th® stohy of1 the fibst i Oh the ’ I hnooh......
editorial
THE SCIENCE FICTION FAN IN OTO PRESENT CULTURE
We *have by now, grown accustomed to the sometimes unwar rented ri fr loule a science fiction fan receives when it ie found out he reads "that *•tuff" about it* *Yet We are doomed^ Actually-- there isn’t much we can do —t---’’------I’B afraid, unless we wise up pretty quick, to be ever the ■------t xn these ridicule *fests I say sometimes unwarranted, because look at some °£J;h® f science fiction fen pull. Just a few weeice ago a prime example of that V>-o nhown by the San Francisco group (The little Men»« Chowder, Marching ar.d Science Fiction Society) announcing to the San Fran press and. t. e oie world that they were setting up mineral rights to the moon.
New if that isn’t an asinine trick, you tell me* And then there’s Dianetics, which stf in general is connected with. Yot through any of our doing, hut just because Hubbard J first article was published in aSF, So because of that we are laugnea at, degraded, and called humbugs to use one of the less vile names. And then there's Space Cadet and stf comic books, and drunken ergies we so laughingly call conventions, and running around in ekm suits in all the major cities of the SXTA* All these things add up* Though taken singly they may seem small and though childish, even *humorous But it does not help science *fiction We make these mistakes all along the line. From Stf mags to allowing ridiculous stories of crazy fan meetings or ings ts get into the *newspapers
It’s got to stopl Mow wait a minute. We»(l'm)re not trying to o h a n g * : •anks* We (I) don’t want any vice *clean-ups Live and let live we v 2. flager* andbut*** this is important, there is a certain amount of cu ure manners we must posess to remain in accord with our civilizat without suffering the risks of being laughed at and/or ostracized.
I mean this very sincerely* Something is going to have to be *done We beat our chops daily about how science fiction is becoming more pop ular and WE’RE stfen we’re on the inside. We *helped But we don’t have a thing to be bragging th *out It is very s-f fans who have helped science fiction in any *way It is men like Lloyd Eshbaoh and Robert Heinlein and Anthony Poucher chat have do -.e for science fiction the favors we all should have done in remunera.^cn for the years of pleasure it has afforded us© is not the loud-mouthed out-of-town fan that comes whopping it jut to Mew Orleans with a copy of aSF in one ^cket^^pint^n 1 r <
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■ 1 t • Lorlol (concluded) the others It is not the fan editor who pixts all manner of pornographic and driveIoub material* even out of humour, in his rag# It’s not the e:cponent of some weird credo that gets in with a stf Club and then when spilling his guts to the outside world says f "My the *or its may not be right, but I’m affiliated with the //// science fict._on olub, They are well tliought of3*
Ho, it’s none of these# ‘ , For these drooling imbeciles are net true solenee fletten fen, they are the residue and scum drawn from our culture to our ranks because t 'ey think we’re a bunch of neurotics also# , •/ell.the run of the science fiction fan is not neurotic. He’s $ duwn*to-Earth guy with a wife and kids who likes speculative fiction,,, and not a BEM in disguise, .; * This of course is just one group of people’s opinions on the matter. But I’ll print any and ali. commentaries on the subject pro or con by anyone who has something intelligent to say about it. But until we start weeding out the -jlime in fandom and assuming a few of the "culture obligation-.^5 and dignity we should, we can expect to be considered the laughing stock of our civilization, ; Dignity such as the brand Julian May and Bea Mahaffey are using In calling the next convention the Tenth World Science Fiction Convention and not tho Chicon II, It’s not too much to ask the science fiction fan to grow up along with science fiction itself, ; I’m proud to sign this editorial—•—•••♦"•""’he
Sometime! our scheduling system gets pretty fouled u> and we find that things we had promised, or even accounted fbr on the ■ cover or elsewhere in the issue, aze crowded out. Such was ths cast With TRAPPING THE BEAST last issue. You’ll find it in thia issue of course, but we find that for need of polishing, Trank Andrases Sky’s clever TROJAN HEARSE will be held over till next issue, Lool for it then. Also: ’ "IT’S TRULY FANTASTIC" an article on Ziff-Davis’ new stf mag ■ GIBSON’S GAlSSFoFE’XTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE’ #2:the track 5, book reviews of DESTINATION:UNIVERSE 1 by van Vogt,,.TOMORROW, THE STARS edited by Heinlein;,,a rebuttal review of MURDER IN MILLENIUM VI by Curmo Grey .ion and others 4. the first part of RELU'JT/JTT GENIUS by Harlan Ellisoiy & other:
5 department
the BUIIETIN of the CIEVELAID SCIENCE BIOTION SOCLETP *presents #*
CITATTOT
In every issue of the BULLETIN, a member of the science flet Ion ranks will be chosen to receive a CITATION for achievement in the str rieia>:; This award is given after a vote by the members of the CSFS as a 9"°w . pf our gratitude to that person for furthering science fiction as a T»eJno
#2l LLOYD ARTHUR ESHBACH for FANTASY PR333
Admittedly a fan himself who not only issues books from PANTAST TRESS to make money, but so that ho can have them in his— own collect* ionfLloyd Eshbaoh has taken fandom to his heart and he to fandom-s hearto _ ., Were It not for the tireless, oft eleepleas, efforts of L.A,’• Eshbach. such masterpieces as :,The Legion Of Space by Williamson, the LeTinman books, "Sinister Barrier" by Eric Prank Russell end many, mary others published by him, might not be on our book shelves* : Going into FANTASY PRESS on a'shoestring, LA* built it up from the remnants of the Hadley Book Ccoss mailing list to a concern that *X trusted throughout the length and breadth of *fandom He has developed such talents as Hie Binkley, the teriffio young ctf artist and famous Edd Cartier by giving them free *J° J"®**® for him* In addition he has been a God* send insofar as J** 1”?"* te ..on 1)science fiction-fantasy bookplates that been needed since the dawn of stftime, 2) POLARIS PRESS for the limited Doe hard-to-get classics of stfantasy and 3) a proposed now scries of Doe Smith’s .tales* Bor these alone^Eshbach should receive the rating of "Dearest To A Fan’s Heart"# but that's not allo Sever far behind when a fan group needs for their dena or auctions, Lloyd has contributed totag beautifulwories of art he himself could well use in his large collection. And when it oomee to fan activities, AL* is right in *there He has been more than philanthropic in the stf line. He is ***J"® to have sold a firsSedition of "SLAW worth up to thirty-seyen *dollar to -t, fan for $3, We nominate for the person we’d most like to girt ■ million dollars to if he needed it...LLOYD ESHBACHi czar of TAMTAST PRESS and POLARIS PRESS, , ____
A letter explaining the CITATION and a subscription to the OSES *BULLET IN are being sent to L?.oyd Arthur Eshbach*, J (Kl ;; / ( _
< d -urtsent
N E X_T TEX T
coming up in the promags?
FANTASTIC.. »onTruman Capote-a MIRIAN which won an Edgar Allan Poe a- ward will be second in series of famous reprints.st** or- ies "by Kendall Poster Crossen? Doan Evans* and Roy Huggins© STARTLING STORIES.....after DRAGON’S ISLAND (abridged from book) by Jack Williamson* who knows? ...... • ' , « • » GALAXY SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL..,..next will be ifry Franklin’s THE RAT ’ RACE and after that? number 11 will >e Tucker’s CITY IN THE SEA*
AMAZING /j*STORIES * FIFTY THOUSAND NUGGETS by Don *Wilcox ♦••♦SECRET 0? THE BLACK PLANET by Mil ten Iess0To
AVON FANTASY REAIER.ooooou^iiUboth cusfended indefinitely since’ AVON SCIENCE FICTION READER* ooo0Donald Wellheim has left Avon K’.o« Co©
.ELASTIC ADVENTURES..** .THE Lioms MOUTH by Stophen Marlowe . . • * GALAXY SCIENCE FICTION,0..,tho next serial will be GRAVY PLANET by Of JI. Korribluth and Fredrick Pohlcover by Jack Coggins who did cover for’.Bratt ■ s book •?Tets*F.ockots Guided Missiles? and Space *Ships" * FAMOUS FANTASTIC MYSTERIES ..... THE WHITE WOLF by Franklin Grog or.’/©* .THE GREEN SPLOTCHES by ST* Striding*
IMAGINATION.oo^oNO TIME FOR TOFFEE by Charles F. Myers* • “ FANTASTIC STORY MAGAZINE.*. ..after CLAN by van Vogt (which is probably out by the time you read whisjwill be Kuttner’ s A MILLION YEARS TO CONQUER,
ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION.... .BLOOD’S A ROVER by Chad Oliver. . « • • • • • « • 1UTURE SCIENCE FICTION.....BECAUSE OF THE STARS! by Charles *Dye. •?!&$' SHALL RISE (2nd; in the ’Great Legend’ seriqp by Wallace *West THRILLING WONDER *...STORIES LORDS OF THE MORNING by Edmond **Hamilton© CHOLWELL’S CHICKENS by Jack Vance
(ADVANCE INFO: word comes through to watch STARTLING STORIES in SEPTEMBER for a novel-lengther by Jack Vance titled n imply BIG PLANET.)
mere next issue science fiction short ©lurry
HARUW ELLISON
rtAnd now art thou cursed from the Earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy broth er’s hlood from thy hand,*** GENESIS IVlll
*Mrs MacDonald had always wanted *twins And now the house of MacDonald was blessed with the wails of dual throat« screaming for food at the same *time That was the second thing you noticed about the twinsjtheir too serious *competition The first thing you noticed was the comparison between their hair* They were exact twins save the fact that one naa •ff.-color rust-red hair and the other’s was blonde* In more than one way that was their only *difference For the MacDonald twins, by the very fact that they were twins,- had to compete* Not against outsiders as normal youngsters would, but against each other in a deadly do-or-dic fight that was at times high ly *entertaining They fought to get the first bowl of *Fablum
A quarrel started over possesion of the two-whoelor* * * ' v At the age of twenty, the trouble began over the football *queen
One night at dinner, the boy they called "Red* announced he was entering the Air Force* The next night *"Bud announced the same *intention
Clearing his throat, the General sent a withering glance down the table . It served its purpose* The second lieutenant who had, a moment before, been whispering, embaressedly closed his *mouth Once more ridding himself of’annoying phlegm, the white-moustached commander began, "Well, gentlemen, it’s **come He consulted the sheaf of neatly stacked papers before him and (continued page 8) ■■ ' '. • •• ■ : : . ■
’ to Mtboam •
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A ' ' •' • ’ . - ■ ■ ■ - ■ 'JOTA (continued) 8
then stroked the slightly flabby contour of bis *chin a sign of Off le er's barracks cooking, in a movement that showed obvious *concern
"Although it isn't necessary, I should like to takd a moment to review the three years we have spent here at *Alanagordo To heighten and point *up.,rather than remind you, of tte things that have happened Then I shall ask you to make a *decision
"Three years ago we learned that not only was spaas flight posse ibis* but that Rue ci a was hard at work upon a spaoe satellite £D£ g MOB rocket* After the preliminary tests at Mur00, we were coamtsicfied On get an American made rocket up there first,**at any cost.
"They feared the Third World War *then Well, it’s hard to forget out we’ve been engaged in that war for sixteen *months
"Gentlemen, it is only a matter of timet* A shadow of weariness played across the General’s face for a tcbh ent, washing away all the surface brusqueness he hod displayed, then he continued, "We needed a man to make the trip although the rocket was neer-perfect* It was discovered that the takeoff and landing could be handled more efficiently by a human than the Reinschmann *Integrator
"So the call went *out Seventeen, hundred and fifty some boys and men have passed through the conditioning shelters of this base, *gentig *men From the Army, Navy, Air Corps and specialized organizations that thought they had our man*
"Out of those seventeed hundred only two *remain And with the flight scheduled for 1200 tomorrow, we must make our *choice Both men have been thoroughly **briefed
A dapper-looking Colonel to the speaker’s right said, How* is it that there are two? Wasn’t our training program sufficient to pick the better of the two?"
"Amazingly, gentler® n> they are twin *brothers Equally mat died, equally qualified* Both have high mental ratings and approximately the same physical condition* It really is quite a *coincidence
"It falls to you then, to choose the one to be the first Earth man on the Moon* Here are the *reports, and he slid the sheaf of pap ers down the table, "You will please choose one of the MacDonald brp- *thers «
They sat for hours examining the reports, cardiographs, training cords ord one epho *lagraphs They scrutinized the 1*4 tests and finally decided upon the simple expedient of flipping a *coin
The General fumbled in his pocket for a moment and then came up with a piece of *silver
His thumb snapped against his index finger and the circle of met al arched upward and spiraled like a silver fish into hie palm. With a (continued page 9}
(continued) fleeting motion he slapped the hand containing the coin onto hia opp osite palm and turned to the man next to him.
"Call it,”
"Heads."
One eye stared metaliioly at them.
Rising above the Hew Mexico desert like some leviathan carved of silver, the rocket poised itself on metal fins as though wait *Ing,half olive, to spring into the darkening night. Beneath its1 stately bulk, the myriad tasks of preparation were being carried out by the ant-like figures who swarmed Badly about, while the needle, imperious and disinterested in their maneuvers looked toward the *flecked&tar skyc On the scaffolding ling upward around the tapering hull, the interspersed flasx^eii o'- *.voider torches made xor a distinctive display of color. Bat, to the assembled group of scientists and army personnel gathered next to the lift, the display was wasted0 They stood and watched the almost identical twins who conversed in low tones? apart from their group. Clothed in a garment of clinging metallic substance, the twin with fiard ng red hair placed one arm over the shoulder of his towhead bro* ther end silently gazed beyond him to the quiet mountains which loomed giantly behind the base. "Red” MacDonald drew in a breath between his teeth to the *acocnp qniement of a soft whistling sound and said almost inaudibly,"well,I guess this is it, ’Buddy’e” His brother nodded silently although a tract of a Mona Li sari th smile pleyed across his lips. "Yeah, this is it. Good luck, ’Red’*. They shook hands and the Lieutenant with the blond hair turned and strode purposefully back toward the base post. The other twin turned and went back to the little knot of men waiting by the lift. He rifiook hands all around and then stepped onto the elevator whi^h bore Mr? rapidly to the dizzy height above. He entered the ship? sealed and dogged the port and went to the control room, passing through the many-lockered *storeroom He sank onto the pneumatic couch, fattened the straps, and slid (continued page 10}
IOTA (continued) 10
the maneuverable control box from its niche in the wall to a spot di rectly in front of his chest© After the process of turning and twisting numerous dials, the high keening whine of the base announcer emanated from the speaker above MacDonalds he adj "Five minutes till storage, port close-up© Please hurxy with air tanks© We are thirteen seconds behind schedule© tte storage port will be closed at H90ott MaODonald nestled himself deeper into the padding while above him the voice droned on in an urgent tonej "One minute and ten‘seconds to blastoff© Remove escalator© Seol storage port©” A pause, *then "Port healed© Prepare for blastoff© Will all unauthorized personnel please move behind the shielding at Bunker Btaber Four© Will all unauthorized person©,©” "Red" MacDonald let his thoughts soar outward© Past the Moon,past the Outer Planets and the Stars© To the infinate reaches of the unk nown Universe where he could be one with his thought alone©
"What do you knowo" he half-mumbled, "I finally won out over rtf'' brother© It took twenty** three years to prove who was the better man©,© and now I-ve done ito" He didn't even feel the scaffolds slither silently away from the ship as the announcer said, "Blastoff in twenty seconds© Will all authorized, personnel please retreat to the shielding by Bunker Number One© Please^ This is your, last warning©
"Ten seconds to Blastoff© Nine seconds©" The ahip. shuddered, as the converters in the hold began to whins with powero The ship gave a lurch, ©© • • • . '
"Pour seconds to Blastoff,©©" ; Thetwt ed ^h^ob/ bocame^ ar deaf ening . roar as the watchers donned Polaroid glasses^ Suddenly a corona-like radiance oene from the tubes and with a nighty rush of power, the rocket leaped from the dry New Mexico desert like some powerful bird that had been chained to Earth©
■? : The sliver if silver knifed upward and was soon lost to sight© A. * y« ...... ' . o- ■ 1 ■ . n ’ -t • >
# * * *
/ « ,• • •• 7 •* , • • •••. / .* • • Z • • MacDonald regained conciousness with a splitting headache but pulled his senses together to scan the control box as he had been ^trained© *Fuel in good shapej air supply* about the sene, *altitude okGy0©,ho, wait a minute© Look at the chronograph end the. tine gnecto This rocket is behind *schedule Must be extra weight© ' MacDonald releoSed hlnself from the straps and floated through (concluded page 11) * colluded)
the gravity-le^s ship to the storage re on®
A half hour of searching ‘brought him to the locker from which blood dripped from beneath trie door® rTo threw it open®
Ms twin was oruupled withliio
Hwy had argued back and forth for hours® Bud* MacDonald argued that the method of selection was wrong® *"Red yelled at the top of hie lunge that *"Buddy was a crazy mania? and that he would kill him®
It dawned on both of them at approximately the same time that they sight very well both be killed® There was only so much fuel? to carry so much weighty ffie**extra person put in another hundred and seventy* odd pounds© And while they might get to the moon., and perhaps even take off again? they certainly would be too short of fuel to make a safe landing back on Earth®
And as for air0 Short there too® And food®®®
Both the brothers kept the knowledge to himself®
The soon? Xuna7 gcew bloated in the ports® Soon they could feel the small? almost unnetieeable pull of tbt Mson'a one-sixth Earth gravity® Then they landed®
They earns down in the sente* of Aytnbetlw mid* a fgrff sf wsgk yumloe and noon^du^t that had lain undisturbed for eons® ShtM CM a spore spacesuit in the roske^ so they cane cut at the some time®
They came out onto the face of the Earth’s satellite® Onto th# dead and airless plain that, was covered with the burst bubbles Mat formed craters? cuts evidence cf days long gcne9 when the moon had been molten©
They both clasped the £L agstaff tightly in their heated gloves end mumbled into the inter-suit receivers? *1? the first man on the Koon? take this planet in the name of God and the United *States® Then the blond-haired MacDonald boy turned to the horison above which floated the globe of Earth and said? Wp there they’ve been kll^t ing each other off? ruining the Eden they might have had® But here there will be no evil® Hose *there®?®
In never finished his statement® (really eomladed page If) LUNA (really concluded) 12
His brother stood over his fallen body, the helmet, cracked and devoid of ai&> surrounding a queerly crimson *head A bloody rock grip ped firmly in his mitten
strand Cain MacDonald walked slowly back to the rocket vrtiile be hind him, lying in a pool of his own life-blood was his brother Abel«
THE BHD write a letter write a letter write a letter write a letter write
feature. M O R E BOOKS TO BE PUBLISHED SOON Biggest- *new- in the stf publishing world is the series coming from bible publishers TOPTON A tt&rpA..v,
To dat all the Ii'.Cg ok the subject is thiss .♦ * ’ The five ORISItKAl- colio oe issued on or about April 14, arei EARTHBOUND by Milton Lesser (jacket by Peter Boulton) SON OP THE STARS by Raymond B. Jones (jacket by Alex Schomburg) BIND THE B3ATHEKED SERPENT by Evan Hunter (jacket by Paul Orban) FIVE AGAINST VENUS by Philip Latham (Dr. R.S. Richardson) MAROONED ON MARS by tester del Rey
VIRGIL BINDAY has been scheduled for one jacket also and Alex Schomburg^STARTLING STORIES and THRILLING WONDER STORIES has done the end-paper workc They are lie ted as juveniles" (although how could a Latham or del Rey be a juvenile? Probably be like Heinlein’s " juveniles %) and will sell for the reasonably low price of $2e00 a piece0 The series is edited by Cecile Matsohat and Carl' Carmer with each containing an explanation of terms and a discussion ©f each’s scient ific aspe.:tsb Each is bound in cloth with four color jacket, 7//////////////////////////// other scoop ////////////////////////////
The other REALLY BIG NEWS this season are the two volumes of «novels,! to be published, one from BREDRICK BELL & CO, as a companion to the BEST SCIENCE BICTION STORIES annuals edited 'by Bleiler and DiK- ty and the other from GNOME PRESS, BELL’S to come out in March or early April,edited by Bleiler and Dlkty and entitled THE YEAR'S BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVELS, Ic is to sell for $3,50 and will con bairn THE HUNTING SEASON by Frank M, Robinson, IZZARD AND THE MEMBRANE by Walter M. Miller,Jr,,SEEKER OF THE SPHINX by Arthur C„ Clarke., FLIGHT TO FOREVER by Foul Anderson£, and "...AND THEM THERE WERE NONE’" by Eric "’xenk Russell- (concluded page' 13) "books to be published (concluded) 13
The other is from GNOME PRESS of New York in April sometime and is celled FIVE SCIENCE FICTION NOVELS and will be edited by Martin Greenberg for $3c50#
Contents: BUT WITHOUT HORNS by Norvell W, Page (it was quite a task getting this one okay’ed for *publication Page is nowhere to be • found and releases on his material are as hard to come by as golden geese. How GNOME PRESS’ ever came up with this, his masterpiece,probably no one will know*), THE CHRONICLER by EA* van Vogt, L3STINY TIMES THREE by Frits Leiber, CRISIS IN UTOPIA by Norman L* Knight, and CRU CIBLE OF POWER by Jack Williamson#
JL further info on hand at the moment, but there will be another list 'j . new cooks to be published soon in the next issue#
oo^the CSFS broke into print again wi th a long letter in *#
<»eroelt poems that the little crusade we tried to sfefcrt with’the last issue did little or no good# In relation to the CSFS library, not one book has been returned® There are always a few rotten apples in every bunch and it looks as though the CSFS is cursed with a few of them also® Since the person (s) who ’’borrowed3 the copies of REST SUPERNAT URAL STORIES OF H\>P;. LOVECRAFT (two copies),FURY (two copies),WHEELS OF IF; TIL ifOl'IANOH’S^etc0?etco and several others probably will no! return them since rethey* afraid (or ashamed) to show their faces with the books in hand, wc propose the following plan: Just wrap the book(s) in a plain white wre.pper (wipe off the fingerprints, nuturally)and send to the address given in the paragraph above, that is the editor of this nag and we711 pay Co03D& charges if you send them that way#**## But it’s a pretty sad state when things get like that#**##
NICK FELASCA is down at Fort Lee in Virginia# If you can get the nailing address from NOREEN KANE FELASCA, Nick might appreciate sone’ fannail-jeooothe club finally got its vendor’s license to sell our stf magSo®##®haven’t seen ALLAN KOPPERMAN around *lately Must be cause he’s laid up with a broken arac v c ® c (never thought a measly busted wing would put Al out of comnision)uaceHow soon is that reporter from the PRESS coning down to do a follow-up on v.s?ft0OOi)nan, ’ those appropriations fdr the zine had better stc^o ah Peto Petrue says, ”We aren’t Washington!” #riore#*** club news next tine^ fellow fehooocc 14
! r good BooKS LATEL/? • mv iepartacnt cf the CSFS BUllETlKj a colunn at IFEEIXIGKHT hook reviews «nitnnt*(tiinMS**aMngggggg^gutlUttBVMni«MHnnn»ii •ITtS CAMPBELL’S BABY.” reviewed by E.J. BUBDEJr THE ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION ANTHOLOGY/odited with an intrOdustioM fcf John W® Campbell,Jr®/ Simon and Schuster/ New York/ 1952/ J 3®95/585 pp® In science fiction-, a *reviewer has an infinitely none difficult Job of reviewing than wi’uh the love., my story or historical novel® The pt viewr nust first evaluate the -science, then the extrapolation of facts Into the imaginative plot of its author® However«your reviewer, in this case, is acting as a judge cf fiM anthology, not os a critic of its sepenate stories® If you want to know about the DIFFERENT stories in the volume, you’ll have to reed it® Ihis is an outstanding anthology) outstanding because it blends humor, gadgetry, and stories of the psychology of a people growing into adult understanding of our many problems. As one nay expect from that ‘’old caster”,Campbell, these are nil stories of real science fiction, and in choosing any of the outstanding stories, one is bound to run into difficulties because of the differein tastes in themes of the readers® i. ■ '.i . ' These stories are rated as to year,from 1940 down to 1981, with Campbell’^ favorites from those years®The true stand-outs in the volume for this reviewer’s money ares FIRST CONTACT by Murray Leinster which still keeps the high posit? ion that it has established during my more than thirty years of stf reading® Because it postulates a position that we nay someday find our- selves in® The story of two aliens, Earthman and star-wanderer meeting in space for the first time® And the consequences thereof® Other masterpieces from this collection were BLOWUPS HAPPEN by Robert A® Heinlein and the quite famous CLASH BY NIGHT by Lawrence O’ Donnell pfenry Kuttner) which is the preface, so to speak, of the much- talked-about FURY® The story of the underwater "keeps" of Venus and the tale of the Free Companies® u a it h n ii n n n n it it ii n n it n h n it ii u n it ii it h ii it it it n i» mi it ti it n n n it n tt it ii it ii n n n it ti w ti w it it ft n tt h h ti h ii tt mi m More book reviews followc . »(continued page 15) READ ANY GOOD BOOKS LATELY? (continued) 15 LITERARY SCIENCE FICTION reviewed by Harlan El 11 sen THE BEST FROM FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION/ edited by Anthony Boucher ’ and J* Francis McComas/ Little? Brown & Co,/ Boston/ 1952/$2*75/227pj^ 1 You would expect something extraordinary fro^ a hard-cover edition Of the MAGAZINE OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE *FICTION *, and that’s just, what you get0 With their usual tact and acute pe.rceptiveness in selecting stories of merit* Boucher and McConas have here assembled 19 of the best from their best-selling magazine the Mag OF F&SF* These are by no neons the BEST of F&SF3 But rather the best of the unpublished stories in that stf luminary. Culling the tales from the first few years of the F&SF* the ed’s here present as nicely put-together a collection as has been seen re- cently© Leading this abnormally excellent collection of stories are GAVA- GAN* 3 BAH by L© Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt (for which they w last issue’s CITATION) * THE LISTENING CHILD by Idris *THESeabright E by Philip MacDonald and BARNEY by Will Stanton, Surprisingly (or perhaps not so surprisingly) the poorest pieces in the book are the two which are nest balleyhoo * ed for the non-stf-read- ing public© Dicken’s THE RAT THAT COULD SPEAK and Daniel Defoe’s THE FRIENDLY DEMON turn out the poorest in content as far as comparison *goes I’ll take de Camp ANY day© u n it ti ii ti ii it n ii ii ii ii it n ii ii n n ii n ii ii n n ii ti ii ii n ii ii ii ti ti ti it it ii n ii ii n it it it ii it ti it n h ii ii it n it it it n ti it it it ii it ii it h h ON AND ON SAILS ASIMOV reviewed by R* Lowell FOUNDATION/ by Isaac Asimov/ Gnome Press/ New York/ 1951/ $2*75/255pp Being a newcomer to science fiction and having read a great deal of the POORER material* this gsngnifioent volume comes as a bolt of clear sunshinec First* let me soy tliot I unreservedly enjoyed FOUNDATION* To ny way of *thinking Mrc Asimov has a great deal of genius and *talent I understand that this is to be the first of a series based upon the history of the foundations; one on one end of the galaxy and the *other vying for *power at the other end* This is such a perfect exam ple of the sociological s-f *novel that anyone who reads it is bound to remember it for quite a *while This book should he read by every one of that clan that call then- solves science fiction fans* This is the closest thing to a science fi.tion classic* I have *read • n u h it ii ii ii it ii n ii ii ti ii ii ii ti ii ii ii it n w ii ti ii ii it ti nil ti ii ii it ii n it n ti ii ii it it n u u u ti n ii n ii n ti h ii ii it n ii it ii u it it h n n ii n "RUN MAW, WE’RE BEIN’ INVADED!** reviewed by Marilyn Andreas (continued Page 16) • READ ANY GOOD BOOKS LATELY? (continued) 16 INVADERS OF EARTH/, edited with an introduction by Groff Conkliii/Van- guard/ New York/ $2,95/ 333 pp/ 1952 Groff Conklin, GALAXY SCIENCE FICTION’S much-looked-up-to book ’ reviewer has .cone up with a highly literate and novel thene *anthology • In this,the fifth of his series of anthologies, Conklin has ass embled a group stories telling of the invasions of Earth (past,pres ent, future) with the accent oh.novel switches and trick endings^ Not to be read at one sitting, for the themes being the same it becomes somewhat nerve-wracking,if you take it in small doses it is quite the volume. Highly enjoyable, • ; Of special interest to readers are William F. Temple’s A DATE TO * REMEMBER arid Mack Reynold’s THE DISCORD MAKERS which stand out from the- rest and the top story of the lota n n ii it w it it ii n n ii h w ii ti ti ii it ii it ti ii ii tt it it ti tt it it ii ti ii jpi tt it it it ti it ti it ti n ti it ii it it it it it n it ii ii ti ii tt ii ti n it it h tt tt tt w featured book review **** . , ,:rr, \ . LABELED “SCIENCE FICTION AND SCIENCE . / reviewed, by Ray Yowler- L.1AGI NATION UNLIMITED/ edited by Everett F. Bleiler and *T.E ‘ Dikty/430 pp plus xiii/ *$350/ Farrar, Strauss and Young/ New York/ 1952/ • •' - < « I ■ - '. This is the best anthology I have ever *read • • More, it is posterity material* Even more, it will serve to convert recalcitrant science teachers who scoff at stf, and s-f doubters in *general What a volumetim (Yqb/i want four exclamation marks.) The thirteen stories in the book have been divided according to the science they take up, A masterful idea, well-executed* ‘ *Messrs Bleiler & Dikty, ed’s of the annual BEST SCIENCE FICTION STORIES series, here have carried off an anthological *coup Taking their tales from the promags (mostly aSF), they have put together as neat combe of stories as are available at the present. The lineup is thus and so: < MATHEMATICS': “What Dead Men Tell” by Theodore Sturgeon PHILOSOPHY: “Referent” by Ray Bradbury GEOLOGY AND GEOGRAPHY: ’’Blind Man’s Bluff” by Malcolm Jameson CHEMISTRY: “Pressure” by Ross Rocklynne PHYSICS: “The Xi Effect” by Philip Latham ASTRONOMY: “Old Faithful” by Raymond Z* Gallua BIOLOGY: “Alas, All ThinkiugJ” by Harry Bates BIO-CHEMISTRY: “Dune Roller" by Julian C. Moy 0 ' PALEONTOLOGY: “Employment” by *L Sprague de Camp (continued B* 17) ; READ ANY GOOD BOOKS LATELY? (continued.) U $ .»♦•••* * 17 PSYCHOLOGY? ’’Dreams Are Sacred” by Peter Phillipa SOCIOLOGY? "Hold Back Tomorrow-’ by Kris Neville LINGUISTICSv -‘ Buxom- by John Berryman ANTHROPOLOGY? r-The Eire And The S-vord” by Frnk M, Robinson The stories herein are all? without exception, rich meat for -the gtf reader with certain ones, as the delightful DREAMS ARE SACRED and the much-heralded Xi EITECT coming out a wee bit more secure in their- plot lines that perhaps the shaky-ish BERCM, But there definately is not one that might be termed ’’poor readme matter’’^ ‘ . Truly and happily an exceptional volume, A cornerstone for arg, etf library and if you never get another s-f book, don’t miss this one, A goci bet for converting non-stf readers to our way o’ thinkin’, t*» « W II II « II « II H IIIIII II ” IIIIIIII IIII « »• IIIIII IIIIII IIII ” H II ’♦ IIIIII HII tl tl IIII H IIII till n II H II H M II II tt »» M II H « II tt H H tt H rebuttal book review (PART 1) UN-UNDERSTANDABLE reviewed by Harlan Ellison . a WRIER IN MILLENIUM VI/ ty Curme Gray/Shaata Rubll9her8/Chlcago/1952/ $3.00/ 256 pp«/ • . ’ • ■ . * There are very few,' exoeeedingly few books to be specific, that • stump this reviewer, Tenacity is not one of my failings; I have been know to hang on through even the most horrid of stories, , ,but this one threw me, I could not finish the darned *thing Three or four chapters and my already warped mind was Spinning- *a round from unintelligible phrase to unintelligible phrase. Supposedly a ’’dramatic emergence of a profound and unusual liter ary style” (quotations by Shasta, not your reviewer’s), frankly the- book tuxes out to be somewhat of a mish-mosh of confusing material,- ■ It starts out with the old theme of the matriarchy civilization having replaced cur male-dominant one and having become highly sole - - tific and from there (first sentence) you plunge deeper and deeper into the quagmire of un-understandability. Perhaps the amount of grey matter in this noggin prevents your reviewer from seeing the ’’crystal-clear intellect shining through in- flawless style like some radiant diamond”. But I don’t know, When I pay three dollars for a book, I want to be able to plunge in and enjoy reading the thing. Not so for this pot-boiler, Personally, I cannot recommend this one, IIII It II U !l II 11 n H II IIIIII II II <• II II II IIIIII H II IIII II It IIflII It II II It « II II if 11 It It II11 It It II IIII H II tt It II II It It It <1 II It H II If If ft IIII I? since this book may prove controversial, we have decided to run a follow-up book review on MURDER IN MILLENIUM VI for next issue by E6J» Burden^ whether the same opinion’ is shared by the other reviewer, or a violent opposition springs forth, they should prove to be extremely interesting reviews when compared, your comments are highly desired and if you would like to do a review'of this or any book, just take pen in hand, write it and send it in, it ti ii n ii ii n it ii n n n n u n 11 ti 11 u n u n it u n n ii 11 n n m n ii n 1111 n u 11 ti n n irti ti ti n ti ti n ti n n 1111 n ti 11 it 11 '5 i? ‘f : v. ft n R Look for more book reviews in the next issue,c4 department ' 18 reviews of things SEEN and HEAR D * - , J XOTIOM VtCTURES SUPERMAN AND THE MOLE MEN starring George Reeves and Phyliss Coatee/ a Lippert Production/ rating: BETTER THE THEATRE SHOULD HAVE BURNED DOWN Movies are better than ever? Who spya? What a stinking fix the * motion -cloture industry must be in if they have to use Stupid, ** er*** SUPER man, for a hero of a full-1engther* This thing is the most up roarious comedy I have ever seen* Whether it was supposed to be pnc .3 another matter* The SUPERMAN has a baggy suit, the animation is. about • as subtle as a millstone, jjhose ’’mole men?’* are too ridiculous to ment ion and the story is straight from a comic book* Too bad this has to be confused with science fiction, isn’t it* CAPTAIN VIDEO/ serial/ chapter 1/ a Columbia Produotion/15 chapters/ ratingi What Hath God Wrought? Even the children who had attended the matinee laughed till they couldn’t stand up* ’ • Oh brother, is this thing *ridiculous And I do mean r-i-d-i-c-u-j.- o-u-Sc Here are a few f’rinstinces: the rocket ships in the picture start from INSIDE the laboratory and spew radioactive sparks (Gawd) all over the room vhile the technician stands and throws the switch* the robots (ha) are so ludicrtras itts revolting, Cap Video uses' such tre mendous scientific weapons as an op tic on scelometer and a cosmic vi brator* What an ungodly mass o’ mesa this thing *is TELEVISION, ’ . ' , ‘ SPACE PATROI/ Saturday Afternoons on Channel 9/ ;; Somewhat more bearable in its treatment of stf in general, this one at least has sound science and the story plots are *passable But it still is in the Buck Rogers *class TALES OF TOMORROW/ Friday/ channel 9/ 9:30/ Scheduled last Friday to do FLIGHT OVERDUE with Veronica Lake, the CSFS board of advisers saw the *thing Several members of the boards have been laid up since last *Friday It is a wonder how’ such a BAD piece of stuff could be on such a GOOD show as this *one RADIO SPACE PATROL/ Saturday afternoons/. See review of Space Patrol *above ’Same .applies *here 19 special feature GALLERY OF EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE by RAY GIBSON this is the first Jin a new series of e#t#s "by promising young stf artist Ray GibsonB y------comments ore requested# fill the SLUDGEWICK bleep-eater { Sludge wickius Crapsorber) In the year 4056, adtronomers of the Inner Planets discovered something extremely strange# For years all the garbage of the Inner Planets had been deposited on the small asteroid of SLUBGEWICK in an orbit between Earth and *Mars But on this fateful day the tel- escapes of the World turned toward *Sludge wick to marvel at>##an animal eating its way out from the middle of the garbage strewn planetoid# A nearly extinct race of semi-^ sextapeds had been buried under the rei-_ use and had, through the” Iyears, . developed appendages for consumingV the ----- *3™^V - ---- Chief among these are the shovel- like hand (see figure l)and the *-orange peel and eggshell sensitive nose (see sane)sane)# These friends of the refuse co- . Hectors have been a constant source of help and amusement to the Inner Planets Sewage and Sanitation Company and a boon in keep figure 1: FRONT VIEW OF ing Sludgewick useful# BLEEP-EATER figure 2; BLEEP-EATER’S EMERGENCE FROM ASTEROID OF SLUDGEWICK NEXT ISSUE; *ET #2i the half-track telepa of Rigel XXVII# t-octry 20 THE DREAMS ARE STELL WITH ME by stephen *f Schultheis . • . ; - Thff dreams are still with me when the pight deepens, dreams of a time and a plpce.that are nor * 1 vftieYQ the skies were nob ?lear with the certainty at death, but were veiled with a mystery that 7c.pb for our fate; the earth bloomed, beneath this gentle sadness^ • _ ahd'the green things grew and flourished where'we let them; f 'V stood by us in the night when the veil was lifted J our destiny called from the *heavens lut now, when the night scrutinizes with its corroded’reflector the’ vast areas where the green things once flourished, it finds, as I, only the endless plain of *glass A SONNET OF THE HUCKSTER AGE by Marilyn Andreas Welcome E.T.’s; men from’Mars, Men from other *planets,systems,stars Welcome to our *planet,Earth We’ll take you for all your *worth LONELINESS by frank Andrasovsky • ■ . ■ High on yon rook there stands, An ancient citadel,' Where only spirits dwell, Where memory and her echoes play, And shadows of forgotten days, ”^nt each hall and *passageway There ’neath the twilight skies The mystic towers rise Like castles grey, ’ Like dreams of things that used to *be In this castle bleak and old That mists and fogs caress, I see a lone and shrouded form Whose neme is loneliness. Somehow to me it seems, In all my feverish dreams She beckons: Loneliness The ghost of ruined citadels* it isn’t necessary to tell you that we are truly desperate for material particularly so on our poetry page, there must he some good work o wethere.** could certainly use it if you’ll write it for .**us department 21 IT«S IN THE BAG 08F8 BULLETIN’ s newest departm ; wherein the EDITOR ANSWERS HIS MAIL w it n n m it w n tt n tt ti h n n it 1111 ti ti mt ti it ti 11 ti it w it ini it mi u 11 it u n h h tt 11 n u n it 11 h h hit w u it ti n n tt n ft it it n it * « qm Dear Sir You asked for criticism for your finst issue of the BULLETIN and here is what I thinks Please don’t make all of your editorials as long as this one *was One question I have is where do you get the fact that this is the 12th issue of said *zine Keep the CITATION spot in the zine, that’s darn good* Also congrats to Steve on A MANIACAL INSTRUMENT. Real splendifer *ous In other words., I like itX How about SKETCHES AT A STF CLUB MEETING? Have Gibson do it,pul- (I’d get down on my knees on that except that thisfloor* is *hard) Yours very truly, Helen Andreas DEAR HELEN: WE LIKE TO ANSWER ALL LETTERS OUT IN THE OPEN AND TO THE FULLEST...NOT LIKE SOME ED’S THAT BYPASS CERTAIN *QUERIES AS TO THE LENGTH OF THE EDITORIALS. WE WILL TRY TO KEEP THEM TO ONE PAGE AT THE MOST IF POSSIBLE AT ALL *TIMES ONCE IN A WILE, AS WITH THE FIRST ONE AND THIS ISSUE’S (WHICH IS A GRIPE WE’VE HAD ON OUR MINDS FOR SOME TIME;0 BUT DON’T WORRY, THEY’LL GET SHORTER AS THINGS GET ROLLING.THIS ISSUE YOU ARE READING IS NUMBER 13 ACCORDING TO MY FILES OF THE CSFS BULLETIN* IT WAS FIRST STARTED BY NAN HANLIN AND EARL SIMON AND RAN UNDER THE MAME OF SCIENTIFICTIONALLY YOURS FOR ELEVEN ISSUES (THE MIX- UP IN THE NUMBERING COMING WITH TWO NUMBER S3* AND TWO NUMBER 7’S WHICH WHEN ADDED TO THE REGULAR NUMBER BROUGHT IT TO ELEVEN DIFFERENT ISSUES* THUS WHEN WE STARTED IT UNDER THE NAME OF THE BULLETIN, WE TOOK OVER ‘‘C NUMBER *TWELVE OKAY? WE INTEND TO KEEP THE CITATION IN, GLAD YOU LIKE RCueeSO DO WEn YOU CAN EXPECT MORE WORK FROM STEVE SCHULTHEIS. ALSO LOOK FOR HIS "THE DREAMS ARE STILL WITH ME" ON THE PRECEDING PAGE* IN RELATION TO THE ’’SKETCHES,.THAT WAS A ONE--SHOT JOB. NO MORE TILL WE HAVE ANOTHER BIG GET-TOGETHER, BUT AS FOR GIBSON: WELL, BY NOW YOU HAVE PROBABLY SEEN HIS OWN COLUMN0 THAT'LL BE IN EVERY TIME AND WE MAY HAVE OCCASIONAL COVERS NOW AN’ AGAIN SUCH AS THIS ISH’S WHICH WAS DONE BY RAY* ALSO LOOK FOR AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF HIM SHORTLY* ,.* .he tl II II II It II II ti «l II I! I. if .1 ?! II !l ;l ti II It ti It II u1; 1* il II II H ;| It It II II >1 li II U It It II It it I! II ’.I it II II ft It tl IIII II II II II II 11IIII IIII « II M It Dear Harlan: Thanks sincerely for that very scholarly letter of March *17 I that your fan magazine will have an equally scholarly *tone (l) 4As for the article on Fantasy Press that you wont for the ui'd issue, just what sort of article do you want and how much wordage do you want? When is your deadline? Cordially, L.A. Eshbaoh of FANTASY PRESS (concluded page 22) it's ih ths MAIL hag (oeneluded) 22 LEAR LLOYDt WE CERTAINLY ARE TRYING TO KEEP THE TONE OP THE BULLETIN UP TO A HIGH STANDARD. AS HIGH AS THE ONE YOU'VE SET FOR FANTASY PRESS AND AS FOR THAT ARTICLE...WELL,ANOTHER SCHOLARLY LETTER IS DUE ON THAT SUBJECT...... he Utt««nh iim ii t»ii ii ii ii tiii ii iiiiii iiii ii ii iiti«ii iihitiihn w iiu 11 wmi n•»Hitnit«hnhii« h iiwnn hii nn ii iiiiii ii iinn Dear Harlan, Just finished issue #12 of the Bulletin and as a wholt I think it was worth the *effort Ray Yowler’s article on Ray Bradbury was well- executed though I diagree with its’ cont ent * Bradbury is not a science fiction author, but a fantasy author* Personally I think he stinks. Your department CITATION is a good *idea By nomination for a fut ure issue is Iloyd Eshbaoh who I think has done more for sf than any one else other than Hugo Gernsback and possibly John W* *Campbell,Jr Till next issue I remain, ’ SCIENoerely yours, Rosemary Andrasovsky SEAR ROSEMARY: WE ARE MORE THAN HAPPY TO HEAR YOU ENJOYED OUR FIRST ISSUE. WE WILL TRY ANDTKMTd YOU PLEASED EVERY ISSUE* YOUR REMARK A* BOUT BRADBURY BEING A IVftiWvSY AUTLHOR BRINGS TC MIND THE SAYING THAT TODAY’S FANTASY IS TOMORROW-3o FACT*j^T BUT TO-EACH HIS ..ASOWN* A MATTER OF SOME COINCIDENCE, 'THE__ - CITATION :FOP THIS ISSUE IS LLOYD“ESHBACH.SEff 0 ohe PAGE 3. WE AGREE HEARTILY WITH YOU OK JWC.fr-. ii h w w ft ii ii ft B u ii ft ii ii ii ii ti » ii ii ft ii ii it ft ii ii ii ii n n it ii ft ii n n ti ft ft ii ii n ft ii it n ii ft ii ti ii ti ft « H it ftu ii nit tift tinnuHB ar Editor, You have requested some mail on your issue (#12) and there are a few things I thought I might Bay* • First of all, did you use a chicken’s foot in mimeo’ing thia iaWT. This is the LOUSIEST job of mimeographing I’ve ever seen* And why no page numbers’? Just try to find something in the issue without page nuew *bers It’s *confusing And please don’t promise us things on the cover that aren’t inside^ . f . . Don’t let these seemingly annoyed* sounding remarks’bother you* They are just some things you might improve* All in all, I like your BULLETIN very *much ’• Yours truly, Ralph Bee so DEAR RALPH:OH BOY, DID WE GET OUR KNOCKS FOR THAT MIMEO JOB ON #1B- THAT GOT MORE COMPLAINTS THAN EVEN THE BRADBURY ARTICLE. THE TROUBLE WAS. THAT WE WEREN’T PUTTING ENOUGH INK ON THE DRUM AND CONSEQUENTLY WERE WORKING OUR HEADS OFF WITH LITTLE (IF ANY)- RESULTS* YOU MAY HAVE *NOB ICED THAT THE ISSUE THIS TIME IS A DARN SIGHT BETTER (IF YOU EXCLUDE PAGE 21 WHICH CAME OUT *STINKO YOU’VE GOT YOUR PAGE NUMBERS THIS TIME ALSO*SORRY ABOUT THAT INCLUSION OF COVER *MATERIAL COULDN’T BE *HELPED » i>«h (inn nn »«n nniinn nnn nil nnn iiniin n nnn ii n 11 n nnnnnnnnnnn nnnniiiinn mm nnu (inn nnmin have you got a gripe? WE don't know it. and we won't ever find out either if you don't get busy and write sone mail. get with it and send it tox HARLAN ELLISON 12701 SHAKER BLVD. APARTMENT #16 CLEVELAND 20, OHIO 23 science fiction short short story by MARILYK AKDREAS We had been shuddering along in that half-life sub-space the physics men like to call ’’Hyper-space"* There wasn’t anything particularly adventurous about *us Just ryself and ny husband Rob* Out for the Flanetaiy Exploration Group trying to find new hones for the *colonists Good pay, our own hours* It was about fifty-million light-years out of Earth that we ran through that ’’dust cloud”* Whether it was a freak of spacey a warp, or there-actually was d cloud of void-natter that affected our sub-space drive, I don’t know* But whatever it was, it seemed to turn us inside *****out It was as though a monstrous hand had lifted the ”Trail-Blazer” and turned her fin-side in. Rob was thrown clear across the deck and l'landed in a heap next to the 0ompute-alla II I looked out the port* Off and to the right below us swagi the dull greenish orb of a • (concluded page 24 WARP ARD WEEP (concluded.) 24 planet* It looked quite dead from where we were* There wasn’t much to *say Rob knew we had to go down to see what damage had "been *done We began falling toward the globe in the port and *strangely I began humming a little tune I had once known* Something about a girl named sweet Betsy from Pike* Wherever that *was And then the strangest thing* ***« Something made me begin *reciting all the while plummeting to ward that dull planet *below “I have been here before,! *asserted in a nook on the neck of the Nile*** ’1 Rob looked up from the Compute-all and smiled lop-sidedly as he sometimes *would “What was that?” Good old Robj wouldn’t let me ever reminisceo Afraid I might get homesick for Earth and that family we had planned, or something* “I don’t know* just some ancient poem I remembered,” I answered* “Tighten up," he said, and *winked We hit what atmosphere the planet had to offer and went *in III “Doesn’t this place look familiar to you?” I asked as we poked through the rubble that had once housed a *civilization “An alien world look familiar?” Rob chided* "*"Hardly But I knew that he too had felt that odd “something” that-permeated this *planet But his logic was goodj how could an alien planet,albeit Earth-like, be familiar? Earth-like,yes* But very, very dead* The weeks went *past Ko damage had been discovered on the ship, but we had assumed the job we came, out here for* To *survey * To make homes for the colonists of young but over-crowded Earth* *Young * *Earth * * * * IV That feeling had persisted all through the months on that planet) the feeling **that owe had been here *before Until one day Rob came running up to the makeshift cabin with the most peculiar strained look on his *face I knew immediately* He didn’t say anything* We both went-inside and sat do™., not speaking* After a long while Rob said, quietly, ”Wna,.; what do you think happened? Waw there really a.**space-warp? Were we away longer than we thought?" Rob slowly rose and took me by the hand and we walked to the door and looked out at the jumbled remains of a once-great culture* The (really concluded page 25) WARP AND WEEP )really concluded) * ruined Basses of the metropolii# < Perhaps we*11 start all over again# Maybe not# But do you think we should change our names to Adam and Eve? • • a.■ ♦«• • the end h ti ti h n » w ii h n n w « n n n n h n n ii n w iih h h n u n n w n ii h n w u n u ti tin n w n n n n i» h it <£n tetittWttiinwwHwnwwnii the mutant h n it u n n n ii u n w it ii ii h ii ii it it u 11 n n n n it 11 it n «it it n it n ti ti« it it it w «ti ti 1111 ti it h it it w 11 ti n it h w n ti it it u h it«it w « feature article ON STF CCMIX AND SUCH RALPH Every new fad can expect to he exploited to the fullest# Why should science fiction think it is any different? Just because we happen to love s-f and know its’ relative merits, that doesn’t mean that the Hucksters should feel any pity# And they certainly don’t# Take a look at your local comic book section on the newsstandx TATES FROM UNKNOWN WORLDS THE THING COMICS TERROR COMICS ATOMIC AGE WARFARE CAPTAIN TOOTSIE’S SPACE LEGION IT COMICS SPACE PATROL MARVEL BOY SCIENCE COMICS BLUE BOLT SCIENCE HOUSE OF MYSTERY STRANGE ADVENTURES MYSTERY IN SPACE COMICS ,„&d inf ini turn, ad nausMgrn##### What can we do about it? Not a darned thing# It’s out of the stf fan’s hands completely# Comic books, like everything else, go through stages# You oan probably remember the first big boom, little over two or three years ago» That was the *crime boom# True crime comics by the billions crowded practically everything else off the comic book stands# Then we hit the western splash# Wyoming Ned- and the Dalton Brothers and the Black Rider and the Cross-Draw Kid shared the spotlight# Next it was the love comic# Bare flesh and ”1 Was A Wanton Baby- Sitter” plastered themselves all over the kid’s ”comicM books# Then### About eight or nine months ago we hit the stf boom# Atomic warfare and -f* movies, not to mention the untoward popularity of the s-f pulps combined to bring that dollar-sign look into the huckster’s eyes# So now we sit back, not bo easily, and watch ’em flood in# We keep our tempers when we say we read stf and those ”comix*»ab tft sorbers” chuggle back at uo5 ”0h«. did you see that terr-r-r-lffic story in TALES FROM THE CRYPT COilCS about that vampire that###”, we nod pat iently as we see a person whom wo had been trying to . carrying a load cf that for-real trash, who says innocently, ' J (continued page 26) OT STF CCMIX AND SUCH (continued) , 26 thought I’d relax with ’em,• «just a change^ You "know* Or we hold back those four-letter And what does * all this' do to the stf field? f What do you think? It louses it up thoroughly* You want to make a good impression on a new reader with a spanking bright copy of ASTOUNDING and what happens? He looks at vie words SCIENCE FICTION on the cover and rem* embers a ”stf comic” he had seen* and then he polite1 ly (but oh so firmly) says, ”1 don’t think I’d be interested in this,” (He says "this” in the sane way you'd say )*leprosy IXflCAL MlC Or you are trying to convince a 3tf-skeptic Book R.6APGK about our beloved and what *happens "Oh yeah," with a cynical tone, "science fiction is great,” still more cynical $one, ’’Buck Rogers and Space Patrol# I caw some of your gee at s-f the other day»” Then with a snort,’’Comic book stuff* TrashJ” There is only one thing we *can-do And that is prayo Pray that this blight that has descended upon.us .will, like most other fads,die off and the hucksters will rush off to the war, or detective, or bove comic field, PleaseJ *But in all fairness, it aeeys only fitting that we pay credit whci _ credit is due, to borrow a- *cliche The EoCc comic. group has a series of magazines that they issue *regularly Of these, three are more than worthy of note. They *are WEIRD SCIENCE, WEIRD FANTASY and SHOCK SUSPENSTORIES* (We' can get the SHOCK SUSPENSTORIES out of the way by merely Bay ing that they feature one high-grade s-f tale in each )issue* • • • Q t ' featuring original stories of stf and fantasy (mostly s-f), WEIRD SCIENCE ANS WEIRD FANTASY have really made a name for themselves in the science fiction comic world, such as it is. Their art is top-notch stuff* Really fine work by artists who you can tell are not hacks but take pride in their work, leading the artietn of those magazines is a fellow named WALLY WOOD who should certain" be locked up by the *promags His work is highly commendable. And hia coversthey would grace the walls of' any stf den or bedroom with a science fiction motif. The stories are cleverly written and fast-plotted,’ handling science fiction from one range to the other, through the entire *gamut Taking in, skillfully, every facet of s-f from star travel to *cybernetics The titles WEIRD FANTASY and WEIRD SCIENCE are no indication of the contents of the *nags They are horror stories although the tales at times assume the most blood-chilling of *prospects *• ' * ‘ (continued page 27) •OH STF CQMIX AND SUCH (concluded) 27 The stories primarily have novel twists in the ends that make them highly enjoyable and if not thought-provoking, at least enter taining* Which is saying a darned sight more for them than for several s-f *mags Such novel ideas as having a scientist coming through a matter transmitter fin the middle of an electrical storm so that he is really clobbered up is just one of the many different ideas used in these two *magazines And although it is our wont to make fun, generally, of so-called '’’science fiction comics”, it seems only fair that we give more than a cursory glance to *these For they are definitely not trash* To be painfully blunt, they are damned *good 0*.and so if one night, after you’ve finished GALAXY" or ASTOUND ING, why not pick one of these two up***you might really enjoy *them :i« n « ii u;»ii i» tt n 11 11 n ti ti it11 tt ii « ti it it ti 11 11 ti h n w u 11 n n n 1111 11 h it it n 11 h tt 11 it n it it it n it« it i» it « « •• ’• ’• ’• « <• ” w ” « dep&rtne nt C S F S -STORY RECOMMENDATIONS We like0therefore** we pick for ’’approved” good reading for perhaps your consideration: FANTASTIC., €4C .SIX AND TEN ARE JOHNNY by Walter *M Miller, *Jr FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE by Sam Martinez “SOMEDAY THEY’LL GIVE US GUNS” by Paul *W Faiman THE OPAL NECKLACE by Kris Neville THE SMILE by Ray Bradbury PROFESSOR BINGO’S SNUFF by Raymond Chandler (all right, all right, so we love the )*issue ASTOUNDING SCIENCE *FICTION . ...DUMB WAITER by Walter M. Miler,Jr* GUNNER CADE (part 2) by Cyril Judd OTHER WORLDS SCIENCE STORIES* .* .TRADITION by J.T. M’Intosh IMAGINATION.* TONIGHT THE SKY WILL FALL& by Daniel *F Galouye FINAL EXAMINATION by Robert Shepkley DESTINY UNCERTAIN by Rog Phillips GALAXY SCIENCE *FICTION *. **ACCIDENTAL FLIGHT by F. L* Wallace Our tremendous editorial staff 1 person and a goldfish) didn’t have much reading time this issue, so bear with us and watch us next *time YOUR COMMENTS AS TO THIS DEPARTMENT PARTICULARLY ARE *REQUESTED PLEASE SEND .ANY AND ALL LEITERS OR CARDS TO’THE’ ADDRESS GIVEN ON PAGE 22* - WE’LL REALLY APPRECIATE ’EM he the ed special feature fan article-storyette 28 TRAPPING T H E B E A S T fry harlan ellisun ABOUT THIS STORY; If the statement is true that genius herders upon insanity, then the author of this short story is, perhaps, a *genius- certainly he is a borderline case, As an illustration of this assert ion, we have TRAPPING THE BEAST, one of his more recent literary pro ductions, which graphically illustrates the distorted perspective of a nind exhibiting that peculiar form of mental decay known as biblio* ***-bibliomania literatura fantastica, to be exact* The warped interpretation of sensory perception into egocentr^. amplification, cast in the symbolistic terminology of the literary form to which he is so morbidly addicted, is painfully evident,. It is no mere coincidence that Yours Truly habitually carries a small black suitcase and a black briefcase when engaged in biblio- technic perambulation, not that a plastic raincoat is kept available for the event of atmospheric precipitation, These---and other--- commonplace facts are presented brilliantly, but in such a manner that they express a certain esoteric signifigance to the author. The secret labyrinth of his mind yields the twisted idol of an obscure literary form, In what way this may further influence his psychodynamic evolution, is difficult to extrapolate^ he may become another Robert Heinlein.,,or another Marquis de Sade, ----ww-stephen F, Schultheis, president, Cleveland Science Fiction Society ABOUT THIS STORY AND THIS INTRODUCTION; Basically, .this thing should NOT have been published, It is against my better judgement that it is. In the first place because it was merely a letter written from myself to Stephen F. Schultheis of Warren,Ohio, a fellow s-f fan and strictly in ffin and in the second place because too many people out side the OSES won’t know what .in the heck it is about. Or what makes it (as Schultheis terms it) "so blasted funny% For those who won’t understand without an explanation of the story ANT; that more-confusing-than-ever introduction, this is ded- icated0 • , , ,, Harlan Ellison has at times had quite a few arguments with atore- mentioned Schultheis© On one occasion at a rather disreputable book shop on the West side of Cleveland, Stephen Fo grabbed a copy of John Taine-s '-Before The Dawn4 ((an extremely rare volume) from neath the questing digits of rhe ’Mighty Moron-" Ellison* . On a later occasion, Ellison was warned that if he ,came to New Orleans for the Annual Science Fiction Convention, the rest of the fen from Cleveland would disembark from any bus he would enter© That then is the framework from which the rather subtle ((like a sledge-hammer) bit o’ humour following has been derived. We certainly hope you like it because WE certainly don’t intend to turn the page on which "The Monster" begins, You’re on your own,• ••• —•.——Harlan Ellison, author of TRAP PING THE BEAST and editor of the CSFS BULLETIN Jstory fan-article begins on page 29) TRAPPING THE BEAST (beginning) 29 TRAPPING the BEAST by harl an’ elli son I Seventy million miles from the'Solar System was a *planet It was a hot and steamy planet* In the thick? living jungles of the planet was a b.easti The planet was known to galactic observers as Warrum, and was the home of the horribly fat and bloated monster known as the *Steevthyse It was'a slovenly thing that wore a skin of a sheen resembling yi. koi, but loose and plastic-like, as a transparent raincoat might bc6 .; ^...u • appendages, leathery things that resembled respectively a suilease and a *briefcase Rough comparisons, you *understand II .. And speeding through the cathedral of Space there was a sliver of silver metal* A space ship0 Within the space ship there was but one manc Captain Harl Eller# It was his’ assignment to capture the horrible monster of Warrum, and bring it and its booty back to *Terra Eller was *grim Grim and determined* The task ahead was no mean objective,, To separate the Steevthyee from its horde and capture it was a task that had been set before many another agent of the Galactic Orderlien Operational Police^ - - - ~ „ Each time a GOOP officer had been sent to Warrum to capture it, all that had been heard was a static-filled message to the effect that, ’;There aint* no book shops'down herelh . So now he, Harl Eller, had been *selected Grim, thought Eller, that he of all the agents should finally get the job* He had had a run-in wi^EE the Steevthyse once *before It was several eons back, he remembered# He let his mind *wander Wandering *****mind III The book shop of Syrtis Straight Plush was just *ahead Harl quickened his *step Suddenly from a public air-crcni that bore the large dirt-smudged legend of See-Tee-Urps, burst a horribly sluggish animal that was never meant for the speed it was now striving to *attain It leaped for the book shop door? its two tentacle-like appendages quivering slightlyc The one resembling a battered suitcase slapped light ly at the plastilite door, and it was inside^ Harl, sensing danger, cautiously followed, noting that the place was a disreputable *hole ’’Just the kind of dump you*d expect to see THAT thing in, ” he *muttered . , . The floor was unswept, the windows were clouded over, and the neontube in the ceiling cast hut a malific shadow of its former brilli... ce * On the wall was a sign that said dirtily: ALL MAGAZINES .26^ (continued page 30) TRAPPING THE BEAST (continued) 30 Even through the dirt, Harl was elated# Only a quarter for all those old Gernsbeans THUNDERS in that pile# Wat a findj The owner was as disreputable as his place# A slob# He stood be- hind a glass case (broken-fronted) and leered at a ^air of booby-soxers who were tearing through a pile of comixxes, while he wound the pro peller of a little model of an antique air-fliwer up tight# With a swish of his good arm (he had a hook###equipped with a coin changer on the other) he released the plane# It sailed over the room and just missed striking Harl in the head# Tn a flash he had his Atom-Birdbath-Chickenf at-HEM-Splash-Dis inti go Ray and had blasted away half the front wall in a wild shot at . c madly careening air-flivver# The owner? not the least bit perturbed about the store front,cont- inuoj. to leer at the oommixx-gazers# Then Harl. spotted them# On a small shelf# on the other side of the store, was a group of# not magazinesj not commixxes-. but books! Yeas,books® Books that, had been banned and obsolete lo these fifty years# A real live *breathing living bookc, And then he spotted it! The brown backing said? AFTER THE DUSK by JAN PAINE He lurched forward, almost drunkenly* But a briefcase came from nowhere, and whisked the treasure from under his questing fingers® The monster^ which he identified from memories of WANTED signs in the post office as the monster of Warrun, the St.eevthyse, ran (or rather slopped) over to the owner of the shop and said in a rasping, cunning, squeezing voice, n *3w much?” "Five hundred thousand credits,” wheezed the owner# KFi0o0” gasped Harl^almost unintelligibly# ”1 can poy0” chortled the monster, peeling off a small stack of hundred thousand credit-notes# ”1 don!t like to argue with customers,” sneered the owner at Harl, who just gaped, ‘The second time they come in, I just tell ’em we’re all out of magazinesr. I don’t hafta argue#” ”But I was about to take that book myself J” stormed Harl, hie argc ■ rising^ ”Too bad,” giggled the monster, edging toward the *portway With a heave he was gone, out the portway and into an air-omni that bore the legend, ESBWORIEOWO GOT# From a window the mpnster’s head appeared as he yelled, ”>o use chasing me# If you get on this bus, I’ll get/ off# And so will all my friends# So you’d better not show your face on it* ” And then the Omni roared out of sight# nr The rocket settled to the thick, matted floor of the jungle of Warrum# Harl donned an atmo-suit, and stalked from the port, the rem embrance of the Syrtis Straight Flush Book Shop incident still hot in >, his mind# , • Hardly armed, but wanting to take the monster single-handed, he shifted his pack containing the Denning atom-slammer rifle,the Greeley (continued page 31) TRAPPING THE BEAST (conducted) 31 rrTPiindecu *he BW'blotter- the Feluscoo diBintigrator, ^heaRcyl?7^L t?c Eadin^ Davidson offset-vari-harpaichord thought deadener. to1 the small atom-cannon mounted half-trackf an SG<' out, the disintigrator robots following behind, dragging th laUTCUB5'a%i'ort hill, down through a vine-covered depress, and then,.,. The fortress Btbod in ihe middle of a huge moat J^ickBand, Warl Eller swung a thin neo-plaet rope from his uti y E _ en) aX releali^e trigger mechanism, shot it across ™at^till ?Ugh"°Bwinced Harl, "what a slovenly nose. In fact, What a slovenly bea3t-4-h.en they were at it with hand blast ere and tongs, -Ihe air osified add odorized, it coagulated and congealed, it ‘fvoze and *frothed it bubbled and burst, »_ « .And in the end> but one remained, clutching a book that said on the brown jacket! AFTER THE DUSK Dri Heric Church Buzzer ^the^rafi^’lF YOU’VE GOT TO LIVE IN A FORTRESS, DON’T have a long nosei the end last MINUTE NEW ...... (and I do mean last mlnuteeetj Today>April 4, 1952, the first issue of the new and hardly heralded stf magnap’ edited byoy WSTERjpuaoi^n. del Rfe»Y came out, . . It is entitled STAGE SCIENCE ACTION and is a 35/ pocket-size withXseni-slick p^es of‘thT consistency of IMAGINATION’ a Pages. nCC it ha! a four-color cover by Paul Orban and included the following, PURSUIT by* Lester del Rey feature novel YOUTH by Isaac Asimov novelette . f mrn’ vao MACHINE by Henry Kuttner (promised in the last issue oi THE EGO MA0H1WL oy nenry WORLDS BEYOND that cane out before it folded) novelette ULTROCK ERROR by Jerry Sohl short story TO EACH HIS STAR by Bryce Walton short story REVIEW: - ix-u SC3ENCE—FICTION AND FACT by George O« Smith nnlv departments are the editorial (FIRST FLIGHT) and a Calling All Eans^ department. The art inside is by 1 it is a bi-monthly and the first issue is dated May 1952 vol. 1 no. a see you next issue,he the ed