What's New?'s revival began on the pages of
Duelist magazine, where it appeared regularly, starting with issue 1, after
Phil Foglio got involved with
Wizards of the Coast to create some of the art on
Magic: the Gathering cards.
In Duelist issue 1, Phil's first line (to Dixie, while assembling a bat skeleton in a bottle) is "Go away. I don't do What's New anymore. I've devoted my life to art."
Its reappearance in Dragon is a consequence of TSR having been bought by WotC.