First issue of Amazing Stories, art by Frank R. Paul

Amazing Stories magazine, sometimes retitled Amazing Science Fiction, was first published in April 1926 in New York City, thereby becoming the first magazine devoted exclusively to publishing stories in the genre presently known as science fiction (SF). It is regarded as the world's first science fiction magazine. After the April 2005 issue, the magazine went on "hiatus" and as of March 2006, the magazine's current publisher announced that it would no longer be published. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1188x1648, 2966 KB)I scanned this image from a copy of the magazine. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1188x1648, 2966 KB)I scanned this image from a copy of the magazine. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Oct. ...

Created by Hugo Gernsback, with many of its covers by the legendary Frank R. Paul, it featured a much-imitated logo of the magazine name in ever-shrinking letters. Amazing Stories was filled with stories of "scientific romance". Gernsback coined the portmanteau word "scientifiction" (abbreviated "STF") as a name for the genre which, over the years, became science fiction. Hugo Gernsback (August 16, 1884 - August 19, 1967) was an inventor and magazine publisher who also wrote science fiction and whose publication included the first science fiction magazine. ... Frank Rudolph Paul (April 18, 1884 - June 29, 1963) was an illustrator of US pulp-magazines in the science fiction field. ... A portmanteau (IPA: ) is a word or morpheme that fuses two or more words or word parts to give a combined or loaded meaning. ...

The Gernsback Amazing

Gernsback attempted to create a premium product, and had visions of a world made anew by science. Pulp magazines were about 180 x 250 mm, with ragged (uncut) edges; 'Amazing Stories' was larger, 200 x 280 mm, the so-called bedsheet format, with neatly trimmed edges and a slightly higher cover price. This article is about inexpensive fiction magazines. ... This article is about magazine format. ...

Gernsback frequently reprinted those writers he considered the fathers of stf: H. G. Wells, Jules Verne, and Edgar Allan Poe. There were frequent reprints, as it took a few years to build up a level of available new writers for more original material. Herbert George Wells (September 21, 1866 – August 13, 1946), better known as H. G. Wells, was an English writer best known for such science fiction novels as The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man, The First Men in the Moon and The Island of Doctor Moreau. ... This article is about the French author. ... Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American poet, short story writer, playwright, editor, literary critic, essayist and one of the leaders of the American Romantic Movement. ...

Amazing was the first science fiction magazine, but it did not appear out of the blue. Gernsback had been publishing magazines like Modern Electrics since 1909, with the emphasis on science and invention, but with the occasional stf story thrown into the mix. It was the popularity of the stories in those pages which prompted Gernsback to try publishing an all-fiction magazine like Amazing. Modern Electrics was a technical magazine for the amateur radio experimenter. ...

By March 1929, however, Gernsback had been forced into bankruptcy (see Experimenter Publishing bankruptcy), and lost control of Amazing, which continued publication without interruption under its new owners. In July 1929, Gernsback launched the first rival to the magazine he had founded — Science Wonder Stories. Wonder Stories was a science fiction pulp magazine which published 66 issues between 1930 and 1936, edited by Hugo Gernsback. ...

Modern science fiction fandom dates its birth to these two magazines. Amazing printed reader comments in a letter column which included the full addresses of its correspondents, which allowed fans of the genre to begin contacting each other in person and via the mails, while Wonder Stories began chartering local fan clubs under the umbrella of the Science Fiction League. Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is the community of people actively interested in science fiction and fantasy literature, and in contact with one another based upon that interest. ...

After Gernsback

June 1947 issue of Amazing Stories, featuring the "Shaver Mystery"

The new publishers of Amazing installed T. O'Conor Sloane as editor; he had served as Gernsback's managing editor. He continued until 1938, when the title was sold to Ziff Davis.^[1] Amazing altered its format to the more traditional pulp size with rough-cut pages and for some years it followed a less serious bent under editor Raymond A. Palmer, achieving commercial success but critical derision for its "Shaver Mystery" stories of creatures allegedly inside the Earth which were presented as fact rather than as SF.^[2] At Ziff Davis, Amazing soon gained a companion title, Fantastic Adventures, also edited by Palmer, which quickly became a more fantasy-oriented magazine. Fantastic Adventures was published until 1954, when both magazines changed from pulp to digest format, and Fantastic Adventures changed its name to Fantastic. Both magazines briefly attempted a more sophisticated look, but were soon back to publishing space opera, under editor Howard Browne. In 1980, the two magazines merged under the title Amazing Stories. Image File history File links Amazing0647. ... T. OConor Sloane ( 1851- 1940) was the editor of Amazing Stories from 1929 through 1938, when publisher Ziff-Davis moved production of the magazine to Chicago and named Raymond A. Palmer as Sloanes successor. ... Ziff-Davis Inc. ... Raymond A. Palmer (1910-1977) was the influential editor of Amazing Stories from 1938 through 1949, when he left publisher Ziff-Davis to form his own company. ... Richard Sharpe Shaver (b. ... Fantastic Adventures was a fantasy and science fiction magazine published in the United States from 1939 to 1953. ... For other uses, see Fantasy (disambiguation). ... Fantastic was a fantastic fiction magazine. ... Howard Browne (April 15, 1908–October 28, 1999) was a science fiction editor and mystery writer. ...

In 1959, Cele Goldsmith became editor, and began to publish some of the better new writers, including Ward Moore and Ursula K. Le Guin. Cele Goldsmith-Lalli (1933 – January 14, 2002) was an US-American editor. ... Ward Moore (August 10, 1903 - January 28, 1978) was the working name of American author Joseph Ward Moore. ... Ursula Kroeber Le Guin [ˌɜɹsələ ˌkɹobɜɹ ləˈgWɪn] (born October 21, 1929) is an American author. ...

Amazing continued publication more or less continuously from 1926 until the 1990s under various editors, publishers and formats. During its final decade it was published erratically, and eventually Wizards of the Coast cancelled a version published by Pierce Watters. Wizards of the Coast (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is a publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes. ...

In 2004 it was relaunched by Paizo Publishing, but after the April 2005 issue, the magazine went on "hiatus". In March 2006, Paizo announced that it would no longer publish Amazing. ^[3] Paizo Publishing is a publishing company that specializes in magazines aimed at audiences interested in role-playing games and other gaming-related hobbies. ...

Publication details

Similarly named publications

In its early actual pulp years, there were companion titles including Amazing Stories Quarterly and Fantastic Adventures Quarterly. At the time, "returns" were complete copies of the magazines, so they were stripped of their original covers and three consecutive issues would be bound together under one new cover and offered for sale again.

The title Amazing has also been used for unconnected publications including the British science fiction magazine Amazing Science Stories (1951).

Editors

Star Trek: The Amazing Stories cover

• Hugo Gernsback (April 1926-April 1929)
• Arthur Lynch (May 1929-October 1929)
• T. O'Conor Sloane (November 1929-May 1939)
• Raymond A. Palmer (June 1939-December 1939)
• Bernard G. Davis (January 1940-May 1946)
• Raymond A. Palmer (June 1946-December 1949)
• Howard Browne (January 1950-August 1956)
• Paul W. Fairman (September 1956-December 1958)
• Cele Goldsmith Lalli (January 1959-June 1965)
• Joseph Wrzos (August 1965-October 1967)
• Harry Harrison (December 1967-September 1968)
• Barry N. Malzberg (November 1968-January 1969)
• Ted White (March 1969-February 1979)
• Elinor Mavor (May 1979-August 1981 under the pseudonym Omar Gohagen, November 1981-September 1982 under her own name)
• George H. Scithers (November 1982-July 1986)
• Patrick Lucien Price (September 1986-March1991)
• Kim Mohan (May 1991-1995 and 1998-2000)
• David Gross (May 2004-October 2004)
• Jeff Berkwits (October 2004-March 2005)

B.G. Davis held the title of Editor at all Ziff-Davis magazines but had little daily involvement at Amazing. After Browne's departure, Norman Lobsenz was Editorial Director (writing editorials but not buying stories) until the magazine was sold to Sol Cohen (Ultimate Publishing Company).^[4] During Cohen's first years, the magazine was edited entirely by Joseph Wrzos, who signed himself "Joseph Ross." Cohen concentrated on acquiring artwork (both old and new) and on layouts and production. Elinor Mavor used the title Editorial & Art Director for a while before dropping "Omar Gohagen" completely. Pierce Watters was "Executive Editor" and superior to Mohan during Mohan's second term. Hugo Gernsback (August 16, 1884 - August 19, 1967) was an inventor and magazine publisher who also wrote science fiction and whose publication included the first science fiction magazine. ... T. OConor Sloane ( 1851- 1940) was the editor of Amazing Stories from 1929 through 1938, when publisher Ziff-Davis moved production of the magazine to Chicago and named Raymond A. Palmer as Sloanes successor. ... Raymond A. Palmer (1910-1977) was the influential editor of Amazing Stories from 1938 through 1949, when he left publisher Ziff-Davis to form his own company. ... Bernard G. Davis was an American publishing executive. ... Raymond A. Palmer (1910-1977) was the influential editor of Amazing Stories from 1938 through 1949, when he left publisher Ziff-Davis to form his own company. ... Howard Browne (April 15, 1908–October 28, 1999) was a science fiction editor and mystery writer. ... Paul W. Fairman (1916-1977) was an editor and writer in a variety of genres under his own name and pseudonyms. ... Cele Goldsmith-Lalli (1933 – January 14, 2002) was an US-American editor. ... At the 63rd World Science Fiction Convention in Glasgow, August 2005 Harry Harrison (born Henry Maxwell Dempsey, March 12, 1925 in Stamford, Connecticut) is an American science fiction author who has lived in many parts of the world including Mexico, England, Denmark and Italy. ... Barry N. Malzberg (born 1939) is an American writer and editor, most often of science fiction and fantasy; initially in his post-graduate work he sought to establish himself as a playwright as well as prose-fiction writer. ... Frank Frazettas cover illustration for Ted Whites Phoenix Prime Ted White (born February 4, 1938) is an American science fiction author and editor as well as a music critic. ... For other uses, see Alias. ... George H. Scithers (born 1929) is a science fiction author and editor. ... Jeff Berkwits is an American science fiction editor. ...

Media crossovers

Director Steven Spielberg licensed the title for use on an American television show called Amazing Stories that ran from 1985 to 1987. Spielberg named it after the magazine, which his father had read since he was a child.^{[citation needed]} Steven Allan Spielberg (born December 18, 1946)[1] is an American film director and producer. ... Amazing Stories was the name of an American television show put together by director Steven Spielberg from 1985 to 1987. ...

Between 1998 and 2000, Amazing Stories published the first (and, to date, only) officially licensed magazine short stories based upon the Star Trek franchise. In 2002, these stories were reissued by Pocket Books in the collection Star Trek: The Amazing Stories. This article is about the entire Star Trek franchise. ... Pocket Books is the name of a subdivision of Simon & Schuster publishers. ...

Amazing Stories also published several Babylon 5 stories written by J. Michael Straczynski. Babylon 5 is an epic American science fiction television series created, produced, and largely written by J. Michael Straczynski. ... Joseph Michael Straczynski (born July 17, 1954) is an award-winning American writer/producer of television series, novels, short stories, comic books, and radio dramas. ...

A short story by science fiction author Isaac Asimov, "Birth of a Notion", tells how a time-travelling physicist briefly visits Hugo Gernsback and plants the idea for the title Amazing Stories. Isaac Asimov (January 2?, 1920?[1] – April 6, 1992), pronounced , originally Исаак Озимов but now transcribed into Russian as Айзек Азимов [1], was a Russian-born American author and professor of biochemistry, a highly successful writer, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. ...

July, 1926 issue

Amazing Stories, Volume 1, Number 4, gives a feeling of the original magazine. ^[5] The cover features a Frank R. Paul illustration of giant house fly, many times the size of a man. It is attacking a naval vessel, which is firing artillery at it. The lower-right corner boldly proclaims "Stories by H. G. Wells, Jules Verne, Garrett P. Serviss". At the bottom of the cover is the legend "Experimenter Publishing Company, New York, publishers of Radio News — Science & Invention — Radio Review — Amazing Stories — Radio Internacional" [sic]. Frank Rudolph Paul (April 18, 1884 - June 29, 1963) was an illustrator of US pulp-magazines in the science fiction field. ...

There were 96 pages, but the page numbering continued from the previous issue. The only non-fiction is a 1-page editorial in which Gernsback expands on the magazine's motto: Extravagant Fiction Today . . . Cold Fact Tomorrow.

The contents page lists:

• G. McLeod Windsor, Station X (part 1 of 3 parts)
• H. G. Wells, The Man Who Could Work Miracles
• Jacque Morgan, The Scientific Adventures of Mr. Fosdick: The Feline Light and Power Company Is Organised (a humorous piece about trying to generate usable static electricity from cats)
• Garrett P. Serviss, The Moon Metal
• Curt Siodmak, The Eggs From Lake Tanganyika
• Hugo Gernsback, The Magnetic Storm
• Edgar Allan Poe, The Sphinx
• Jules Verne, A Trip To The Centre of The Earth (last part of serial)
• Clement Fezandié, Doctor Hackensaw's Secrets: The Secret of the Invisible Girl

Each story has a full page illustration. There are a very few small advertisements (magic tricks, trusses, etc.) and classified advertisements (For sale: Rharostine "B" Eliminator, $15). Herbert George Wells (September 21, 1866 – August 13, 1946), better known as H. G. Wells, was an English writer best known for such science fiction novels as The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man, The First Men in the Moon and The Island of Doctor Moreau. ... Static electricity is a class of phenomena involving the net charge present on an object; typically referring to charged object with voltages of sufficient magnitude to produce visible attraction, repulsion, and sparks. ... Garrett Putnam Serviss (1851-1929) was an astronomer, popularizer of astronomy, and early science fiction writer. ... Curt Siodmak (1902–2000) was a novelist and screenwriter, author of the novel Donovans Brain, which was made into a number of films. ... Hugo Gernsback (August 16, 1884 - August 19, 1967) was an inventor and magazine publisher who also wrote science fiction and whose publication included the first science fiction magazine. ... Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American poet, short story writer, playwright, editor, literary critic, essayist and one of the leaders of the American Romantic Movement. ... The Great Sphinx at Giza, Egypt The Great Sphinx of Giza is a large half-human, half-lion Sphinx statue in Egypt, on the Giza Plateau at the west bank of the Nile River, near modern-day Cairo (). It is one of the largest single-stone statues on Earth, and... This article is about the French author. ...

Other Notable Issues

The August 1928 issue of Amazing Stories has become a sought-after collectors item.^{[citation needed]} It is important in the history of the space opera subgenre because it includes Armageddon 2419 A.D. - the first appearance of Buck Rogers - and E.E. Smith's The Skylark of Space, considered one of the first space opera novels. Though Armageddon 2419 A.D. was not a space opera, the comic strip based on it certainly was. Classic pulp space opera cover, with the usual cliché elements. ... Buck Rogers is a fictional pulp character who first appeared in 1928 as Anthony Rogers, the hero of two novellas by Philip Francis Nowlan published in the magazine Amazing Stories. ... Grey Lensman in Astounding Oct. ... The Skylark of Space is one of the earliest novels of interstellar travel. ...

The July 1940 issue of Amazing featured an illustration by Frank R. Paul on the back cover. It showed a model of an Earthling, as imagined by Martians, that included a small image of Earth as a cloudless blue planet. Forrest J Ackerman cites this as one of the earliest corrections to the popular pre-spaceflight image of Earth as a green world.^[6] Frank Rudolph Paul (April 18, 1884 - June 29, 1963) was an illustrator of US pulp-magazines in the science fiction field. ... Forrest J Ackerman (born November 24, 1916 in Los Angeles, California) is a legendary science fiction fan and collector of science fiction-related memorabilia. ...

References

• Ackerman, Forrest J (1997). Forrest J Ackerman's World of Science Fiction. Los Angeles: RR Donnelley & Sons Company. ISBN 1-57544-069-5. 

1. ^ "Advertising News and Notes", New York Times, January 18 1938, pp. 28.  "Ziff-Davis Publishing Company, New York and Chicago, has purchased Radio News Magazine and Amazing Stories."
2. ^ Ackerman. "Amazing! Astounding! Incredible! Pulp Science Fiction", World of Science Fiction, 117-118. 
3. ^ Amazing Stories And Undefeated Magazines Cancelled. Paizo Publishing. Retrieved on 2006-04-02.
4. ^ Carlson, Walter. "Advertising: Death and Taxes and Insurance", New York Times, June 23 1965, pp. 62. " [P]urchase by the Ultimate Publishing Company, Inc., of two science-fiction magazines from Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. [Amazing Stories and Fantastic.] … according to Sol Cohen, president of Ultimate."
5. ^ Paul, Frank R.. Amazing Stories July 1926 cover. Frank R. Paul Gallery. Frank Wu. Retrieved on 2006-04-02.
6. ^ Ackerman. "Amazing! Astounding! Incredible! Pulp Science Fiction", World of Science Fiction, 116-117. 

Forrest J Ackerman (born November 24, 1916 in Los Angeles, California) is a legendary science fiction fan and collector of science fiction-related memorabilia. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 92nd day of the year (93rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Frank Rudolph Paul (April 18, 1884 - June 29, 1963) was an illustrator of US pulp-magazines in the science fiction field. ... Frank Wu was the winner of the 2004 Hugo Award for Best Fan Artist. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 92nd day of the year (93rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Checklist of issues (1926-2005).
• Frank R Paul Gallery - Amazing covers, especially 1926-1929
• Archive of Amazing Stories cover
• Index of Amazing Magazine issues and contents
• Cover art with artist's name and contents (1926-1967)