Though digital magazines were conspicuously missing at the iPad's debut, Interview, according to the HuffPo, previewed its digital brethren last night at its 40th anniversary party at the Hudson Hotel's Good Units. The Factory would be proud on so many levels.

"When Andy Warhol founded Interview four decades ago, he did so with an ethos that  embraced the new," the magazine said in an announcement. "As with his art, Warhol re-wrote the rulebook with Interview, creating an innovative, intelligent, sophisticated, cutting-edge magazine that was culturally impactful, pushed the boundaries of the medium, and reinvented what a magazine could be. So it's entirely fitting that Interview is once again at the forefront of reinventing the magazine experience for Apple's iPad, combining the benefits of the digital age with the familiar advantages of Guttenberg's printing press to deliver a groundbreaking, knock-out reader experience. One could call Interview magazine on the iPad 'an affordable Warhol screenprint.'"

The preview has a few noises that I hope will be disabled on the real app, but overall, it looks like a success. The application beautifully integrates text, video, audio and images, provides easy browsing and zoom, rating and sharing capabilities. But perhaps best of all, the iPad lets Interview's remarkable photography shine. Generally speaking, fashion and photo spreads in online magazines are about as impressive as finger paintings--not at the fault of the photographer but simply the current state of the medium. However, if Interview's preview is any indication of what's to come, then the iPad may restore digital magazines to a level that Warhol would be proud of. By the time the iPad drops (yeah, I went there), the 40th anniversary issue, featuring Kristen Stewart, the December/January 2010 (Penelope Cruz), February 2010 (Jay-Z) and March 2010 (fashion) will be ready for your viewing pleasure. You can watch the full preview video here.

collection The recent New Yorker Christmas cover, featuring a brilliant Barry Blitt illustration of President Obama bowing deeply to Santa Claus, reminds us of how much we like the long tradition of magazines making bold holiday statements on their covers for the December issue. We went to our local newsstand looking for more of these covers and found… very little. What was once considered essential for any magazine worth its ink and paper has now obviously been banished by an aggressive War on Christmas Magazine Covers by the Forces of Evil. (more...)

With this weekend's release of New Moon -- and Bella, Jacob and Edward again invading the magazine racks -- we invite you to look back on the Twilight magazine covers of months past. Now, the field is much more crowded. Feel free to recommend your new favorite Twilight covers in the comments.You won't believe this: it has only been one year since the live action stars of teen vampire sensation Twilight infiltrated popular culture. And part of the reason they seem like such fixtures of celebrity already -- apart from their impossible good looks, effortless cool and high-powered marketing machine -- is their presence in print and command of their image. Flattering pictures may not be hard to come by when you're young and playing magical characters, but from this charming Vanity Fair spread to the endless tabloid fabrications, the kids always come out looking all right. (more...)