Editorial to the 1st issue of Astonishing Stories
February 1940
Introducing Astonishing
In two months and a few days science
fiction fans will celebrate the fourteenth anniversary of magazine science
fiction in America.
There have been many changes in the
stories and in the appearance of the science fiction magazine since then
- there has been a constant inflow of new authors, the size of the magazine
has been reduced by half, new magazines have appeared - but the basic
concept of science fiction itself, the eternal dream of perfection which
is at the heart of every fan, has not changed. The stories in any science
fiction magazine today could be read with enjoyment by any fan of fourteen
years ago.
But where fourteen years ago the readers
of science fiction were a minute body, today they number in the hundreds
of thousands.
That is why Astonishing Stories
is possible today. At no time in the past could a science fiction magazine
in the ten cent field have had a chance of success; today such a venture
is backed and guaranteed by the numbers and the loyalty of the fans.
And so we present Astonishing
Stories, the first, though probably not the last, dime science fiction
magazine.
We want to make Astonishing Stories
the kind of mmagazine you want. Penny for penny, it is the best buy in
science fiction today as far as quantity and quality go; we want to make
it your best buy in the services it renders you, over and above
the entertainment of the stories. We want this magazine to be your guide
in buying fantasy books, seeing movie pictures, subscribing to fan magazines.
If you have any suggestions which
you would like to see embodied in the magazine, send them along. "What
you wish - that you shall have" is our motto.
SPECIAL NOTE TO AUTHORS: We have no
"formula". If you want to try some off-trail stories, Astonishing
is your best market. Our only criterion for stories is "Is it an entertaining
science fiction story?"
not signed
(but the editor was Frederik Pohl -- NM)
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| Vol.1 No.1, February 1940 Cover by Jack Binder |
Novelettes
CHAMELEON PLANET...........................................Polton Cross
Life moved fast on Chameleon Planet - where an ape could become a Superman between meals!
HALF-BREED............................................................Isaac Asimov
Half of Earth, Half of Mars - the Tweenie!
THE LIFESTONE......................................................Paul Edmonds
For thousands of years the Desert Nations had worshipped the Lifestone. And when Lang stole it he made his biggest gamble -- a billion dollars against ten thousand lives!
Short Stories
WHITE LAND OF VENUS........................................Frederic Arnold Kummer, Jr
Five million dollars in solium lay at the heart of the legendary White Land - but its guards were the blind and fearsome kathals.
ELEPHANT EARTH..................................................Gabriel Barclay
When all the living men had died, a dead man came to life again - and found the world ruled by elephants.
ASTEROID..................................................................Lee Gregor
The monster came down on their homes, sucking them in to a hot and horrible death. And all they could do was to give the men a headache.
AFTER THE PLAGUE...............................................Martin Vaeth
Jim Gleeson disappeared, and a new man, the Titan Garth, was born. And after eleven years Jim Gleeson returned, to find a hemisphere devastated by the awful Red Plague, peopled by fugitives and savages.
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| Vol.1 No.2, April 1940 |
Novelettes
THE SPACE BEASTS .............................................. Clifford D. Simak
There is no life in space - can't be, because there's no air. But that undeliable fact loses point when your own existence is threatened by that life which can't exist.
MASTER CONTROL .............................................. Harl Vincent
The story of Fowler Smith, Wearer of the Purple, who gave his life that Mankind might be ruled by a Man, and not a machine.
STEPSONS OF MARS ............................................. Ivar Towers
They thought the Greenies of Mars were utterly unlike anything human. But they weren't really,- in fact they were very much like some humans.
Short Stories
MURDER FROM MARS ........................................ Richard Wilson
The murderer of Count Paolo di Spiro wasn't safe in his killings - even if he was a ghost!
SALVAGE OF SPACE .............................................. Frederic Arnold Kummer, Jr.
A space-derelict, like an abandoned ship, belongs to the first man to set foot on it - if he is man enough to bring it home!
THE CALLISTAN MENACE ................................... Isaac Asimov
What was on Callisto deadly enough to make seven well-armed, well-equipped space expeditions disappear?
Science Article
WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE ......................... Milton Kaletsky
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| Vol.1 No.3, June 1940 Cover by Gabriel Mayorga |
Novelettes
HE CONQUERED VENUS ....................................... John Russel Fearn
Mark Tyme conquered the cannibalistic natives and deadly jungles of Venus, but the "civilized" Earth conquered Mark Tyme!
INTO THE DARKNESS ............................................ Ross Rocklynne
The strangest hero science fiction ever had, on the vast quest for That Which Lay Beyond.
A MIRACLE IN TIME .............................................. Henry Hasse
Her crime: that she was a human being. Her punishment: that she be flung down the years to the times she loved.
Short Stories
JOSHUA'S BATTERING RAM ............................... Malcolm Jameson
The Sonomagnet was an air-conditioner's salesman's dream. But unfortunately, it had its little faults.
THE DEVIL'S POCKET ............................................ F.E. Hardart
An action-packed story of the dead who lived on as the ghastly homes of the tiny, malevolent Eyes of the Coal Sack.
CHILDREN OF ZEUS ............................................... E.A. Grosser
It is sometimes helpful to be the subject of a student's experiment. But if the student fails, and becomes angry.
IMPROBABILITY ..................................................... Paul Edmonds
What are the chances against a newspaper man's knocking out two bigger men and a bullet with a single high-voltage punch?
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| Vol.2 No.1, October 1940 |
Serial
QUICKSANDS OF YOUTHWARDNESS ................ Malcolm Jameson
First of three parts.
Athanata - planet where age was immortal, and youth could not live.
Novelettes
THE FUTURE'S FAIR ................................................ Vincent Reid
They had to lie to prevent panic, but their lie, incredibly, was true!
FLIGHT TO GALILEO .............................................. Lee Gregor
Bern Ryder was a little man, but a scientist is as big as his biggest discovery.
Short Stories
MISTER ISLAND ....................................................... E.A. Grosser
It was an odd sort of island, with one very odd inhabitant.
STEPSON OF SPACE...................................................Raymond Z. Gallun
Just a child's meaningless "invention" - but it worked!
PERSONALITY PLUS ................................................ Ray Cummings
Butterworth's amnesia machine hadn't failed - just worked too well.
OTHER WORLD ......................................................... Harl Vincent
Bartlett's new world was not quite as different as he had thought.
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| Vol.2 No.2, December 1940 |
Novelettes
HALF-BREEDS ON VENUS .................................... Isaac Asimov
The Tweenies land on Venus - and are pursued by their Terrestrial enemies.
AGE OF THE CEPHALODS .................................... John C. Craig
A bored Engineer and an intelligent Pipeliner spell - trouble!
Serial
QUICKSANDS OF YOUTHWARDNESS ............... Malcolm Jameson
Part Two of Three.
Athanata - planet where age is immortal, and youth cannot live!
Short Stories
ROCKET OF METAL MEN .................................... Manly Wade Wellman
Even drifting through the void is better than some types of rescue.
TROUBLE IN TIME ................................................. S.D. Gottesman
Traynor's crack-pot time machine didn't work - at lease, not exactly!
HOLD THAT COMET! ............................................. F.H. Hauser and H.B. Fyfe
The star of the shanghaied football eleven was - Player Number Twelve!
THE DOOR AT THE OPERA ................................... Ray Cummings
Henry Macomber hated the Opera - but he had his reasons for going!
The content above was "lifted" from my own website "The Pulp Zone", founded in 1996 and now sadly offline. Still, I seemed to have a lot of free time, back then... But the "Pulp Zone" still lives, after a fashion, in the Way Back Machine.
Here's a snapshot from 2005! :)
Here's a snapshot from 2005! :)
