H Bomb Plans Debut Next Week

The H Bomb failed to explode yesterday, but is set to detonate next week.

Assistant Dean of the College Paul J. McLoughlin II said he believed the first issue of the nude magazine was scheduled to be released yesterday.

The Hartford Courant also reported that the magazine’s publication date would be yesterday, sourcing the magazine’s editor in chief, Katharina P. Cieplak-von Baldegg ’06.

But the magazine was recently threatened with legal action and the possibility of having to relinquish the name “H Bomb” because a Costa Mesa, Calif.-based company named H-Bomb Films feared being associated with the Harvard magazine’s nude content, McLoughlin said.

“The College doesn’t provide legal advice for student groups, so they have to work it out with their lawyers,” McLoughlin said.

Cieplak-von Baldegg insists that the magazine will make only a small change to the publication’s name, calling it “H-Bomb Magazine,” the name already exhibited on the webpage.

“The problem was that H-Bomb Films thought ‘H-Bomb’ was their trademark, but we’re a magazine and they’re a film company so our lawyers say it’s not trademark infringement,” said H Bomb Magazine Business Manager Vladimir P. Djuric ’06, also a Crimson editor.

Though the physical publication’s release date has been delayed, the magazine’s website, www.h-bomb.org, is already up and running. The site features a flash introduction of provocative pictures accompanied by the song “Hey Mister,” which has sexually suggestive lyrics.

The issue is now being printed and will be released next week after a release party, according to Djuric.

Cieplak-Von Baldegg would not provide a specific date for the release.

“We haven’t decided when it will come out,” she said, declining to comment further.

A copy of the magazine will be door-dropped to all undergraduates and will be available for purchase at the Coop and also through the website, according to Djuric.

H Bomb Magazine has attracted people’s attention since its approval in February. The Undergraduate Council approved a $2,000 grant to cover the startup costs of the magazine in March, one of the largest grants given to a student group this year.

Despite the hefty donation, the council is not concerned that the H Bomb did not meet their original publication goal.

“It is not uncommon for student groups to change their project, like the H Bomb and their publication date,” said council Finance Committee Chair Teo P. Nicolais ’06. “We understand that the nature and scope of projects change.”

H Bomb Magazine will have to file a report detailing how they use the council money—a requirement for all grant recipients—in order to insure proper use of the funds.

“[The process] is standard for every student group to make sure that when we award money, it goes to what we believe it’s going to,” Nicolais said.

—Staff writer Joshua P. Rogers can be reached at jprogers@fas.harvard.edu