 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. 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.
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]
Aubrey Macdermott, one of many editors for Cosmology, talks briefly about it in his autobiographical Recollections on the Origins of Science Fiction Fandom: 1917 to 1948, [5] his view on early fandoms. He credits himself, as well as Clifton Amsbury, for publishing and paying for some issues of Cosmology up until the 15th issue. The remaining issues would be printed and paid for by someone else. [4]
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 sci-fi fanzine. [9]
The release of The Comet was described by Moskowitz as having "a multiplier effect," causing other science fiction groups to form and launch more fanzines. [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").
Raymond Alfred Palmer was an American author and magazine editor. Influential in the first wave of science fiction fandom, his first fiction stories were published in 1935.
Harry Warner Jr. was an American journalist. He spent 40 years working for the Hagerstown, Maryland, Herald-Mail.
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.
GAFIA is a term used by science fiction fans. It began as an acronym for "Getting Away From It All", and referred initially to escaping from mundane activities via fanac.
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.
STET is a science fiction fanzine, which has been published intermittently from Wheeling, Illinois by the married couple Leah and Dick Smith since the early 1990s. It was nominated for the Hugo Award in 1993, 1994 and 2001.
The 9th World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as Nolacon I, was held 1–3 September 1951 at the St. Charles Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.
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.
Uncanny Tales was a Canadian science fiction pulp magazine edited by Melvin R. Colby that ran from November 1940 to September 1943. It was created in response to the wartime reduction of imports on British and American science-fiction pulp magazines. Initially it contained stories only from Canadian authors, with much of its contents supplied by Thomas P. Kelley, but within a few issues Colby began to obtain reprint rights to American stories from Donald A. Wollheim and Sam Moskowitz. Wollheim's and Moskowitz's later accounts of the relationship with Colby differ. Moskowitz reported that he found out via an acquaintance of Wollheim's that Colby had been persuaded by Wollheim to stop buying Moskowitz's submissions. Paper shortages forced the magazine to shut down after less than three years. It is now extremely rare.
Niekas was a science fiction fanzine published from 1962–1998 by Ed Meskys – also spelled Meškys – of New Hampshire. It won the 1967 Hugo Award for Best Fanzine, and was nominated two other times, losing in 1966 to ERB-dom and in 1989 to File 770.
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.
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.
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