SFX Does an Esquire with Its 3-D Cover

UK science-fiction media magazine SFX has slapped a 3-D cover on its current (May 2010, #194) issue. The Doctor Who (oh, they're British, who the hell else would they use?) image shows the doc standing in the foreground, holding out toward the reader a weapon/flashlight/instrument-of-some-kind (I don't know; I don't watch Who).

My first thought upon seeing the cover was that the magazine has pulled an Esquire -- i.e., going in for gimmickry with cover tricks in an attempt to get attention. My second thought was that the main effect of the 3-D imagery is to make the photo less clear and even to make some of the text difficult to read. And my third thought was the same as my first thought.

Still, it's an interesting thing to do, and as 3-D covers go, it's a good one. Best of all: It's nice to read in the editor's note that the magazine's circulation is high and rising. So much for print being dead, eh? Attention Americans: So much for science fiction media magazines being dead, eh?

(Note that this is one issue of the magazine that didn't do a separate run for subscribers without any blurbs on the cover. Apparently, it's one gimmick per cover.)