The Flickr Pulpmagazinecover Image Generatr

“Here is history’s biggest news scoop! Those intrepid reporters Jack Lait and Lee Mortimer, whose bestselling exposes of life’s seamy side from New York to Medicine Hat have made them famous, here strip away the veil of millions of miles to bring you the lowdown on our sister planet. It is an amazing account of vice and violence, of virtues and victims, told in vivid, jet-speed style.

“Here you’ll learn why Mars is called the Red Planet, the part the Mafia plays in her undoing, the rape and rapine that has made this heavenly body the cesspool of the Universe. In other words, this is Mars – Confidential!” [Prologue]

“Where is the exact dead center around which the entire cosmos revolves? For whoever can get there first can control the universe!” [Prologue]

Leo Morey, born Leopoldo Morey y Peña in Peru in 1899, was a prominent pulp artist whose work defined the visual style of mid-20th-century science fiction magazines. After studying engineering at Louisiana State University, Morey transitioned into the arts, initially illustrating for “Science and Invention” magazine in 1929. His talent quickly earned him a position as the regular artist for “Amazing Stories,” where he created iconic covers and interior illustrations that captured the imagination of readers. Morey's work extended to other genre magazines, including “Astounding,” “Planet Stories,” and “Thrilling Wonder Stories,” solidifying his reputation as a versatile and prolific artist.

During World War II, Morey shifted his focus to comic books, contributing to titles like “Planet Comics” and “Startling Comics.” Despite this transition, he continued to produce artwork for science fiction publications into the 1960s. Known for his vivid and dynamic compositions, Morey's illustrations played a significant role in shaping the aesthetic of early science fiction and pulp literature. He passed away in 1965, leaving behind a legacy of creativity and innovation that continues to inspire artists and fans.

[Sources: Fancyclopedia.org, Wikitree.com, and Lambiek.net]

Hannes Bok (1914-1964) was perhaps the most truly original and imaginative illustrator of his time. His superb technique and his boundless magical flights put his work far beyond the purely commercial. He is one of a handful of fantasy illustrators from the pulp magazine era, along with Virgil Finlay and Edd Cartier, whose work is just as popular today as it was in the 1940s. He made his professional debut in the pages of Weird Tales in late 1939, but he began dabbling in fantasy and science fiction art as early as 1930. He did considerable pulp magazine work throughout the 1940s, and was active as a book illustrator and painter in the late 1940s and early 1950s, contributing to such publishers as Arkham House, Shasta, Fantasy Press, and Gnome Press.

"Stirring Science Stories" was a short-lived American pulp science fiction magazine that first appeared in February 1941. Edited by Donald A. Wollheim, it ran for a total of four issues in 1941 before ceasing operations later that year. A fifth issue was released in March 1942, but wartime restrictions ultimately forced its closure.

Donald Wollheim went on to edit numerous anthologies that had a significant impact on science fiction literature. The renowned "Annual World's Best SF" series, which he co-edited with Arthur W. Saha, ran from 1972 to 1990 and showcased some of the best science fiction short stories of the time.

[Source: Wikipedia]

“His hand was clamped over the blonde’s mouth.” From an inspector Allhof story “Aaron Had a Rod” by D. L. Champion.

“Imagine Inspector Allhof’s chagrin when he discovered that Aaron had a rod, and that it was the Inspector’s own .38. Not even the absence of coffee rationing could sweeten the java-tippling Satan of Centre Street’s curdled disposition after a Nazi saboteur temporarily outsmarted him by playing on Allhoff’s one weakness.” [Prologue]

"Dime Detective Magazine" was a prominent pulp periodical published between 1931 and 1953. It was known for its gripping detective stories and lurid crime tales. The magazine was part of Popular Publications, a major player in the pulp industry, and it featured works by notable authors like Edgar Wallace and Ray Bradbury. Over time, it evolved to include stories with elements of horror and mystery, creating a unique blend of genres.

Illustrating “Have Spacesuit – Will Travel” by Robert A. Heinlein. Part 1 of 3.

“Have Space Suit – Will Travel” was later published in hardcover by Scribner’s. It is a timeless gem that combines adventure, space exploration, and coming-of-age themes. Although initially aimed at a juvenile audience, its storytelling and thought-provoking ideas make it a compelling read for adults as well.

The story follows the journey of Clifford "Kip" Russell, a high school senior with a passion for space travel. When he wins a contest and receives a genuine space suit, he embarks on an unexpected adventure. Kip finds himself kidnapped by extraterrestrial beings and taken to the Moon, where he encounters a galactic conflict and meets the enigmatic 11-year-old girl named Peewee, a young genius, and an alien being known as the Mother Thing. Together, they must navigate the challenges of space, face interstellar threats, and unravel the mysteries of the universe.

Kip’s growth from an ordinary teenager to a resourceful space traveler is well-crafted and Heinlein’s vivid descriptions of space travel, alien worlds, and technological wonders immerse readers in a thrilling adventure. [Sources: Goodreads.com and Wikipedia]

“Marvel’s Cover-Title Contest”

“We think that this month’s cover by artist Hannes Bok should stimulate some interesting ideas for a title, and we can’t wait to see who the winners will be.” [Editor’s Note]

Hannes Bok’s art is always so wonderfully imaginative. Here, two unlikely companions explore uncharted territories together. I can almost imagine the story behind it.

Kindred Souls on Alien Shoals

On alien shoals beneath starry skies
Two kindred souls in stars arise
With cratered paths and cosmic ties
They stroll as moons and worlds reprise.
(Courtesy of Bing Copilot)

“The Northrop N-3PB Nomad was a single-engine American floatplane of the 1940s. Northrop developed the N-3PB as an export model based on the earlier Northrop A-17 design. A total of 24 were purchased by Norway, but were not delivered until after the Fall of Norway during the Second World War. Exiled Norwegian forces used them from 1941, operating from Iceland, for convoy escort, anti-submarine patrols, and training purposes from ‘Little Norway’ in Canada. Within two years of delivery, the design was obsolete for front-line service and the remaining N-3PBs were replaced by larger aircraft in 1943.” [Source: Wikipedia]

August Schomburg (1897–1973) was an artist known for his work as an illustrator, particularly in the genre and figure categories. He was born in Puerto Rico and later moved to New York with his family in the 1920s. August was one of the older brothers of renowned pulp artist, Alex Schomburg. August's career included creating illustrations for publications like “Flying Aces,” where his artwork often depicted aviation themes.

While not as widely recognized as his brother Alex, August's contributions to the field of illustration remain appreciated by art enthusiasts and collectors. He lived in several places, including Chicago, New York, and New Jersey, which were hubs for artistic and cultural activity. His works often showcased his ability to capture dynamic scenes and human expressions, and he left a mark with his distinctive style.

[Sources: Askart.com and Artnet.com]

John Pederson was a talented artist known for his contributions to science fiction and fantasy illustration during the mid-20th century. His work often captured the imagination of readers with themes of space exploration, futuristic technology, and otherworldly landscapes. The cover on this issue of F&SF is a great example of his style. It features a striking rocket ship on an icy, barren landscape, with astronauts and a ringed planet in the background—perfectly embodying the era's fascination with space and the unknown. It might even be a supply ship on an icy moon of Saturn.

Unfortunately, detailed biographical information about Pederson is scarce, as he wasn't as widely documented as some of his contemporaries. However, his artwork remains a testament to his creativity and the spirit of science fiction during that time.

Features Walt Coburn’s complete western novel:

“Guns could never win back for Smoke O’Hay the brave wagon-train girl his wild Irish heart had lost . . . But, even as a hunted fugitive, he might blot the murder brand from his name – in the blood of three who were spreading terror across the rangeland.” [Prologue]

Walt Coburn (1889–1971) was a prolific American author renowned for his Western fiction. Born in White Sulphur Springs, Montana, he grew up on the Circle C Ranch, founded by his father. His early experiences as a cowboy deeply influenced his writing, lending authenticity to his stories.

Coburn served in the Army aviation corps during World War I before transitioning to a career in writing. He began publishing in pulp magazines in the 1920s, earning the nickname "The Cowboy Author." Over his career, he wrote more than 1,000 stories and 40 books, becoming a leading figure in Western pulp fiction. His works often appeared in magazines like “Western Story Magazine” and “Dime Western Magazine.”

Later in life, Coburn moved to Arizona, where he continued writing until the decline of pulp magazines in the 1950s. His autobiography, “Western Word Wrangler,” was published posthumously in 1974. Coburn's legacy endures as a key contributor to the Western genre.

[Sources: Wikipedia, and Archives.Library.Arizona.edu]

Gunman threatens a terrified blonde with a German Luger.

“Dan Freeman was apparently dead and buried – but he came back from the grave, alive and armed with a gun, ready to slay the woman who betrayed him!” [Prologue]

“Popular Detective” is one of the basic detective pulps, both for its longevity (133 issues in 19 years) and for a consistent high quality of material from most of the top detective authors of the period. The November 1950 issue includes tales by Ray Cummings, Wilbur S. Peacock, Frances Beck, Arthur J. Burks and others.

Coblentz’s subterranean adventure novel tells the story of mining engineers Frank Comstock and Philip Clay who, after being presumed dead in a mine collapse, find themselves trapped in a vast, hidden underground world filled with strange creatures, advanced civilizations, and mysterious lights, where they must navigate perilous situations and grapple with the concept of a whole society living beneath the Earth's surface, far beyond the knowledge of the surface world.

The novel opens with Frank Comstock recounting the catastrophic mine collapse that led him and Philip Clay to fall into the hidden underground realm. As they explore, they encounter strange sounds, glowing lights, and evidence of an advanced civilization that has developed its own technology and culture. Frank is captured by a group of pale-faced underground people, who are initially suspicious of his presence but eventually decide to study him and his "primitive" world.

Professor Tan Torm, a leader of the underground society, assigns his daughter Loa to teach Frank their language, leading to a romantic subplot. Frank struggles to adapt to the customs and physical standards of the underground society, which values a different type of beauty than the surface world.

"In Caverns Below" was first published as a serialized novel in the March, April, and May 1935 issues of "Wonder Stories." It was later reprinted several times in book form, as well as in the Fall 1950 issue of “Fantastic Story Quarterly.” Later editions were also published under the title “Hidden World.” The novel is now available online at Project Gutenberg under its original title.

“One man against the limitless wastes of time, he fought the strange, inhuman civilizations of Earth’s unguessable future, searching hopelessly among the never-ending tomorrows – for the road to one unforgettable yesterday!” [Prologue]

In 1973, physicist Martin Saunders, his girlfriend Eve, and his colleague McPherson construct a time machine. Saunders and his friend Sam Hull decide to give the time machine a test run and set it to the year 2073. When they arrive at their destination, Saunders finds his house in ruins and the nearby village completely gone. The men attempt to return to 1973, only to find that the time machine does not have the energy required to move backwards in time. In desperation, they begin to go forward in time in the hope of finding technology that can help them travel back home.

Saunders and Hull then begin a series of stops in the years 2500, 3000, 25,296, 50,000, 4,000,000, etc., eventually reaching the end of the universe, facing tough challenges along the way and never finding technology advanced enough to travel backwards in time. Time travel is one-way only. But, after traveling billions of years, Saunders comes to realize that the universe is cyclical. He may find his way home after all.

Alex Schomburg, born Alejandro Schomburg y Rosa on May 10, 1905, in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, was a prolific commercial artist and comic-book illustrator whose career spanned over 70 years. He moved to New York City in 1917, where he joined his older brothers and attended public school. In 1923, Schomburg began working as a commercial artist with his brothers, creating advertisements for companies such as General Electric and Sanka Coffee. By the 1930s, he was freelancing for Better Publications, producing interior line art for pulp magazines like “Thrilling Wonder Stories” and illustrating aviation covers for “Flying Aces.” His first science fiction-themed cover was for the September 1939 issue of “Startling Stories.”

During the 1940s, Schomburg became a prominent cover artist for Timely Comics, the forerunner of Marvel Comics, where he illustrated action-packed covers featuring superheroes like Captain America, the Sub-Mariner, and the Human Torch. His detailed and dynamic artwork earned him the reputation of being one of the best cover artists of the Golden Age of Comics. Schomburg's work extended beyond comics; he also created endpapers for the Winston Juvenile series in the 1950s, which became iconic in the science fiction genre. Throughout his career, Schomburg received numerous awards, including the Frank R. Paul Award in 1984 and a posthumous induction into the Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 1999. He passed away on April 7, 1998, in Beaverton, Oregon.

[Sources: Bing.com, Wikipedia, KorshakCollection.com and AlexSchomburg.com]

“After forty long years Dan Williams leaves his Congo exile, only to discover that the civilization of 1973 is facing its greatest crisis – and presents a deadlier threat than the lawless jungle!” [Prologue to the featured novel]

The authoritarian world of the future is controlled by scientists, and “Enslaved Brains” is a tale of humanity rising up against them. Eugenics laws control breeding, and the brains of the dead are reactivated to run machinery. The story was originally published in the July-September 1934 issue of “Wonder Stories,” and later reprinted in the Winter 1951 issue of “Fantastic Story Quarterly.”

The premise that dead brains can somehow be reactivated to operate machinery is such a wild concept and a bit chilling. It was certainly ahead of its time back in 1934. Given what we now know about AI and neural networks, I can even imagine an AI developer pitching the idea: “Why mimic the brain with expensive neural networks when you can use the real thing?” Let’s hope the idea remains firmly in the realm of science fiction!

Author Eando Binder is a pseudonym of the brothers Earl Binder (1904-1963) and Otto Binder (1911-1974).

[Note: Predecessor of "Donovan's Brain," "Robocop," and other tall tales.]

“Will Fredericks allowed his best friend to create a twin to his wife because both loved her. . . When Joan Leeton decided to marry Will Fredericks, life went dark for Bill Josephs. Then his science showed him how to add another side to the eternal triangle by a process called ‘atomic duplication,’ and his problem seemed solved, until. . .” [Prologue]

“Around the 15th of March each year, folks start saying ‘Give the country back to the Indians!’ Well, that’s what we want to talk to you about. . . You know, this whole thing is utterly mad! Indians, time machines, robots, spaceships.” [Prologue]

A spaceship lands in Colorado. Then a section of the state “is suddenly cut off from the rest of the country – cut off as completely as though it never existed.” The U.S. President sends “an emissary, Mr. Quinlan, into the blacked-out section to learn the reason for this – well – this attack.” Quinlan evades an army of robots to reach the spaceship. He manages to meet with the being in charge – a tall, slim Indian wearing buckskin breeches and a Sioux warbonnet.

“I am Lo-as-ro, War Chief of the Karnesh.”

Lo-as-ro’s world was a planet revolving about one of the stars in the Big Dipper. It was peopled with only one race, the Orbiwah, who lived much as the Indians in America did before the arrival of the white man. Recently spaceships from another planet in the same solar system had landed in Orbiwah world. These newcomers were friendly, had no thought of conquest, and possessed a science and culture of amazing proportions.

From them, the Orbiwah learned of a planet on which were men of their own kind. Lo-as-ro, fired by the thought of establishing contact with people like himself, had borrowed spaceships manned by robots and crossed the void to Earth. For weeks, they had hovered in Earth’s atmosphere, at first saddened, then angered, by the fate meted out to the Indians. . . Lo-as-ro decided to wrest the land from the white man and hand it over to the downtrodden remnants of a once-powerful race. . . [Excerpts from the story]

[Note: The story is now available as a free download at Project Gutenberg]

“Around the time that this issue appears, science fiction will experience one of its gayest landmark-events, the Broadway opening of Gore Vidal’s urbane and delightful comedy, VISIT TO A SMALL PLANET, starring the incomparable Cyril Ritchard – an event which F&SF celebrates by bringing you the complete original television play which gave birth to the stage version.

“S. F. has been shoddily treated by the dramatic media of stage, screen and TV. On the stage it has, up till this season, been simply ignored – and neglect is, I suppose, a happier fate than being represented by the grotesque parodies which label themselves, ‘science fiction’ in films or in TV-except-by-Vidal.

“Mr. Vidal is no stranger to our field. In addition to a large number of serious novels, an even larger number of teleplays, and a brief venture into the sexy whodunit (as Edgar Box), this incredible young man (barely over 30!) has written the memorable MESSIAH (Dutton 1954), probably science fiction’s most effective extrapolation of religious cultism. VISIT was, he reports, his most successful television play. . . and by far the hardest to sell. Its tone of witty iconoclasm, of ‘poking fun at so much that was gloriously sacred’—a tone so taken for granted by all s. f. readers – was poison to the advertising agencies. Obviously even its popularity did not influence the Madison Avenue mind; it has had no successors. Perhaps the prestige of Broadway may bring about some enlightenment. . . and meanwhile you can enjoy at least this one charming satiric adventure, here presented for the first time in any magazine.” [Editor’s Note]

"A Visit to a Small Planet" was quite popular during its run from February 7, 1957 through January 11, 1958, at the Booth Theatre in New York City. The New York Herald-Tribune even described it as "gloriously funny" with "an almost endless barrage of freshly-minted quips to keep the merriment rolling". Audiences really enjoyed the lighthearted and whimsical nature of the play in which an alien comes from another planet to do a bit of sightseeing and to see or start a war. He thinks he has arrived in time to see the Civil War, which he expects will be jolly, but he has misjudged his landing and gets here in 1957. [Source: ConcordTheatricals.com]

[Note: “Visit to a Small Planet” was also the basis for a 1960 Paramount Picture starring Jerry Lewis]

An international treaty prohibiting this kind of station on the moon was signed in 1967. It’s called “The Outer Space Treaty,” formally known as the “Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies.” One of its key provisions is that the Moon and other celestial bodies are to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes. This means that no military bases, including rocket-launching facilities, can be established on the Moon.

Additionally, the “Moon Agreement of 1979” further reinforces these principles, although it has not been ratified by major space-faring nations like the United States, Russia, or China. The agreement aims to prevent the Moon from becoming a source of international conflict and to ensure that its resources are used for the benefit of humanity. We can only hope that everybody sticks to this agreement.

[Note: I expect that commercial rocket ships for carrying passengers and supplies would be excluded from the ban.]

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Jack Banham Coggins (1911-2006) was a British-born American artist, author, and illustrator renowned for his captivating illustrations of rockets and space travel during the 1950s. Born in London, he moved to the United States in 1923, where he developed a passion for maritime and military subjects. Coggins studied at the Grand Central School of Art and the Art Students League of New York, honing his skills under prominent artists. During World War II, he served as an artist correspondent for YANK magazine, capturing wartime scenes from the front lines.

In the post-war years, Coggins turned his attention to science fiction and space exploration, producing popular books like "Rockets, Jets, Guided Missiles and Space Ships" (1951) and "By Space Ship to the Moon" (1952). His detailed and imaginative illustrations fueled the public's fascination with space travel during the early days of the space race. Over his career, Coggins created over 1,000 paintings and taught art for 45 years, leaving a legacy in both the art and science fiction communities. [Source: Wikipedia and Bing.com]

“Star Lummox” was serialized in the May, June, and July 1954 issues of F & SF magazine, and then published by Scribner’s in an expanded hardcover version titled “The Star Beast.” In the story, Earth has had interstellar spaceflight for centuries and contacted many extraterrestrial intelligent species. A high school student discovers that his extraterrestrial pet is more than it appears to be. His pet Lummox has learned how to speak, and has gradually grown from the size of a collie pup to a ridable behemoth – especially after consuming a used car. The childlike Lummox is perceived to be a neighborhood nuisance and the student’s mother wants him to get rid of it, and brings an action in the local court to have it destroyed. – Wikipedia