 The cover of the first issue from May 1930 | |
| Categories | Science fiction fanzine |
|---|---|
| First issue | May 1930 |
| Final issue | 1933 |
| Company | Science Correspondence Club |
| Country | United States |
| Based in | Chicago, Illinois |
| Language | English |
The Comet, later known as "?" and Cosmology, was an American science fiction fanzine released between 1930 and 1933. [1] It consisted of seventeen issues, [2] with each gradually shifting focus from science to science fiction. [3]
The publication was an effort of the Science Correspondence Club's Chicago chapter. Its original editors were Raymond A. Palmer and Walter Dennis and the first issue, titled The Comet, was published in May 1930. [1] The first issue's main goal was to spread the knowledge of science and encourage invention. [3]
Its second issue, dated July 1930, was titled "?" and was the first issue to directly reference science fiction. The third issue, dated August 1930, took on its third title, Cosmology. The fanzine retained this name for the remainder of its publication. [1]
Eventually, the company changed its name as well. Come next May, in 1931, the name changed from the Science Correspondence Club to the International Scientific Association. [4]
After their steady publishing schedule began to falter, Palmer turned over editing duties to Aubrey MacDermott and Clifton Amsbury in 1932. [5] MacDermott mentions the publication briefly in his autobiographical essay Recollections on the Origins of Science Fiction Fandom: 1917 to 1948. He credits himself and Amsbury for publishing and paying for some issues of Cosmology up until the 15th issue. [4]
Publication ended in 1933 with the 17th issue. Aside from the final issue, all issues were mimeographed. [5] [2]
The Comet is often cited as both the first science fiction fanzine and the first fanzine in general. [6] It earned the distinction of "the first of the fan magazines" as early as 1935, [2] five years before the term "fanzine" was coined. [7]
However, there is some debate. Science fiction historian Sam Moskowitz describes The Planet, first published in July 1930, two months after The Comet, as the first fan magazine to focus on science fiction rather than science. [1] The authors of Fancyclopedia 3 argue The Planet is the first fanzine for this reason. [8] Editor Luis Ortiz also cites The Planet, as well as The Time Traveller, as contenders for first fanzine. [9]
Moskowitz described The Comet as having "a multiplier effect" by modeling how other science fiction groups could form, attract members, and launch their own fan magazines. [1] [3]
A fanzine is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest. The term was coined in an October 1940 science fiction fanzine by Russ Chauvenet and first popularized within science fiction fandom, and from there the term was adopted by other communities.
The Futurians were a group of science fiction fans, many of whom became editors and writers as well. The Futurians were based in New York City and were a major force in the development of science fiction writing and science fiction fandom in the years 1937–1945.
First Fandom is an informal association of early, active and well-known science fiction fans.
Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or fandom of people interested in science fiction in contact with one another based upon that interest. SF fandom has a life of its own, but not much in the way of formal organization.
A zine is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via a copy machine. Zines are the product of either a single person or of a very small group, and are popularly photocopied into physical prints for circulation. A fanzine is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest. The term was coined in an October 1940 science fiction fanzine by Russ Chauvenet and popularized within science fiction fandom, entering the Oxford English Dictionary in 1949.
A science-fiction fanzine is an amateur or semi-professional magazine published by members of science-fiction fandom, from the 1930s to the present day. They were one of the earliest forms of fanzine, within one of which the term "fanzine" was coined, and at one time constituted the primary type of science-fictional fannish activity ("fanac").
Sam Moskowitz was an American writer, critic, and historian of science fiction.
The Time Traveller was one of the earliest science fiction fanzines, started in 1932. It grew out of a New York City fan club called the Scienceers and was started by Mort Weisinger, Julius Schwartz, Allen Glasser, and Forrest J Ackerman. Initially, Glasser was the "Editor" of the zine, Weisinger "Associate Editor," Schwartz "Managing Editor," and Ackerman "Contributing Editor."
Fanspeak is the slang or jargon current in science fiction and fantasy fandom, especially those terms in use among readers and writers of science fiction fanzines.
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.
Philcon, also known as the "Philadelphia Science Fiction Conference", is an annual three-day science fiction convention held at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. The convention is run by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society (PSFS). The 1936 Philcon is claimed to be the world's first science fiction convention.
Andrew Ian Porter is an American editor, publisher and active science fiction fan.
The Fantasy Amateur Press Association or FAPA ("FAP-uh") is science fiction fandom's longest-established amateur press association ("apa"). It was founded in 1937 by Donald A. Wollheim, John B. Michel and others to facilitate the circulation of fanzines. They were inspired to create FAPA by their memberships in some of the non-science fiction amateur press associations, which they learned about from H. P. Lovecraft.
John Bristol Speer was an attorney, practicing law for over 60 years; a judge; and a Washington House of Representatives member.
The Fantasy Fan was the first fan magazine in the weird fiction field and therefore holds an important place in the history of the American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine. Issued monthly, it was first published in September 1933, and discontinued 18 issues later in February 1935. The magazine was edited by Charles Hornig.
Comet was a pulp magazine which published five issues from December 1940 to July 1941. It was edited by F. Orlin Tremaine, who had edited Astounding Stories, one of the leaders of the science fiction magazine field, for several years in the mid-1930s. Tremaine paid one cent per word, which was higher than some of the competing magazines, but the publisher, H-K Publications based in Springfield, MA, was unable to sustain the magazine while it gained circulation, and it was cancelled after less than a year when Tremaine resigned. Comet published fiction by several well-known and popular writers, including E.E. Smith and Robert Moore Williams. The young Isaac Asimov, visiting Tremaine in Comet's offices, was alarmed when Tremaine asserted that anyone who gave stories to competing magazines for no pay should be blacklisted; Asimov promptly insisted that Donald Wollheim, to whom he had given a free story, should make him a token payment so he could say he had been paid.
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.
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.
Journey Planet is an Irish-American science fiction fanzine currently edited by James Bacon, Christopher J. Garcia and various other co-editors. It has been nominated twelve times for the Hugo Award for Best Fanzine, winning in 2015.
Marvel Tales and Unusual Stories were two related American semi-professional science fiction magazines published in 1934 and 1935 by William L. Crawford. Crawford was a science fiction fan who believed that the pulp magazines of the time were too limited in what they would publish. In 1933, he distributed a flyer announcing Unusual Stories, and declaring that no taboos would prevent him from publishing worthwhile fiction. The flyer included a page from P. Schuyler Miller's "The Titan", which Miller had been unable to sell to the professional magazines because of its sexual content. A partial issue of Unusual Stories was distributed in early 1934, but Crawford then launched a new title, Marvel Tales, in May 1934. A total of five issues of Marvel Tales and three of Unusual Stories appeared over the next two years.
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