 Cover of the first issue | |
| Editor | Ray Bradbury |
|---|---|
| Categories | Science fiction |
| First issue | 1939 |
| Final issue | 1940 |
| Language | English |
Futuria Fantasia was an American science fiction fanzine created by Ray Bradbury in 1938, when he was 18 years old. Though only four issues of the fanzine were published, its list of contributors included Hannes Bok, Forrest J. Ackerman, Henry Kuttner, Damon Knight, and Robert A. Heinlein.
Since the 1930s, fanzines have been an integral part of science fiction fandom. The earliest fanzines were often produced or sponsored by science fiction clubs and served as a platform for group members to circulate nonfiction essays, science fiction stories and reviews, and reflections on fandom itself. [1] Such is the case with Futuria Fantasia, which began as a project aimed at members of the Los Angeles Science Fiction League (LASFL). [2] Ray Bradbury joined the LASFL in 1937 and soon became a prominent member of the club. In 1938, at the urging of fellow LASFL member Forrest J. Ackerman, Bradbury conceived the idea for his own magazine, and with Ackerman's support, Bradbury was able to convince the LASFL to fund his new editorial project. [3]
The first issue was published in June 1939, receiving "fairly good feedback from local and long-distance subscribers." [4] Indeed, Henry Hasse, a pulp writer from Seattle, wrote to Bradbury for a copy of the issue, and at Bradbury's prompting, offered feedback on the young editor's first attempt at publication. Hasse would go on to contribute to the second and third issue under the pseudonym Foo E. Onya. The covers of the first issue—and all subsequent issues—were illustrated by Hannes Bok, who would become famous for his work on pulp and science fiction magazines. [5]
The second issue, "hastily printed three weeks ahead" of schedule, contains more than a few errors, including references to three articles that were dropped prior to publication. Yet Futuria Fantasia no. 2 also contains Bradbury's anonymous story "The Pendulum", which became the basis for his first paid, professional piece. [6]
By the third issue, Bradbury was struggling to finance his project. Though every issue had been priced at a dime per copy, "each issue of 100 could defray only ten dollars of the twenty-five-dollar production cost". [7] Furthermore, LASFL member Russel Hodgkins cut the fanzine's funding, forcing Bradbury to search for a new source of capital. Though Bradbury was eventually able to secure enough money to produce a fourth issue, it would be his last. [8]
Despite his depleted funds, Bradbury was able to enhance both the quality and layout of the fourth and final issue. In addition to a table of contents, the issue features an editor's page with a masthead. Along with stories by Henry Kuttner and Damon Knight, the issue also includes the story "Heil!,” attributed to Lyle Monroe but actually written by Robert A. Heinlein. "Heil!" remains one of Heinlein's "hardest…titles to locate in the original printing." [9]
Beginning with the 1996 Worldcon, the World Science Fiction Society created the concept of "Retro Hugos", in which the Hugo Award could be retroactively awarded for years 50, 75, or 100 years before the current year, if no awards were originally given that year. [10] In 2016, at MidAmeriCon II (the 74th World Science Fiction Convention), Futuria Fantasia was retroactively awarded a Retro Hugo for Best Fanzine for the year 1940.
Forrest James Ackerman was an American magazine editor; science fiction writer and literary agent; a founder of science fiction fandom; a leading expert on science fiction, horror, and fantasy films; a prominent advocate of the Esperanto language; and one of the world's most avid collectors of genre books and film memorabilia. He was based in Los Angeles, California.
Hannes Bok, pseudonym for Wayne Francis Woodard, was an American artist and illustrator, as well as an amateur astrologer and writer of fantasy fiction and poetry. He painted nearly 150 covers for various science fiction, fantasy, and detective fiction magazines, as well as contributing hundreds of black and white interior illustrations. Bok's work graced the pages of calendars and early fanzines, as well as dust jackets from specialty book publishers like Arkham House, Llewellyn, Shasta Publishers, and Fantasy Press. His paintings achieved a luminous quality through the use of an arduous glazing process, which was learned from his mentor, Maxfield Parrish. Bok shared one of the inaugural 1953 Hugo Awards for science fiction achievement.
Ray Douglas Bradbury was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of genres, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and realistic fiction.
Skiffy is a deliberate humorous misspelling or mispronunciation of the controversial term "sci-fi", a neologism referring to science fiction.
R Is for Rocket (1962) is a short story collection by American writer Ray Bradbury, compiled for Young Adult library sections. It contains fifteen stories from earlier Bradbury collections, and two previously uncollected stories.
Famous Monsters of Filmland is an American genre-specific film magazine, started in 1958 by publisher James Warren and editor Forrest J Ackerman.
Emil Petaja was an American science fiction and fantasy writer whose career spanned seven decades. He was the author of 13 published novels, nearly 150 short stories, numerous poems, and a handful of books and articles on various subjects. Though he wrote science fiction, fantasy, horror stories, detective fiction, and poetry, Petaja considered his work part of an older tradition of "weird fiction." Petaja was also a small press publisher. In 1995, he was named the first ever Author Emeritus by the Science Fiction Writers of America.
The Golden Age of Science Fiction, often identified in the United States as the years 1938–1946, was a period in which a number of foundational works of science fiction literature appeared. In the history of science fiction, the Golden Age follows the "pulp era" of the 1920s and 1930s, and precedes New Wave science fiction of the 1960s and 1970s. The 1950s are, in this scheme, a transitional period. Robert Silverberg, who came of age in the 1950s, saw that decade as the true Golden Age. According to historian Adam Roberts, "the phrase Golden Age valorises a particular sort of writing: 'Hard SF', linear narratives, heroes solving problems or countering threats in a space-opera or technological-adventure idiom."
The 1st World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) was held on 2–4 July 1939 in the Caravan Hall in New York City, United States, in conjunction with the New York World's Fair, which was themed as "The World of Tomorrow". It was later retroactively named "NyCon I" by Forrest J Ackerman.
The Meadow is a radio drama by Ray Bradbury, written for a 1947 episode of the radio series World Security Workshop. It was included in the anthology Best One-Act Plays of 1947-1948. Bradbury later revised it into a short story (1953) and a stage play (1960).
"The Long Rain" is a science fiction short story by American writer Ray Bradbury. This story was originally published in 1950 - under a different title indicative of its ending - in the magazine Planet Stories, and then in the collection The Illustrated Man. The story tells of four men who have crashed on Venus, where it is always raining.
Ross Rocklynne was the pen name used by Ross Louis Rocklin, an American science fiction author active in the Golden Age of Science Fiction. He also wrote under the pen names Paul Cahendon, R. L. Rocklin and R. Rocklinne.
The Mañana Literary Society was an informal meeting of science fiction writers in Los Angeles, California. Hosted by Robert A. Heinlein and his second wife Leslyn at their Laurel Canyon home, the membership included authors such as Anthony Boucher, Arthur K. Barnes, Edmond Hamilton, L. Ron Hubbard, Henry Kuttner, C.L. Moore, L. Sprague de Camp, Cleve Cartmill, Leigh Brackett, Roby Wentz, and Jack Williamson. The young Ray Bradbury, who had not yet made his first story sale, was a guest at one or two meetings. The weekly meetings took place in 1940 and 1941, until the Pearl Harbor attack resulting in the U.S. entering World War II.
"The Pedestrian" is a science fiction short story by American writer Ray Bradbury. This story was originally published in the August 7, 1951 issue of The Reporter by The Fortnightly Publishing Company. It is included in the collection The Golden Apples of the Sun (1953), but was dropped from later editions of this collection.
Off the Main Sequence: The Other Science Fiction Stories of Robert A. Heinlein (ISBN 1-58288-184-7) is a collection of 27 short stories by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, including three that were never previously collected in book form.
Hyphen was an Irish science fiction fanzine, published from 1952-1965 by Walt Willis in collaboration with James White, Bob Shaw and various others. Over that period, they published 36 issues. In addition, a 37th issue was created by the Willises in 1987 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Irish science fiction fandom.
Echoes of Valor II is an American anthology of fantasy stories, edited by Karl Edward Wagner. It was first published in hardcover by Tor Books in August 1989. Tor subsequently issued a trade paperback edition in 1993.
"Hollerbochen's Dilemma" is a science fiction short story by Ray Bradbury. Bradbury's first published work, it appeared in Forrest Ackerman's fanzine Imagination! in January 1938.
Myrtle Rebecca Smith Gray Nolan, known to science fiction history as Morojo or sometimes Myrtle R Douglas, was a science fiction fan, fanzine publisher, and cosplay pioneer from Los Angeles.
T. (Theodore) Bruce Yerke (1923–1998) was an American science fiction author and editor. A member of "an extensive network of active enthusiasts,", he was an early and active member of the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society, serving as its secretary for many years, and recruited Ray Bradbury as a member. With Forrest J Ackerman he edited the Hugo Award-winning fanzine Imagination!. His unfinished biography, Memoirs of a Superfluous Fan provides great insight into the early days of science fiction fandom in Los Angeles.
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