Metropolis

Cover of Thud, issue 2, 3 November 1994, designed by Jonathan Harbourne

Metropolis (not to be confused with other publications with the same name) was a gay and lesbian magazine, published weekly in London from early 1998 and monthly throughout the rest of the UK. It was published by Pathvision Limited and the editor was Julian Alexander. It had previously been called Thud, and subtitled "The Best Guide to Gay London You Can't Buy".

As Thud

The magazine was founded by Julian Alexander as an independent title, and was publishing as Thud by the autumn of 1994; the second issue was dated 3 November that year, with a cover designed by Jonathan Harbourne, then art director at Chronos Publishing.

It entered a crowded market. The listings printed in the Back Pocket Guide to Gay & Lesbian London in July 1994 record five titles then available free from the capital's gay venues – Boyz, Capital Gay, MX, the Pink Paper and Shebang – with a further six sold through newsagents: Attitude, Bona, Gay Times, Time Out, Phase and Diva. Of the free titles, Capital Gay folded in June 1995 and MX also closed; its publisher, Tony Claffey, relaunched the concept under the title QX, which continued until its publisher went into liquidation in 2020.

The title changed to Metropolis by early 1998.