”)
• Degree to which issue No. 3 was more gossipy and glamorous and less scandalous and stylish: 0

• Number of covers featuring a onetime presidential candidate: 6 (No. 1: Howard Dean profile teased; No. 2: “Bill Clinton’s Strange Second Act”; No. 3: George W. Bush photo; No. 4: “Hillary’s Big Stick”; No. 5: “Arianna Huffington on the Anti-Hillary”; No. 6: “Hollywood’s Obama Drama”)
• Number of covers featuring the word “gay”: 3
• Number of covers promising gay animals: 1 (No. 2)
• Number of covers promising gay babies: 1 (No. 6)

Notice more trends? Tell us.