Best. Gay. Week. Ever. (March 27, 2009)

Greetings and salutations! Spring is upon us, and we're cleaning house here at AfterElton.com's editorial offices. I've been tasked with viewing those eight seasons of Smallville which have somehow stacked up in the back corner.

We've always meant to take a look at this show, but given the daunting backlog of episodes and the general Tom Welling ambivalence amongst the staff — well it sorta fell by the wayside, and we've never devoted much attention to the series.

But no more! I can tell you that after my glazed-eyed weekend viewing marathon I am now officially a Smallville fan. Seriously. If you squint hard enough there are a number of gay delights to be found on this series!

But before we excavate the pink kryptonite deposits in Smallville, I want to take a moment and reflect on the passing of Genre magazine, which on Tuesday announced it will "temporarily suspend" publication. (One can admire Genre's optimism, but that's sort of like a person saying they're going to temporarily stop breathing.)

The monthly publication aimed to be a sort of Details for gay men. (Wait, isn't Details the Details for gay men?). Anyway, it promoted a glossy, well-to-do lifestyle to gay male twenty-somethings. Unfortunately, nowadays not many gay male twenty-somethings can afford a glossy, well-to-do lifestyle, so it doesn't seem all that surprising Genre couldn't stay afloat.

Over its lifetime, Genre took a fair amount of flak for passing over, you know, actual out gay guys to put handsome shirtless models on its cover, but in its heyday, (the early 2000's) the magazine was a pretty fun read. Trivia note: Andy Towle was Editor-in-Chief at Genre before jumping ship in 2003 to create his popular Towleroad blog. Smart fellow that Mr. Towle!

For what it's worth, our condolences go out to the Genre editorial staff, the 55,000 gypped Genre subscription holders, and of course all those now out-of-work shirtless cover models.

I also want to mourn the passing of Viewmaster 3-D reels. The format has been around pretty much unchanged since 1939 — each reel offering scenic views of travel attractions, tie-ins to Disney movies, Saturday morning cartoon shows, and other kitschy subjects. The current Viewmaster license owner, Fisher-Price, has announced they won't be manufacturing any more reels and I'm pretty bummed about that.

Now I know the Viewmaster is sort of esoteric and quaint, but it is a big piece of nostalgia for me. I remember every time I went to visit my Southern Baptist grandmother she'd set me down with a plastic viewer and slides of Bible stories (three-dimensional Jesus was hawt!).

It's fair to say I'm sorrier to see the Viewmaster go than I am the print magazine industry. (See Genre mention above.)

Thankfully, you can still buy Viewmaster reels and viewers on eBay. Get yours now as they're sure to be a collectors item one day!

Who knew early Falcon video packs
were available on Viewmaster?!

Next page! Kryptohags and Jimmy Olsen fist bumps.