fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...
and
science fiction magazine
A science fiction magazine is a publication that offers primarily science fiction, either in a hard-copy periodical format or on the Internet.
Science fiction magazines traditionally featured speculative fiction in short story, novelette, nove ...
, published from 1952 to 1980. It was founded by the publishing company
Ziff Davis
Ziff Davis, Inc. is an American digital media and internet company. First founded in 1927 by William Bernard Ziff Sr. and Bernard George Davis, the company primarily owns technology-oriented media websites, online shopping-related services, an ...
as a fantasy companion to ''
Amazing Stories
''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearances ...
''. Early sales were good, and the company quickly decided to switch ''Amazing'' from
pulp
Pulp may refer to:
* Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit
Engineering
* Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture
* Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper
* Molded pulp, a packaging material
...
format to digest, and to cease publication of their other science fiction pulp, ''
Fantastic Adventures
''Fantastic Adventures'' was an American pulp fantasy and science fiction magazine, published from 1939 to 1953 by Ziff-Davis. It was initially edited by Raymond A. Palmer, who was also the editor of ''Amazing Stories'', Ziff-Davis's other scien ...
''. Within a few years sales fell, and
Howard Browne
Howard Browne (April 15, 1908 – October 28, 1999) was an American science fiction editor and mystery writer. He also wrote for several television series and films. Some of his work appeared over the pseudonyms John Evans, Alexander Blade ...
, the editor, was forced to switch the focus to science fiction rather than fantasy. Browne lost interest in the magazine as a result and the magazine generally ran poor-quality fiction in the mid-1950s, under Browne and his successor, Paul W. Fairman.
At the end of the 1950s,
Cele Goldsmith
Cele Goldsmith Lalli (1933 – January 14, 2002) was an American editing, editor. She was the editor of ''Amazing Stories'' from 1959 to 1965, ''Fantastic (magazine), Fantastic'' from 1958 to 1965, and later the Editor-in-Chief of ''Modern Bri ...
took over as editor of both ''Fantastic'' and ''Amazing Stories'', and quickly invigorated the magazines, bringing in many new writers and making them, in the words of one science fiction historian, the "best-looking and brightest" magazines in the field. Goldsmith helped to nurture the early careers of writers such as
Roger Zelazny
Roger Joseph Zelazny (May 13, 1937 – June 14, 1995) was an American poet and writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels, best known for ''The Chronicles of Amber''. He won the Nebula Award three times (out of 14 nomin ...
and
Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the '' Earthsea'' fantasy series. She was ...
, but was unable to increase circulation, and in 1965 the magazines were sold to
Sol Cohen
Sol Cohen (December 16, 1910 – July 28, 1988) was an American publisher who worked mostly in the science fiction field.
Cohen started his long association with Avon Publications in 1947, working as an editor for their comics division from 1947 ...
, who hired Joseph Wrzos as editor and switched to a reprint-only policy. This was financially successful, but brought Cohen into conflict with the newly formed
Science Fiction Writers of America
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, doing business as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, commonly known as SFWA ( or ) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. Whil ...
. After a turbulent period at the end of the 1960s, Ted White became editor and the reprints were phased out.
White worked hard to make the magazine successful, introducing artwork from artists who had made their names in comics, and working with new authors such as Gordon Eklund. His budget for fiction was low, but he was occasionally able to find good stories from well-known writers that had been rejected by other markets. Circulation continued to decline, however, and in 1978, Cohen sold out his half of the business to his partner, Arthur Bernhard. White resigned shortly afterwards, and was replaced by Elinor Mavor, but within two years Bernhard decided to close down ''Fantastic'', merging it with ''Amazing Stories'', which had always enjoyed a slightly higher circulation.
Publishing history
In 1938,
Ziff Davis
Ziff Davis, Inc. is an American digital media and internet company. First founded in 1927 by William Bernard Ziff Sr. and Bernard George Davis, the company primarily owns technology-oriented media websites, online shopping-related services, an ...
, a Chicago-based publisher looking to expand into the
pulp magazine
Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the late 1950s. The term "pulp" derives from the cheap wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed. In contrast, magazine ...
market, acquired ''
Amazing Stories
''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearances ...
''.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', p. 115. The number of science fiction magazines grew quickly, and several new titles appeared over the next few years, among them ''
Fantastic Adventures
''Fantastic Adventures'' was an American pulp fantasy and science fiction magazine, published from 1939 to 1953 by Ziff-Davis. It was initially edited by Raymond A. Palmer, who was also the editor of ''Amazing Stories'', Ziff-Davis's other scien ...
'', which was launched by Ziff Davis in 1939 as a companion to ''Amazing''.Mike Ashley, "Fantastic Adventures", in Tymn & Ashley, ''Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Weird Fiction Magazines'', p. 232. Under the editorship of
Raymond Palmer
Raymond Arthur Palmer (August 1, 1910 – August 15, 1977) was an American author and editor, best known as editor of ''Amazing Stories'' from 1938 through 1949, when he left publisher Ziff-Davis to publish and edit '' Fate Magazine'', and ev ...
, the magazines were reasonably successful but published poor-quality work; when
Howard Browne
Howard Browne (April 15, 1908 – October 28, 1999) was an American science fiction editor and mystery writer. He also wrote for several television series and films. Some of his work appeared over the pseudonyms John Evans, Alexander Blade ...
took over as editor of ''Amazing'' in January 1950, he decided to try to move the magazine upmarket.Mike Ashley, "Fantastic Adventures", in Tymn & Ashley, ''Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Weird Fiction Magazines'', pp. 237–238.Mike Ashley, "Amazing Stories", in Tymn & Ashley, ''Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Weird Fiction Magazines'', p. 34. Ziff Davis agreed to back the new magazine, and Browne put together a sample copy, but, when the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
broke out, Ziff Davis cut their budgets and the project was abandoned.Ashley, ''Transformations'', p. 4. Browne did not give up, and in 1952 received the go-ahead to try a new magazine instead, focused on high-quality fantasy, a genre which had recently become more popular. The first issue of ''Fantastic'', dated Summer 1952, appeared on March 21 of that year.Ashley, ''Transformations'', pp. 48–51.
Early years
Sales were very good, and Ziff Davis was sufficiently impressed after only two issues to move the magazine from a quarterly to a bimonthly schedule, and to switch ''Amazing'' from pulp format to digest-size to match ''Fantastic''. Shortly afterwards the decision was taken to eliminate ''
Fantastic Adventures
''Fantastic Adventures'' was an American pulp fantasy and science fiction magazine, published from 1939 to 1953 by Ziff-Davis. It was initially edited by Raymond A. Palmer, who was also the editor of ''Amazing Stories'', Ziff-Davis's other scien ...
'': the March 1953 issue was the last, and the May–June 1953 issue of ''Fantastic'' added a mention of ''Fantastic Adventures'' to the masthead, though this ceased with the following issue. Payment started at two cents per word for all rights, but could go up to ten cents at the editor's discretion; this put ''Fantastic'' in the second echelon of magazines, behind titles such as ''Astounding'' and ''Galaxy''.de Camp, ''Science-Fiction Handbook'', pp. 102–103.de Camp, ''Science-Fiction Handbook'', pp. 120–121. The experiment with quality fiction did not last. Circulation dropped, which led to budget cuts, and in turn the quality of the fiction fell. Browne had wanted to separate ''Fantastic'' from ''Amazing''s pulp roots, but now found he had to print more science fiction (sf) and less fantasy in order to attract ''Amazing''s readers to its sister magazine. ''Fantastic''s poor results were probably a consequence of an overloaded sf-magazine market: far more magazines appeared in the early 1950s than the market was able to support. Ziff Davis sales staff were able to help sell ''Fantastic'' and ''Amazing'' along with the technical magazines that it published, and the availability of a national sales network, even though it was not focused solely on ''Fantastic'', undoubtedly helped the magazine to survive.del Rey, ''The World of SF'', pp. 194–195.
In May 1956, Browne left Ziff Davis to become a screenwriter. Paul W. Fairman took over as editor of both ''Fantastic'' and ''Amazing''. In 1957, Bernard Davis left Ziff Davis; it had been Davis who had suggested the acquisition of ''Amazing'' in 1939, and he had stayed involved with the sf magazines throughout the time he spent there. With his departure ''Amazing'' and ''Fantastic'' stagnated; they were still issued monthly, but drew no attention from the management of Ziff Davis.Ashley, ''Transformations'', pp. 172–175.
Mid-1950s to late 1960s
In November 1955, Ziff Davis hired an assistant,
Cele Goldsmith
Cele Goldsmith Lalli (1933 – January 14, 2002) was an American editing, editor. She was the editor of ''Amazing Stories'' from 1959 to 1965, ''Fantastic (magazine), Fantastic'' from 1958 to 1965, and later the Editor-in-Chief of ''Modern Bri ...
, who began by helping with two new magazines under development, ''Dream World'' and ''Pen Pals''. She also read the
slush pile
In publishing, a slush pile is a set of unsolicited query letters or manuscripts that have either been directly sent to a publisher by an author, or which have been delivered via a literary agent representing the author who may or may not be f ...
s for all the magazines, and was quickly given more responsibility. In 1957, she was made managing editor of both ''Amazing'' and ''Fantastic'', doing administrative chores and reading unsolicited manuscripts. At the end of 1958, she became editor, replacing Fairman, who had left to become managing editor of ''
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine
''Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine'' is a bi-monthly American digest size fiction magazine specializing in crime fiction, particularly detective fiction, and mystery fiction. Launched in fall 1941 by Mercury Press, ''EQMM'' is named after the fict ...
''.Ashley, ''Transformations'', pp. 222–228. Goldsmith—who became Cele Lalli when she married in 1964—stayed as editor for six and a half years.
Circulation dropped for both ''Amazing'' and ''Fantastic'': in 1964, ''Fantastic'' had a paid circulation of only 27,000. In 1965,
Sol Cohen
Sol Cohen (December 16, 1910 – July 28, 1988) was an American publisher who worked mostly in the science fiction field.
Cohen started his long association with Avon Publications in 1947, working as an editor for their comics division from 1947 ...
, who at that time was '' Galaxy''s publisher, set up his own publishing company, Ultimate Publishing, and bought both ''Amazing'' and ''Fantastic'' from Ziff Davis. Cohen had decided to make the magazines as profitable as possible by filling them only with reprints. This was possible because Ziff Davis had acquired second serial rights for all stories they had published, and since Cohen had bought the backfile of stories he was able to reprint them using these rights.Ashley, ''Gateways'', pp. 69–86. Using reprints in this way saved Cohen about a year between the two magazines. Lalli decided that she did not want to work for Cohen, and stayed with Ziff Davis. Her last issue was June 1965. Cohen replaced Lalli with Joseph Wrzos, who used the name "Joseph Ross" on the magazines.Ashley, ''Transformations'', pp. 263–268. Cohen had met Wrzos at the ''Galaxy'' offices not long before; Wrzos was teaching English full-time, but had worked for
Gnome Press
Gnome Press was an American small-press publishing company primarily known for publishing many science fiction classics. Gnome was one of the most eminent of the fan publishers of SF, producing 86 titles in its lifespan — many considered classic ...
as an assistant editor in 1953–1954.
Cohen also launched a series of reprint magazines, drawing from the backfile of both ''Amazing'' and ''Fantastic'', again using the second serial rights he had acquired from Ziff Davis. The first reprint magazine was '' Great Science Fiction''; the first issue, titled ''Great Science Fiction from Amazing'', appeared in August 1965. By early 1967 this had been joined by '' The Most Thrilling Science Fiction Ever Told'' and ''
Science Fiction Classics
Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
''. These increased the workload on Wrzos, though Cohen made the selection of stories, and Wrzos found himself able to work on ''Fantastic'' and ''Amazing'' only part-time. Cohen hired Herb Lehrman to help with the other magazines.
Although Cohen felt that his deal with Ziff Davis gave him the reprint rights he needed, the newly formed
Science Fiction Writers of America
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, doing business as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, commonly known as SFWA ( or ) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. Whil ...
(SFWA) received complaints about Cohen's refusal to pay anything for the reprints. He was also reportedly not responding to requests for reassignment of copyright. SFWA organized a boycott of Cohen's magazines; after a year Cohen agreed to pay a flat fee for the reprints, and in August 1967 he agreed to a graduated scale of payments, and the boycott was withdrawn.Harry Harrison had been involved in the negotiations between SFWA and Cohen, and when the agreement was reached in 1967 Cohen asked Harrison if he would take over as editor of both magazines. Harrison was available because '' SF Impulse'', which he had been editing, had ceased publication in early 1967. Cohen agreed to phase out the reprints by the end of the year, and Harrison took the job. Cohen added Harrison's name to the masthead of two issues of ''Great Science Fiction'', although Harrison had had nothing to do with that magazine, but the reprints in ''Fantastic'' and ''Amazing'' continued and Harrison decided to quit in February 1968. He recommended Barry Malzberg as his replacement. Cohen had worked with Malzberg at the
Scott Meredith Literary Agency
Scott Meredith, born Arthur Scott Feldman (1923, New York City, NY – 1 July 1992, Manhasset, NY) was a prominent American literary agent, and founder of the Scott Meredith Literary Agency. His clients included famous and successful writers ...
, and felt Malzberg would be more cooperative than Harrison. Malzberg, however, turned out to be just as unwilling as Harrison to work with Cohen if the reprints continued, and soon regretted taking the job. In October 1968 Cohen refused to pay for a cover that Malzberg had commissioned; Malzberg insisted, threatening to resign if Cohen did not agree. Cohen contacted
Robert Silverberg
Robert Silverberg (born January 15, 1935) is an American author and editor, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a Gr ...
, then the president of SFWA, and told him (falsely) that Malzberg had actually resigned. Silverberg recommended Ted White as a replacement. Cohen secured White's agreement and then fired Malzberg; White took over in October 1968, but because there was a backlog of stories Malzberg had acquired, the first issue on which he was credited as editor was the June 1969 issue.
1970s to present
Like his immediate predecessors, White took the job on condition that the reprints would be phased out. It was some time before this was achieved: there was at least one reprinted story in every issue until the end of 1971. The February 1972 issue contained some artwork reprinted from 1939, and after that the reprints ceased.
''Fantastic''s circulation was about 37,000 when White took over; only about 4 percent of this was subscription sales. Cohen's wife filled the subscriptions from their garage, and according to White, Cohen regarded this as a burden, and never tried to increase the subscription base. Despite White's efforts, ''Fantastic''s circulation fell, from almost 37,000 when he took over as editor to less than 24,000 in the summer of 1975. Cohen was rumored to be interested in selling both ''Fantastic'' and ''Amazing''; among other possibilities, both
Roger Elwood
Roger Elwood (January 13, 1943 – February 2, 2007) was an American science fiction writer and editor, who edited a large number of anthologies and collections for a variety of publishers in the early to mid-1970s.
Biography
Born and rais ...
, at that time an active science fiction anthology editor, and Edward Ferman, the editor of ''
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Boucher ...
'', approached Cohen with a view to acquiring the titles. Nothing came of it, however, and White was not aware of the possible sales. He was working at a low salary, with unpaid help from friends to read unsolicited submissions—at one point he introduced a 25-cent reading fee for manuscripts from unpublished writers; the fee would be refunded if White bought the story. White sometimes found himself at odds with Cohen's business partner, Arthur Bernhard, due to their different political views.Ashley, ''Gateways to Forever'', pp. 84–86. White's unhappiness with his working conditions culminated in his resignation after Cohen refused his proposal to publish ''Fantastic'' as a slick magazine, with larger pages and higher quality paper. White commented in an article in ''
Science Fiction Review
Richard E. Geis (July 19, 1927 – February 4, 2013) was an American science fiction fan and writer, and erotica writer, from Portland, Oregon, who won the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 1982 and 1983; and whose science fiction fanzin ...
'' that he had brought to the magazines "a lot of energy and enthusiasm and a great many ideas for their improvement ...Well, I have put into effect nearly every idea which I was allowed to follow through on ... and have spent most of my energy and enthusiasm."Ted White, "Uffish Thots", ''Science Fiction Review'' #12 (February 1975), quoted in Ashley, ''Gateways to Forever'', p. 85; ellipses in quote are as given by Ashley. Cohen was able to persuade him to stay for another year; in the event White stayed for another three.
White was unable to completely halt the slide in circulation, though it rose a little in 1977. That year Cohen lost $15,000 on the magazines, and decided to sell. He spent some time looking for a new publisher—editor Roy Torgeson was one of those interested—but on September 15, 1978, he sold his half of the business to Arthur Bernhard, his partner.Ashley, ''Gateways to Forever'', pp. 347–353. White renewed his suggestions for improving the format of the magazine: he wanted to make ''Fantastic'' the same size as ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'', and believed he could avoid the mistakes that had been made by other sf magazines that had tried that approach. White also proposed an increase in the budget and asked for a raise. Bernhard not only turned down White's ideas, but also stopped paying him: White responded by resigning. His last official day as editor was November 9; the last issue of ''Fantastic'' under his control was the January 1979 issue. He returned all submissions to their authors, saying that he had been told to do so by Bernhard; Bernhard denied this.
Bernhard brought in Elinor Mavor to edit both ''Amazing'' and ''Fantastic''. Mavor had previously edited ''Bill of Fare'', a restaurant trade journal, and was a long-time science fiction reader, but she had little knowledge of the history of the magazines. She was unaware, for example, that she was not the first woman to edit them, and so adopted a male pseudonym—"Omar Gohagen"—for a while. She suggested a campaign to increase circulation, and went so far as to gather information about costs while on a trip to New York in 1979. Bernhard decided instead to merge the two magazines. Circulation was continuing to drop; the figures for the last two years are not available, but sf historian Mike Ashley estimates that ''Fantastic'''s paid circulation may have been as low as 13,000. Bernhard felt that since ''Fantastic'' had never been profitable, whereas ''Amazing'' had made money, it was best to keep ''Amazing''. Until the March 1985 issue, ''Amazing'' included a mention of ''Fantastic'' on the spine and on the contents page. In 1999, the fiction magazine formerly known as '' Pirate Writings'' revived the ''Fantastic'' title and Cele Goldsmith-era logotype for several issues, ultimately unsuccessfully, though this was not intended as a continuation of the original magazine.
In August 2014,
Warren Lapine
Warren Lapine (born 2 June 1964) is a speculative fiction writer and publisher.
Publishing career
Lapine is best known for his publishing business, particularly with his first company, DNA Publications, which published a range of magazines includ ...
, former editor of ''Absolute Magnitude'', ''Realms of Fantasy'', and ''Weird Tales'', revived the ''Fantastic'' logotype of ''Fantastic Stories of the Imagination'' as a free webzine.
Contents and reception
Browne and Fairman
The first issue of ''Fantastic'' was impressive, with a cover that sf historian Mike Ashley has described as "one of the most captivating of all first issues"; the painting, by Barye Phillips and Leo Summers, illustrated Kris Neville's "The Opal Necklace". The fiction included some stories by well known names; in particular, Raymond Chandler's "Professor Bingo's Snuff" would have caught readers' eyes—the story had appeared the year before in '' Park East'' magazine, but would have been new to most readers. It was a short mystery in which the fantasy element was invisibility, achieved by magical snuff.
Isaac Asimov
yi, יצחק אזימאװ
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR
, spouse =
, relatives =
, children = 2
, death_date =
, death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
, nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (192 ...
and
Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and r ...
also contributed stories, and the issue led with "Six and Ten Are Johnny", by
Walter M. Miller
Walter Michael Miller Jr. (January 23, 1923 – January 9, 1996) was an American science fiction writer. His fix-up novel, '' A Canticle for Leibowitz'' (1959), the only novel published in his lifetime, won the 1961 Hugo Award for Best Novel. ...
. The rear cover reprinted
Pierre Roy
Pierre Roy (born March 12, 1952) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey player who played 316 games in the World Hockey Association. He played for the Quebec Nordiques, Cincinnati Stingers, and New England Whalers
New is an adjective re ...
's painting "Danger on the Stairs", which depicted a snake on a staircase; it was an odd choice, but subsequent back covers were more natural fits for a fantasy magazine. The quality of the fiction continued to be high for the first year; sf historian Mike Ashley comments that almost every story in the first seven issues was of high quality, and historian David Kyle regards it as an "outstandingly successful experiment".Kyle, ''Pictorial History'', p. 116. Science fiction bibliographer
Donald Tuck
Donald Henry Tuck (3 December 1922 – 11 October 2010) was an Australian bibliographer of science fiction, fantasy and weird fiction. His works were "among the most extensive produced since the pioneering work of Everett F. Bleiler."
dissents, however, regarding the first few years as containing "little of note", and
James Blish
James Benjamin Blish () was an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He is best known for his '' Cities in Flight'' novels and his series of ''Star Trek'' novelizations written with his wife, J. A. Lawrence. His novel '' A Case of Conscie ...
wrote a contemporary review of the second issue which found it lacking: Blish dismissed three of the seven stories in the Fall 1952 issue as being essentially crime stories written for the sf market, and commented that of the remaining four, only two were "reasonably competent and craftsmanlike".Atheling, ''The Issue at Hand'', pp. 23–25.
Other well-known writers appeared in the early issues, including
Shirley Jackson
Shirley Hardie Jackson (December 14, 1916 – August 8, 1965) was an American writer known primarily for her works of horror and mystery. Over the duration of her writing career, which spanned over two decades, she composed six novels, two me ...
,
B. Traven
B. Traven (; Bruno Traven in some accounts) was the pen name of a novelist, presumed to be German, whose real name, nationality, date and place of birth and details of biography are all subject to dispute. One certainty about Traven's life is ...
,
Truman Capote
Truman Garcia Capote ( ; born Truman Streckfus Persons; September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright and actor. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics, ...
and
Evelyn Waugh
Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...
.
Mickey Spillane
Frank Morrison Spillane (; March 9, 1918July 17, 2006), better known as Mickey Spillane, was an American crime novelist, whose stories often feature his signature detective character, Mike Hammer. More than 225 million copies of his books have ...
had written a story called "The Woman With Green Skin", but had been unable to sell it; Browne offered to buy it on condition that he had permission to rewrite it as he wished. This was agreed and Browne scrapped Spillane's text completely, writing a new story called "The Veiled Woman" and publishing it as by Spillane in the November–December 1952 issue. The issue sold so well it was reprinted, with over 300,000 copies sold.
The emphasis was on fantasy, and much of it was "slick" fantasy—the sort of genre fiction that the upmarket slick magazines, such as ''
The Saturday Evening Post
''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...
'', were willing to buy. Some science fiction appeared as well in the first couple of years, including Isaac Asimov's "Sally", which portrays a world in which cars have been given robotic brains and are intelligent. In 1955 it was decided to move the focus from fantasy to sf: in Browne's words, "Stories of straight fantasy were largely eliminated and straight science-fiction substituted, cover subject matter became of a scientific nature, the words "science fiction" appeared under the title, interior artwork was tightened up to replace the loose, 'arty' kind of drawing we had been using." Sales rose 17% within two issues.Howard Browne, "Low Man on the Asteroid", in ''Fantastic'' vol. 4, no 5 (October 1965), p. 4. Browne was uninterested in science fiction, however, and the quality of the fiction soon dropped, with a small stable of writers producing much of ''Fantastic''s fiction under house names over the next couple of years. By the start of 1956 the fiction in ''Fantastic'' was, in the opinion of sf historian Mike Ashley, " na trough of hack predictability",Ashley, ''Transformations'', p. 162. but there was some inventiveness evident from newer writers such as
Robert Silverberg
Robert Silverberg (born January 15, 1935) is an American author and editor, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a Gr ...
,
Harlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison (May 27, 1934 – June 28, 2018) was an American writer, known for his prolific and influential work in New Wave speculative fiction and for his outspoken, combative personality. Robert Bloch, the author of '' Psycho'' ...
Although Browne had been unable to make ''Fantastic'' successful by specializing in fantasy, he was still interested in the fantasy genre, and experimented in the December 1955 issue with the theme of wish fulfilment. He dropped the words "Science Fiction" from the cover, and published five stories, all of which dealt with male fantasies in one form or another. The cover showed a man walking through a wall to find a woman undressing; the art was by Ed Valigursky and illustrated Paul Fairman's "All Walls Were Mist". Reader reaction, according to Browne, was almost entirely favorable, and he continued to publish occasional stories on the wish-fulfilment theme. The experiment was repeated with the October 1956 issue, which again ran without "Science Fiction" on the cover, and contained stories on the theme of "Incredible Powers". Once again the cover illustrated a male fantasy: this time it showed a man materializing in a bath house where women were showering. Browne had left Ziff Davis by the time this issue appeared, but Browne's plans for a magazine around these themes were well advanced, and Fairman, who by this time was editing both ''Fantastic'' and ''Amazing'', was given ''Dream World'' to edit as well. It ran for three quarterly issues, starting in February 1957, but proved too narrow a market to succeed.Ashley, ''Transformations'', pp. 172–173.
Fairman devoted the July 1958 issue of ''Fantastic'' to the Shaver Mystery—a lurid set of beliefs propounded by
Richard Shaver
Richard Sharpe Shaver (October 8, 1907 Berwick, Pennsylvania – November 5, 1975 Summit, Arkansas) was an American writer and artist.
He achieved notoriety in the years following World War II as the author of controversial stories that were pr ...
in the late 1940s that told of "detrimental robots", or "deros", who were behind many of the disasters that befell humanity. Most of these stories had run in ''Amazing'', though the editor at that time, Ray Palmer, had been forced to drop Shaver by Ziff Davis when the stories began to attract ridicule in the press. ''Fantastic'' readers were no kinder, complaining vigorously.Ashley, ''Transformations'', pp. 183–184.Ashley, ''Transformations'', pp. 179–183.
Goldsmith
When Goldsmith took over as editor, there was some concern at Ziff Davis that she might not be able to handle the job. A consultant, Norman Lobsenz, was brought in to help her; Lobsenz's title was "editorial director", but in fact Goldsmith made the story selections. Lobsenz provided blurbs and editorials, read the stories Goldsmith bought, and met with Goldsmith every week or so. Goldsmith was not a long-time sf reader, and knew little about the field; she simply looked for good quality fiction and bought what she liked. In Mike Ashley's words, "the result, between 1961 and 1964, was the two most exciting and original magazines in the field". New writers whose first story appeared in ''Fantastic'' during this period included
Phyllis Gotlieb
Phyllis Fay Gotlieb (née Bloom; May 25, 1926 July 14, 2009) was a Canadian science fiction novelist and poet.
Biography
Born of Jewish heritage in Toronto, Gotlieb graduated from the University of Toronto with degrees in literature in 1948 ...
,
Larry Eisenberg
Lawrence Eisenberg (December 21, 1919 – December 25, 2018) was an American biomedical engineer and science fiction writer. He is best known for his short story "What Happened to Auguste Clarot?", published in Harlan Ellison's anthology ' ...
,
Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the '' Earthsea'' fantasy series. She was ...
,
Thomas M. Disch
Thomas Michael Disch (February 2, 1940 – July 4, 2008) was an American science fiction author and poet. He won the Hugo Award for Best Related Book – previously called "Best Non-Fiction Book" – in 1999, and he had two other Hugo nomination ...
, and
Piers Anthony
Piers Anthony Dillingham Jacob (born 6 August 1934) is an American author in the science fiction and Fantasy (genre), fantasy genres, publishing under the name Piers Anthony. He is best known for his :Xanth books, long-running novel series set in ...
. The November 1959 issue was dedicated to
Fritz Leiber
Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr. ( ; December 24, 1910 – September 5, 1992) was an American writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He was also a poet, actor in theater and films, playwright, and chess expert. With writers such as Robert ...
; it included "Lean Times in Lankhmar", one of Leiber's
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are two sword-and-sorcery heroes appearing in stories written by American author Fritz Leiber. They are the protagonists of what are probably Leiber's best-known stories. One of his motives in writing them was to have ...
stories. Goldsmith published another half-dozen stories in the series over the next six years, along with other similar (and sometimes imitative) fiction such as early work by Michael Moorcock, and John Jakes' early stories of Brak the Barbarian. This helped to invigorate the nascent
sword and sorcery
Sword and sorcery (S&S) is a subgenre of fantasy characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent adventures. Elements of romance, magic, and the supernatural are also often present. Unlike works of high fantasy, the tale ...
subgenre. Goldsmith obtained an early story by
Cordwainer Smith
Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger (July 11, 1913 – August 6, 1966), better known by his pen-name Cordwainer Smith, was an American author known for his science fiction works. Linebarger was a US Army officer, a noted East Asia scholar, and a ...
, "The Fife of Bodidharma", which ran in the June 1959 issue, but shortly thereafter Pohl at ''Galaxy'' reached an agreement to get first refusal on all Smith's work.
During the early 1960s Goldsmith managed to make ''Fantastic'' and ''Amazing'', in the words of Mike Ashley, "the best-looking and brightest" magazines around. This applied both to the covers, where Goldsmith used artists such as
and Leo Summers, and the content. Ashley also describes Fantastic as the "premier fantasy magazine" during Goldsmith's tenure—at that time the only other magazine focused specifically on fantasy fiction was the British ''
Science Fantasy
Science fantasy is a hybrid genre within speculative fiction that simultaneously draws upon or combines tropes and elements from both science fiction and fantasy. In a conventional science fiction story, the world is presented as being scientif ...
''.
Goldsmith's tastes were too diverse for ''Fantastic'' to be limited to genre fantasy, however, and her willingness to buy fiction she liked, regardless of genre expectations, allowed many new writers to flourish on the pages of both ''Amazing'' and ''Fantastic''. Writers such as Ursula K. Le Guin,
Roger Zelazny
Roger Joseph Zelazny (May 13, 1937 – June 14, 1995) was an American poet and writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels, best known for ''The Chronicles of Amber''. He won the Nebula Award three times (out of 14 nomin ...
and Thomas M. Disch sold regularly to her at the start of their careers Le Guin later commented that Goldsmith was "as enterprising and perceptive an editor as the science fiction magazines ever had".Quoted in Malcolm Edwards, "Cele Goldsmith", in Clute & Nicholls, ''Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (1993), p. 508. Not all Goldsmith's choices were universally popular with the magazine's subscribers: she regularly published fiction by David R. Bunch, for example, to mixed reviews from the readership.
Reprint era
Wrzos persuaded Cohen that both ''Amazing'' and ''Fantastic'' should carry a new story in every issue, rather than running nothing but reprints; Goldsmith had left a backlog of unpublished stories, and Wrzos was able to stretch these out for some time. One such story was
Fritz Leiber
Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr. ( ; December 24, 1910 – September 5, 1992) was an American writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He was also a poet, actor in theater and films, playwright, and chess expert. With writers such as Robert ...
's "Stardock", another Fafhrd and Gray Mouser story, which appeared in the September 1965 issue; it was subsequently nominated for a
Hugo Award
The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...
. The reprints were well received by the fans, because Wrzos was able to find good quality stories that were unavailable except in the original magazines, meaning that to many of ''Fantastic's'' readers they were fresh material. Wrzos also reprinted "The People of the Black Circle", a Robert E. Howard story from ''
Weird Tales
''Weird Tales'' is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine founded by J. C. Henneberger and J. M. Lansinger in late 1922. The first issue, dated March 1923, appeared on newsstands February 18. The first editor, Edwin Baird, prin ...
'', in 1967, when Howard's Conan stories were becoming popular.
In addition to the backlog of new stories from the Ziff Davis era, Wrzos was able to acquire some new material. He was especially glad to acquire "
For a Breath I Tarry "For a Breath I Tarry" is a 1966 post-apocalyptic novelette by American writer Roger Zelazny, which was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novelette in 1967. Taking place long after the self-extinction of Man, it recounts the tale of Frost, a s ...
", by
Roger Zelazny
Roger Joseph Zelazny (May 13, 1937 – June 14, 1995) was an American poet and writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels, best known for ''The Chronicles of Amber''. He won the Nebula Award three times (out of 14 nomin ...
; however, he had to wait for Cohen's approval for his acquisitions. Cohen, perhaps uncertain because of the story's originality, delayed until it appeared in the British magazine ''
New Worlds
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartn ...
'' before agreeing to publish it. Wrzos commented years later that he would "never forgive him ohenhis timidity at that time". Wrzos bought
Doris Piserchia
Doris Piserchia (born Doris Summers, October 11, 1928 – September 15, 2021) was an American science fiction writer who was born and raised in Fairmont, West Virginia. She served in the United States Navy from 1950 to 1954 and after that took co ...
's first story, "Rocket to Gehenna", and was the first editor to acquire a story by
Dean Koontz
Dean Ray Koontz (born July 9, 1945) is an American author. His novels are billed as Thriller (genre), suspense thrillers, but frequently incorporate elements of horror fiction, horror, fantasy, science fiction, Mystery fiction, mystery, and satir ...
. He had to work with Koontz to improve it, and the delay this caused, in addition to the slow publishing schedule for new material, meant that Koontz appeared in print with "Soft Come the Dragons", in the August 1967 ''
Fantasy & Science Fiction
''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Boucher ...
'', before "A Darkness in My Soul" appeared in the January 1968 ''Fantastic''.
After Wrzos's departure, Harrison and Malzberg had little opportunity to reshape the magazine as between them they only took responsibility for a handful of issues before Ted White took over. However, Harrison did print James Tiptree's first sale, "Fault", in the August 1968 issue; again the slow schedule meant that this was not Tiptree's first appearance in print. Harrison added a science column by Leon Stover, but was unable to change Cohen's position on the reprints, and so could not print much new fiction. When Malzberg took over from Harrison he published John Sladek,
Thomas M. Disch
Thomas Michael Disch (February 2, 1940 – July 4, 2008) was an American science fiction author and poet. He won the Hugo Award for Best Related Book – previously called "Best Non-Fiction Book" – in 1999, and he had two other Hugo nomination ...
, and
James Sallis
James Sallis (born December 21, 1944) is an American crime writer who wrote a series of novels featuring the detective character Lew Griffin set in New Orleans, and the 2005 novel '' Drive'', which was adapted into a 2011 film of the same nam ...
, all of whom were associated with
New Wave science fiction
The New Wave was a science fiction (SF) style of the 1960s and 1970s, characterized by a great degree of experimentation with the form and content of stories, greater imitation of the styles of trendy non-science fiction literature, and an emphasis ...
, but his tenure was too short for him to have a significant impact on the magazine.
White and Mavor
White was only able to offer his writers one cent per word, which was substantially lower than the leading magazines in the field—''
Analog Science Fiction and Fact
''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William C ...
'' paid five cents, and '' Galaxy'' and ''Fantasy & Science Fiction'' paid three. Most stories would only be submitted to White once the higher-paying markets had rejected them, but among the rejects White was sometimes able to find experimental material that he liked. For example,
Piers Anthony
Piers Anthony Dillingham Jacob (born 6 August 1934) is an American author in the science fiction and Fantasy (genre), fantasy genres, publishing under the name Piers Anthony. He is best known for his :Xanth books, long-running novel series set in ...
had been unable to sell an early fantasy novel, ''Hasan''; White saw a review of the manuscript and promptly acquired it for ''Fantastic'', where it was serialized starting in the December 1969 issue. White also took care to establish relationships with newer writers. White bought
Gordon Eklund
Gordon Eklund (born July 24, 1945 in Seattle, Washington) is an American science fiction author whose works include the "Lord Tedric" series and two of the earliest original novels based on the 1960s '' Star Trek'' TV series. He has written under ...
's first story, "Dear Aunt Annie", it appeared in the April 1970 issue and was nominated for a
Nebula Award
The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of profe ...
. Eklund was unwilling to become a full-time writer, despite this success, because of the financial risks, so White agreed to buy anything Eklund wrote, on condition that Eklund himself believed it was a good story. The result was that much of Eklund's fiction appeared in ''Amazing'' and ''Fantastic'' over the next few years.Ashley, ''Gateways'', pp. 78–79. In addition to experimental work, White was able to obtain material by some of the leading sf writers of the day, including
Brian Aldiss
Brian Wilson Aldiss (; 18 August 1925 – 19 August 2017) was an English writer, artist, and anthology editor, best known for science fiction novels and short stories. His byline reads either Brian W. Aldiss or simply Brian Aldiss, except for ...
and John Brunner. White also acquired some early work by writers who became better known in other fields:
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
sold two stories in the early 1970s to ''Fantastic''; the first, "After the Last Mass", appeared in the February 1972 issue; and in 1975 White bought
Ian McEwan
Ian Russell McEwan, (born 21 June 1948) is an English novelist and screenwriter. In 2008, ''The Times'' featured him on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945" and ''The Daily Telegraph'' ranked him number 19 in its list of th ...
's second story, "Solid Geometry". It was included in ''
First Love, Last Rites
''First Love, Last Rites'' is a collection of short stories by Ian McEwan. It was first published in 1975 by Jonathan Cape, with cover designed by Bill Botten, and re-issued in 1997 by Vintage.
Context
The collection is McEwan's first pu ...
'', McEwan's first short story collection, which won the
Somerset Maugham Award
The Somerset Maugham Award is a British literary prize given each year by the Society of Authors. Set up by William Somerset Maugham in 1947 the awards enable young writers to enrich their work by gaining experience in foreign countries. The awa ...
in 1976.
White had been an active science fiction fan before he became professionally involved in the field, and although he estimated that only 1 in 30 readers were active sf fans, he tried to use this fan base to help by urging the readership to give him feedback and to help with distribution by checking local newsstands for the magazines. White wanted to introduce established artists from outside the sf field, such as Jeff Jones,
Vaughn Bodē
Vaughn Bodē (; July 22, 1941 – July 18, 1975) was an American underground cartoonist and illustrator known for his character Cheech Wizard and his artwork depicting voluptuous women. A contemporary of Ralph Bakshi, Bodē has been credited as ...
, and Steve Hickman; however, the company was saddled with cheap artwork acquired from European magazines to be used for the cover and he was instructed to make use of them. He commissioned a comic strip from Vaughn Bodé, but was outbid by Judy-Lynn Benjamin at ''Galaxy''; he subsequently told his readers that he'd signed up Bodé again for interior artwork, but this never materialized.Ashley, ''Gateways'', p. 39. Instead a four-page comic strip by
Jay Kinney
Jay Kinney (born 1950) is an American author, editor, and former underground cartoonist. Kinney has been noted for "adding new dimensions to the political comic" in the underground comix press of the 1970s and '80s.
Kinney was a member, along wi ...
appeared in December 1970; a second strip, by
Art Spiegelman
Art Spiegelman (; born Itzhak Avraham ben Zeev Spiegelman on February 15, 1948) is an American cartoonist, editor, and comics advocate best known for his graphic novel ''Maus''. His work as co-editor on the comics magazines ''Arcade (comics maga ...
, was planned, but never published. Eventually White was allowed to commission original cover art; he published early work by
Mike Hinge
Mike Hinge (born Michael Barry Hinge, Auckland, August 9, 1931 – Philadelphia, August 2003) was an illustrator and graphic designer.
His work included portraits with a pop art influence for the cover of Time magazine: Japanese Emperor Hirohi ...
, and
Mike Kaluta
Michael William Kaluta, sometimes credited as Mike Kaluta or Michael Wm. Kaluta (born August 25, 1947), is an American comics artist and writer best known for his acclaimed 1970s adaptation of the pulp magazine hero ''The Shadow'' with writer Den ...
made his first professional sale to ''Fantastic''. He tried to hire Hinge as art director, but this fell through and White filled the role himself, sometimes using the pseudonym "J. Edwards".
Because of poor distribution, ''Fantastic'' was never able to benefit from the increasing popularity of the
fantasy genre
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and dra ...
, though White was able to publish several stories by well-known writers in the field, including a
sword and sorcery
Sword and sorcery (S&S) is a subgenre of fantasy characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent adventures. Elements of romance, magic, and the supernatural are also often present. Unlike works of high fantasy, the tale ...
novella by Dean R. Koontz, which appeared in the October 1970 issue, and an Elric story by
Michael Moorcock
Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English writer, best-known for science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has work ...
in February 1972. A revival of Robert E. Howard's character Conan, in stories by
L. Sprague de Camp
Lyon Sprague de Camp (; November 27, 1907 – November 6, 2000) was an American writer of science fiction, fantasy and non-fiction. In a career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, including novels and works of non-fiction, including biog ...
and
Lin Carter
Linwood Vrooman Carter (June 9, 1930 – February 7, 1988) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor, poet and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft (for an H. P. L ...
, was successful at increasing sales; the first of these stories appeared in August 1972, and White reported that sales of that issue were higher than for any other issue of ''Amazing'' or ''Fantastic'' that year. Each Conan story, according to White, increased sales of that issue by 10,000 copies. White also published several of Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories, and added "Sword and Sorcery" to the cover in 1975. In the same year a companion magazine, ''Sword & Sorcery Annual'', was launched, but the first issue was the only one to appear.
The quality of the magazine remained high even as the financial stress was mounting in the late 1970s. White acquired cover artwork by
Stephen Fabian
Stephen Emil Fabian Sr. is an American artist.
Career
Fabian specializes in science fiction and fantasy illustration and cover art for books and magazines. Fabian also produced artwork for TSR's ''Dungeons & Dragons'' game from 1986 to 1995, p ...
and Douglas Beekman, and stories by some of the new generation of sf writers, such as
George R. R. Martin
George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...
and
Charles Sheffield
Charles Sheffield (25 June 1935 – 2 November 2002), an English-born mathematician, physicist and science-fiction writer, served as a President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and of the American Astronautical Society.
...
. White departed in November 1978, but the first issue of ''Fantastic'' under Elinor Mavor's editorial control was April 1979. Because White had returned unsold stories she had very little to work with and was forced to fill the magazine with reprints. This led to renewed conflict with the sf community, which she did her best to defuse. At a convention in 1979 she met
Harlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison (May 27, 1934 – June 28, 2018) was an American writer, known for his prolific and influential work in New Wave speculative fiction and for his outspoken, combative personality. Robert Bloch, the author of '' Psycho'' ...
, who complained about the reprint policy; she explained that it was temporary and was able to get him to agree to contribute stories, publishing two pieces by him in ''Amazing'' over the next three years. The January 1980 issue of ''Fantastic'' (Mavor's fourth issue) was the last to contain reprinted stories. Once the reprints had been phased out, Mavor was able to find new writers to work with, including
Brad Linaweaver
Bradford Swain Linaweaver (September 1, 1952 – August 29, 2019) was an American science fiction writer, film producer, actor, and magazine publisher. Over a 40-year career, he completed a body of work including novels, short stories, and scree ...
and John E. Stith, both of whom sold their first stories to ''Fantastic''. The last year of ''Fantastic'' showed "a steady improvement in content", according to Mike Ashley, who cites in particular ''Daemon'', a serialized graphic story, illustrated by Stephen Fabian. However, at the end of 1980 ''Fantastic''s independent existence ceased, and it was merged with ''Amazing''.
Publication details
Editors
The list below gives the person who was acting as editor. In some cases, such as at the start of Cele Goldsmith's stint, the official editor was not the same person; details are given above.
* Howard Browne (Summer 1952 – August 1956).
* Paul Fairman (October 1956 – November 1958).
* Cele Goldsmith (December 1958 – June 1965). Goldsmith used her married name, Cele G. Lalli, from July 1964.
* Joseph Ross (September 1965 – November 1967).
* Harry Harrison (January 1968 – October 1968).
* Barry N. Malzberg (December 1968 – April 1969).
* Ted White (June 1969 – January 1979)
* Elinor Mavor (April 1979 – October 1980)
Other bibliographic details
The title changed multiple times, and was frequently inconsistently given between the cover, spine, indicia, and masthead.Mike Ashley, "Fantastic", in Tymn & Ashley, ''Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Weird Fiction Magazines'', p. 231.
The following table shows which issues appeared from which publisher.See the individual issues. For convenience, an online index is available at
A British edition published by Thorpe & Porter ran for eight bimonthly issues from December 1953 to February 1955; the issues were not dated on the cover. These correspond to the US issues from September/October 1953 to December 1954, and were numbered volume 1, numbers 1 through 8."Fantastic", in Tuck, ''Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Vol. 3'', pp. 557–558.
''Fantastic'' was digest-sized throughout its life. The page count began at 160 but dropped to 144 with the September/October 1953 issue, and then again to 128 pages with the very next issue, November/December 1953. The July 1960 issue had 144 pages, but apart from that one issue the page count stayed at 128 until September 1965, when it increased to 160. In January 1968 it went back down to 144 pages, and it dropped to 128 pages from February 1971 through the end of its run. The first issue was priced at 35 cents; thereafter the price went up as follows: 50 cents in May 1963, 60 cents in December 1969, 75 cents in July 1974, $1.00 in October 1975, $1.25 in April 1978, and finally $1.50 from April 1979 until the last issue.
Derivative anthologies
Three anthologies of stories from ''Fantastic'' have been published. Note that ''Time Untamed'' contains stories that were published in ''Fantastic'' during its reprint years, but which did not necessarily first appear there.Mike Ashley, "Fantastic", in Clute & Grant, ''Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' (1997), pp. 335–336.Mike Ashley, "Fantastic", in Tymn & Ashley, ''Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Weird Fiction Magazines'', pp. 230–231.
Internet Speculative Fiction Database
The Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB) is a database of bibliographic information on genres considered speculative fiction, including science fiction and related genres such as fantasy, alternate history, and horror fiction. The ISFDB ...