The Flickr Startlingstories Image Generatr

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]

It enslaves the women of Earth! It looked like a gardenia but it was the most vicious drug in existence. Framed and disgraced space pilot Charles Farradyne is offered one shot at redemption by finding out who was peddling the deadly ultra-aphrodisiac Hellflowers and infiltrating the interstellar organization trafficking it — and he might just discover who framed him in the process . . . [Prologue]

“Farradyne had committed the one unpardonable error a Space Master could make. He didn't die along with the other 32 passengers when his ship smashed into the Bog on Venus. They broke him—exiled him to the rotting fungus fields of Venus. Now his only desire in existence was to return to the cool, gleaming sea of deep space. And there was a way—only one. But he would have to become the vilest parasite in the universe—peddler of a poison that stripped the spirit, before it consumed the body...." – Goodreads.com

George O. Smith, born on April 9, 1911, was an American science fiction author renowned for his contributions during the Golden Age of Science Fiction. He frequently published stories in “Astounding Science Fiction” and is best known for his “Venus Equilateral” series, which revolved around a communications station in outer space. His notable works include "Operation Interstellar" (1950) and "Lost in Space" (1959). Smith's career spanned several decades, with his writing peaking in the 1940s and 1950s.

Smith's personal life was as intriguing as his stories. He married Doña Campbell, the first wife of Astounding's editor John W. Campbell, in 1949. Despite a prolific early career, his output diminished in the 1960s due to a demanding job. He was honored with the First Fandom Hall of Fame Award in 1980, a testament to his lasting impact on the science fiction community. George O. Smith passed away on May 27, 1981, leaving behind a legacy of imaginative and technically rich science fiction. [Sources: Wikipedia and Fancyclopedia.org]

[Note: "Lost in Space" by George O. Smith is a classic story about a lost space lifeboat. The book is told from the perspectives of the searchers, the missing passengers, and the aliens closing in. It is not connected to the 1965 TV series of the same name.]

Walter Robert Popp, born on May 19, 1920 in New York City, was a prominent American illustrator known for his work in pulp magazines during the mid-twentieth century. He was the son of muralist Gustave Gutgemon and Austrian-American Kathe Popp. Popp's artistic journey began at the New York Phoenix School of Design, where he honed his skills before briefly working as a commercial artist. By 1940, he had started selling freelance illustrations to various pulp magazines. His career was interrupted by World War II, during which he served in the military until 1945.

After the war, Popp resumed his artistic pursuits, contributing to the vibrant pulp magazine scene of the 1940s and 1950s. His illustrations graced the covers and pages of many publications, often featuring themes of adventure, science fiction, and fantasy, reflecting the popular genres of the time. Despite the decline of pulp magazines in the latter half of the century, Popp continued to create art until his passing in 2002, leaving behind a rich legacy that continues to be celebrated by collectors and enthusiasts.

[Sources: AmazingStories.com and SF-encyclopedia.com]

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 Copilot, Wikipedia, KorshakCollection.com and AlexSchomburg.com]

Features “Moth and Rust” by Philip José Farmer, a sequel to “The Lovers.” In “Moth and Rust” the patient was society itself, and Dr. Leif Bark was the surgeon who had been hand-picked to cut to the rotten core!

“Publication of ‘The Lovers,’ by Phil Farmer, in ‘Startling Stories’ for August, 1952, caused a small-scale revolution in science fiction circles. Overnight the author leaped into national prominence; the story was discussed with animation and heat wherever science fiction readers meet, including the letter column of competing magazines; the author was immediately signed to a long-term contract by a book publisher; the frantic request for copies of the August issue began rolling in from people who missed it – and are still rolling in; and the editor of this magazine was threatened with bodily damage if he did not succeed in prying a sequel out of Mr. Farmer.

“So, without further ado, here is the sequel – How long will it be before we get screams for a sequel to the sequel?” – The Editor

“Moth and Rust” is a much less successful work that has been reprinted now and then under such titles as “A Woman a Day” and “Timestop.” – Robert Silverberg

“By the author of ‘Speak of the Devil’ and ‘The Great Ego,’ ‘The Lady is a Witch’ is another fantasy that would have been more at home in the pages of ‘Unknown’ or ‘Weird Tales,’ much better than his earlier efforts, and obviously written in imitation of Thorne Smith’s posthumous novel ‘The Passionate Witch,’ that tells of the various strange antics of a witch in our modern world and which inspired among other things, the marvelous TV series of the sixties, ‘Bewitched,’ starring Elizabeth Montgomery, Agnes Moorehead and Dick York.” [From the “Annotated Guide to Startling Stories’ (Wildside Press, 1986)]

American pulp fiction writer Norman A. Daniels (1905-1995) worked in pulp magazines, radio and television. He created the pulp hero the “Black Bat” in 1939 (the same year as “Batman”) and wrote for such series as “The Phantom Detective” and “The Shadow.” Norman Daniels also served as a scriptwriter for the radio serial “Nick Carter, Master Detective” and contributed stories for TV programs, including “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.” -- Wikipedia

“Witchcraft is a mockery of every virtue, and Walpurgis Night is its unholiest celebration.” [Image caption]

Walpurgis Night is the eve of the Christian feast day of Saint Walpurga and is celebrated on the night of April 30 and the day of May 1. Saint Walpurga was hailed by the Christians of Germany for battling “pest, rabies, and whooping cough, as well as against witchcraft.” In parts of Europe, people continue to light bonfires on Saint Walpurga’s Eve to ward off evil spirits and witches. Local variants are observed throughout Northern and Central Europe in the Netherlands, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden. Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. – Wikipedia

“William Wilson, the descendant of famed Boston surgeons, was a total failure as a doctor until enticing Priscilla arose from the ancient dust!” [From the Prologue]

“Barred from space, Rod Cantrell suddenly gets an unlooked-for opportunity to fight the marauders who threaten the existence of all cosmic life!” [From the Prologue]

“When ‘Stellaris,’ the first human interstellar ship, unexpectedly hurtles off the earth, it takes the ship’s designer, Rob Cantrell, his girlfriend and a skeleton crew with it into the furthest reaches of space. If only that was their biggest problem! With no star maps, killer aliens on their tail and a ship that was only half finished, their journey home is going to be quite the challenge!” – Google

“When the laws of evolution go mad and the world is in grim peril of total chaos, Lincoln Bax and a brave band of human survivors battle against forces beyond man’s understanding!” [From the Prologue]

“Suppose the war took a sudden turn for the worse from the scientific point of view? Suppose some bright scientist on the enemy side found a truly terrible weapon? This was John Russell Fearn's main premise for ‘Aftermath,’ written two years before the end of the Second World War.” – Google

Artist Earle Bergey became strongly associated with the pulps, particularly Startling magazine. He painted almost every cover for Startling between 1942 and 1952. He was known for equipping his heroines with brass bras and implausible costumes, and the public image of science fiction in his day was partly created by his work for the pulps.

Author John Russell Fearn (writing as Vargo Statten) is best known for his novelization of the all-time favorite monster film, "Creature from the Black Lagoon" (1954).

“The ticholama plantation was an amazing bargain, if it were not for – The Howling Bounders.

“Magnus Ridolph stepped out into the green twilight, strolled down past the copter landing to the first of the knee-high ticholama bushes.

“He froze in his tracks, cocked his head.

“Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow” in a yelping chorus, wild and strange, drifted from across the field. Magnus Ridolph strained, squinted through the dusk. He could not be sure. . . It seemed that a tumult of dark shapes came boiling down from the badlands, vague sprawling things. Olive-green darkness settled across the land. Magnus Ridolph turned on his heel, stalked back to the cottage. . .” [From the story]

“Amid the deceit, the intrigue, the treachery marking the Earthmen’s scheme to conquer the world of Ozagen, Hal Yarrow broke every taboo to love his Jeannette . . ."

Hailed by the science fiction community as a bold and pioneering exploration of religion and sexuality, “The Lovers” won Farmer a Hugo Award in 1953. It tells the story of Hal Yarrow, a linguist and crew member of the starship Gabriel which has traveled from planet Earth to the distant planet Ozagen. Its all-male crew represents the Haijac Union, an extreme theocracy and religious tyranny in which everyone is expected to inform on one another for the slightest infractions.

Hal Yarrow is happy for a mission that has allowed him to escape an unhappy marriage, but he finds that the worst of Earth has followed him in the form of Pornsen, his personal minder (“Guardian Angel”), vigilant for any evidence of sinful deeds or even wrong thinking. On a visit to ancient ruins built by long vanished humanoids, Yarrow encounters Jeannette, an attractive and almost-human fugitive – a remnant of her all but extinct race – and he covertly harbors Jeannette in his lodgings. For Yarrow’s oppressive, puritanical society, unconsecrated contact with any female is forbidden – and the love that develops for this “alien” is beyond unimaginable. Yarrow knows the real purpose of the Earthmen’s visit to Ozagen, which includes not just colonization, but genocide.
[Source: Wikipedia]

“John Galveston Hughes, male typist in a woman-run world, upsets an interplanetary conspiracy when he plans a Martian trip.” [From the Prologue]

“Science fiction being the basically speculative thing it is, the idea of a reversal of the sexes has been written about many times. Ascendant female – subordinate male – this theme has been unveiled on perhaps half of the planets that may some day be discovered in the Milky Way.

“The treatments have been varied of course – ranging from the crudest of slapstick to would-be Greek tragedy. Seldom, however, have the characters involved seemed quite human or credible away from the make-believe situation in which their authors involve them.

“Which is, in reverse English, our reason for publishing this story. Johnny and Joe and Pete and June and Miss Glutz – especially Miss Glutz – are almost too human and credible to be shrugged off. We hope you like them too.” – The Editor

“The auctioning of the five planets marked the end of one part of life, the beginning of a new, for Timothy Trench.” [From the Prologue]

Timothy Trench wants to buy a planet that his former employer, Transgalactic Development, is putting up for auction. He worked months to bring to the earth-sized planet Banaldar a cycle of seasons and a climate fit for man. He pictured “the rolling hills clad in green, the river beds filled once more, the breezes gentle and full of the smell of growing things.” It took five long years for Timothy to raise what he thought would be enough money to buy the planet. But his hopes were dashed when he was outbid at auction by Morgan, leader of the Free Lives, a group of “undesirables” who hunt with stones and clubs, eat berries and live naked in caves.

“Timothy could picture them, hunkered around their fires in the evening, chanting for their dances. . .” [Image caption]

John D. MacDonald (1916-1986) was a prolific author of crime and suspense novels, many set in his adopted home of Florida. One of the most successful American novelists of his time, MacDonald sold an estimated 70 million books. Like other famous authors (Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, H.P. Lovecraft, Robert Heinlein, for example), MacDonald got his start writing for pulp magazines.

“Thunder and lightning, storm and flood – these are the weapons of Mart Havers as he champions the cause of humanity in its epochal struggle against evil tyranny and the threat of destruction.” [From the Foreword]

“A second Deluge, a new Ice Age was in the making.” [Image Caption]

Much of Startling's cover art was painted by Earle Bergey, who became strongly associated with the magazine, painting almost every cover between 1942 and 1952. He was known for equipping his heroines with brass bras and implausible costumes, and the public image of science fiction in his day was partly created by his work for Startling and other magazines.

Startling Stories / Magazin-Reihe
- Fletcher Pratt / The Conditioned Captain
- Leslie Bigelow / The Immovable Object
- Joseph Shallit / Mating Time
- Noel Loomis / We Breathe for You
- Gordon R. Dickson / The Three
cover: Walter Popp
Editor: Samuel Mines
Standard Magazines, Inc. / USA 1953
Reprint: Comic-Club NK 2010
ex libris MTP
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Startling_Stories

Startling Stories / Magazin-Reihe
- Fletcher Pratt / The Spiral of the Ages
- Margaret St. Clair / Finders Keepers
- Judith Merril / Stormy Weather
- Charles A. Stearns / The Garden
- Sam Merwin, Jr. / Summer Heat
cover: Ed Emshwiller
Editor: Samuel Mines
Standard Magazines, Inc. / USA 1954
Reprint: Comic-Club NK 2010
ex libris MTP
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Startling_Stories