In one of the more astounding comebacks in recent magazine history, Bonnie Fuller, editor of Us Weekly since March, has been named Editor of the Year by Advertising Age, the dominant industry trade publication.

Fuller, who once before snagged Editor of the Year honors - from her post at Cosmopolitan in 1997 - was fired as editor in chief of Conde Nast's Glamour in May 2001. She was picked for Us Weekly last spring, and promptly engineered a surge in newsstand sales.

"It's unusual to pick someone so new in their position, but her impact has been amazing," said Ad Age editor Scott Donaton to the NY Post.

The pick is sure to rankle people at People, where Martha Nelson took over editorship of the industry's most profitable magazine earlier this year.

In other honors, Real Simple, from AOL Time Warner, copped Magazine of the Year honors as the top title on the Ad Age "A List." "It's a magazine that really struggled at first, but it has had very strong post-9/11 positioning," Donaton said.

Steve Colvin, CEO of Dennis Publishing and the American operative of the British publishing maverick Felix Dennis, was on hand to pick up top honors as Ad Age's Executive of the Year.

The American arm of Dennis Publishing has gone three for three with impressive U.S. launches, including two men's magazines, Maxim and Stuff, and the music title Blender. Blender, in fact, picked up Launch of the Year honors from the bible of advertising.

Ad Age usually hands out its annual awards in the spring, as a way to counter the closely watched Hot List that arch-rivals Adweek and MediaWeek dole out every spring to much hoopla. But Ad Age switched to the fall this year for the first time, and it expanded its best-magazine list from five unranked titles to 10 ranked in order.

Adweek and MediaWeek have countered with a more numbers-intensive "Special Report on Magazines," which looks at which mags are receiving the most attention from specific ad categories.

Some of the Adweek/MediaWeek conclusions are sure to spur debate.

In apparel and fashion, it labels In Style and Maxim as future leaders in ad growth, while such stalwarts as Vogue, Elle and Vanity Fair are tabbed as laggards. The Adweek/MediaWeek report also says that in most ad categories, Business Week is killing rivals Forbes and Fortune, while People and Better Homes & Gardens are showing surprising strength across key categories.