Bat Boy Buys Weekly World News

Posted on October 15, 2008

A group of investors named Bat Boy LLC has acquired the Weekly World News from American Media. The Palm Beach Post says the buyers are named after the bat boy creature made famous by the Weekly World News stories.

American Media last year stopped publishing Weekly World News after the tabloid's circulation dropped below 100,000 copies a week.

"The Weekly World News is a powerful brand in publishing, entertainment and online," said Weekly World News' new chief executive, Neil McGinness, in a statement released late Saturday. "The Weekly World News brand and its characters have inspired musicals, books, feature film projects and television shows over the years. We see tremendous potential for growing the brand and significantly expanding the business."

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, and neither American Media nor McGinness could be reached for comment.

The buyers are named after the half-man, half-bat creature that first appeared on the cover of Weekly World News in 1992. Bat Boy became a popular staple of the tabloid, emerging from time to time to lead police on a high-speed chase, ride the top of a New York subway train, shed his wings and endorse Al Gore for president.

The Palm Beach Post article says we don't know if or when the Weekly World News will return to drugstore and supermarket magazine racks but you can find some interesting content and t-shirts on the fake-news tabloid's website. There you will find plenty of alien and mutant content including a story about Barack Obama's half-brother Obatma.


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