In the itsy-bitsy, hothouse world of magazine glossies, the question everyone seems to be asking this summer is, "What the hell has happened to Vanity Fair?". Of new EIC Radhika Jones, who was plucked from the New York Times' books department, Case remarked that she "Can't carry a tune to save her life. The magazine under Radhika has no idea what it is, or what it wants to be." And those were some of his more charitable comments. More than a handful of issues into the new editor's management, let's have a look at Jones' VF, beginning with its critically important covers. His beloved magazine, cover to cover, was for a long time the Cirque du Soleil of monthlies. Maybe the initial clue to VF-the-lesser was the downsized cover logo, which showed up with Jones' first issue. Fewer of the famously flamboyant cover set-ups, less potent cover typography, less clever, self-referential coverlines. Given all this, you might ask, "Is Radhika Jones' Vanity Fair doing anything right?" As a matter of fact, it is. Read more