I'm of the opinion that one cannot review Philadelphia Weekly without comparing it to CityPaper. You can probably tell from my rating that I prefer CityPaper.
First of all, CityPaper has This Modern World. As much as I love Savage Love, my vote for "Best Syndicated Feature in a Free Philadelphia Weekly Paper" definitely goes to This Modern World. Every time I wish I had lower taxes or start having doubts about the Democrats' vision of healthcare reform, Tom Tomorrow is there to violently return my political leanings to the left. Sure, it's not for everyone, but if you're the type of person who can enjoy a publication full of tranny ads, you can probably laugh at This Modern World. (And although I realize I'm pulling a bit of a "but I have a lot of black friends!" here, I'd like to point out that I have several Republican friends who love This Modern World... Well, they're really Libertarians, but they vote Republican.)
And honestly, This Modern World is the perfect comic for CityPaper. CityPaper is unabashed about what it is, while I feel that Philadelphia Weekly frequently pulls its punches. I like PW's music reviews and events descriptions a lot, and I'm the first to admit that CP's movie haikus used to be far, far funnier than they are today, but in the end CityPaper feels like it sold out than Philadelphia Weekly. Adamma, Anastasia and Nina (I don't know who's really in charge) need to let their writers do their thing.
To conclude, I'll take a page from John H.: CityPaper is Letterman, Philadelphia Weekly is Leno. If your grandparents were going to read a publication full of tranny ads, they'd choose Philadelphia Weekly. In my 11:35 time slot, I'm gonna go with CityPaper. read more