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Am I alone in being seduced by the front covers of men’s magazines,

only to be disappointed with the content? It seems that, in attempting

to hang on to the coat-tails of FHM and Loaded, GQ has tried to be all

things to the common man and yet failed to retain any of the class and

style that made it the forerunner to today’s men’s magazines. Instead,

we’re left with a schizophrenic mixture of the laddish and the

lauded.

The new positioning under the editor, Dylan Jones - ’It’s big, it’s

clever, it’s grown-up’ - suggests GQ’s intention is to put the house

back in order by reverting to the old formula. Judging from the line-up

of writers, which includes Boris Johnson and AA Gill, hiring proven

newspaper talent is GQ’s way of making this happen.

So how does this issue fare? The front cover still features the

obligatory naked girl - an Argentinian swimwear model called Yamila.

It’s a refreshing change not to see Gail Porter baring all, but will GQ

champion a move away from putting naked female celebrities on the cover?

I doubt it, but it would send out the right kind of signal.

Of the better known GQ columnists, Tony Parsons uses his article to plug

his new book and take a swipe at the journalist who had the temerity to

criticise his TV show. Boris Johnson’s piece on having his Alfa tamed by

a good-looking Astra driver is entertaining. And AA Gill’s style column

tells us why you shouldn’t take to the beach if you don’t have the body

for it.

As for the features, the account of the recent history of The

Independent makes for the best reading. The gem is the story of how

Kelvin MacKenzie, who at the time was running Live TV at Canary Wharf,

used to announce whenever the lift stopped on The Independent’s floor:

’Everybody out here for the Titanic of British journalism. Don’t look so

bloody miserable - any one of you idiots could be editor by

tomorrow.’

This incarnation of GQ is undoubtedly more refined and a better read for

it. But I still get the feeling the magazine won’t have the balls to

truly leave the laddish bits behind.

Publisher: Conde Nast Publications

Cover price: pounds 3.00

Frequency: Monthly

Circulation: 132,185

Advertisers include: Gap, Ericsson, Budweiser, Calvin Klein, Vauxhall.