Nickelodeon Magazine was a kid's magazine based off of the children's television channel of the same name. A 2-issue version of the magazine was released in 1990 and available at Pizza Hut; however, the most well-known version didn't begin until 1993.
The magazine featured a large amount of original material including behind-the-scenes looks at contemporary media, numerous original comics, and various recurring comedic sections, such as "Toon People" which treated animated characters as Animated Actors interacting in crossovers.
"Nickelodeon Magazine Presents" (later retitled to "Nickelodeon Comics") was a series of special issues usually used to promote a special episode of a show that was about to air. A similar special edition, "GAS: Games and Sports for Kids" was a short 10 page magazine that came with some Nickelodeon Magazine issues; it was sports-themed and based on the now-defunct spinoff channel Nick GAS.
Nickelodeon Magazine was originally published on a quarterly basis; however, it later switched to bi-monthly in 1994. Then in March 1995, it switched to 10 times per year (with a bi-monthly December/January and June/July issue), and switched to 11 times a year starting with the June 2008 issue, continuing this way until the original run ended in late 2009, along with its sister magazine "Nick Jr. Magazine". In all, the original Nickelodeon Magazine lasted 159 issues. Papercutz began a revival starting in June 2015, and lasted for 11 issues before ceasing publication altogether.
Nickelodeon Magazine comics (incomplete):
- Patty-Cake
- Southern Fried Fugitives
- Fiona of the Felines, about a girl raised by cats
- Scene But Not Heard, an absurdist silent comic
- Impy & Wormer, a strip about a stupid bug and his snarky worm friend
- Grampa & Julie, Shark Hunters, about a kooky old man and his granddaughter hunting down Stephen, the world's largest shark
- Teeny Weeny, the Tiniest Hot Dog in the Universe!, a strip about the bite-sized adventures of a small hot dog
- The Gag Station: A series of multiple one-shot jokes per issue.
Nickelodeon Magazine contains examples of:
- Animated Adaptation: The comic Grampa and Julie: Shark Hunters was adapted into a pilot by Klasky-Csupo in 2006. It featured Hynden Walch as Julie.
- Anthropomorphic Food: In Southern Fried Fugitives, there are four characters given life by a Freak Lab Accident; Chester the breast; Wingnut the wing; Legs the thigh; and Boom Boom the drumstick. The comic focuses on their attempts to evade humans who want to eat or exploit them.
- Bittersweet Ending: The conclusion of Southern Fried Fugitives has the protagonists build a robot of a human child and jump into it, then the robot explains to the young readers not to make fun of people who are different.
- Boke and Tsukkomi Routine: Impy & Wormer is about a stupid bug named Impy and a Straight Man worm named Wormer who snarks about Impy's stupidity.
- Crossover Couple: "Toon People" was a fake magazine focused on the social aspects of characters. Pairings include Sakura Haruno with Bart Simpson, Naruto Uzumaki with Lisa Simpson, Aqualad with Katara, and Zuko with Kim Possible.
- Don't Eat and Swim: In the SpongeBob SquarePants comic "The Cool Pool", SpongeBob eats a bunch of snacks by the poolside before saying he's ready to jump back in, with Squidward retorting that he needs to wait an hour before going back in. However, Squilliam Fancyson rightfully points out how that's not true and that it's an old wives' tale, complete with him pointing out the old wife who started the rumor, with her saying that she created the myth just to gain attention.
- Duck!: A one-off comic used both variants to bookend the story. Initially a lifeguard at a pool ducks on reflex upon hearing "Duck!", but the person shouting it was referring to the animal, which has waddled up to them. For the next several days the pool is overrun with ducks and people can't swim in it at all, but one day all the ducks vanish... and of course, the next time the lifeguard hears "Duck!" they instinctively worry that the ducks are back, only to be beaned in the face with a beach ball.
- False Dichotomy: The interviews section always has the question "Pizza or ice cream?", implying you can only choose one of the two options.
- Freak Lab Accident: In Southern Fried Fugitives, four pieces of fried chicken come to life during a thunderstorm in a Mad Scientist's lab; Chester the breast; Wingnut the wing; Legs the thigh; and Boom Boom the drumstick.
- It's a Wonderful Plot: The August/September '94 issue had a Ruffing It comic where Zelda briefly travels to the future and sees how horrible Nickelodeon Magazine will get if she quits.
- Mascot: Zelda Van Gutters, a snarky talking Lakeland Terrier.
- Never Trust a Title: Despite being called Nickelodeon Magazine, it was actually a general "kid's magazine" with a heavy lean towards Nickelodeon. Most glaringly, it often advertised competing networks such as Disney Channel and Cartoon Network. However, it did lean more into advertising Nickelodeon shows as the years progressed.
- "Not Making This Up" Disclaimer: A "Real" seal appears on articles that are completely nonfictional, which is necessary in a magazine full of pranks and jokes. Some of the stories are quite weird and likely wouldn't be believed without the seal.
- Pictorial Speech-Bubble: The main duo from the Scene But Not Heard segment of the magazine's comic book speak this way. Even the creator Sam Henderson answers questions this way in his interview
◊. - Punny Name: Zelda Van Gutters appears in the margins, or gutters, of the magazine.
- Raised by Wolves: The strip series Fiona of the Felines is about a girl raised by cats.
- Toilet Humour: One of the articles was about how being president and being a kid are similar, and one of the examples was "Everything he does is all over the news" (president) versus "Everything you do is all over the floor" — Zelda snarked, "I do things on the news and on the floor."
- "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: The last issue includes a section about what various characters from the magazine will do in the future. For example, Fiona, Patty Cake, and Julie start a rock band called Blondes With Bows, with Julie's grandpa as their roadie.
- Wolverine Publicity: SpongeBob SquarePants became this in the 2000s, being featured throughout the magazine and on many covers as well — in fact, issues with SpongeBob on the cover frequently sold better than others.
