Irvine Magazine to Recall Defunct New Worlds : Publishing: It aims to bring back a positive, comforting picture of the city when it makes its premiere in June.

People who long for the positive, comforting picture of Irvine that was published in the pages of long-defunct New Worlds magazine don’t have to pine any longer.

Edward A. Portmann, owner of a public relations and advertising agency in Irvine, plans to revive the New Worlds era. Portmann’s Irvine Magazine is due to premier late next month.

“There will be great similarities,” Portmann said Thursday. “That’s the reason I sought out Frank McGee,” former editor of New Worlds and newly named editor of Irvine Magazine.

New Worlds, which ceased publication in 1981, was owned by the Irvine Co. It began as an advertising and public relations vehicle to promote homes, but it later developed into a general-interest feature publication. It also had an activities and entertainment emphasis that Portmann said he is hoping to revive.

New Worlds was sold in December, 1981, to McFadden Publishing of Laguna Beach, which closed the magazine and incorporated some of its features into McFadden’s Orange County Home and Garden. At the time of the sale, an Irvine Co. spokesman said New Worlds had never been profitable during its 12-year history.

Portmann, of course, is hoping that will be the one difference between New Worlds and Irvine Magazine.

He said he has noticed local businesses, especially service companies, using full-color direct mail to reach Irvine’s 115,000 residents. And he thinks his magazine will provide a better vehicle for those ads than “throwaway” mail.

Irvine Magazine will publish monthly, printing 10,000 copies the first time out. The cover price will be $2.95. Portmann said he has not yet decided on a method of distribution.

Notices about the magazine’s debut reached potential advertisers on Thursday, Portmann said, and he has received a gratifying response.

One woman walked into the office of Portmann Communications Inc., he said, and told the eight-member staff that she has a full collected set of New Worlds, which she pulls out from time to time to read again.

“It became a very beloved piece of the community,” Portmann said.