Wonder Stories

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the magazine. For the book by Hans Christian Andersen, see Wonder Stories Told for Children.

Air Wonder Stories Science Wonder Stories Wonder Stories Thrilling Wonder Stories
July 1940 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories. Art by Howard V. Brown.
Editor	David Lasser Charles D. Hornig Mort Weisinger Oscar J. Friend Sam Merwin, Jr. Samuel Mines Alexander Samalman
Categories	Pulp magazine
Frequency	Monthly, Bi-monthly and Quarterly at various time
Publisher	Hugo Gernsback
First issue	July 1929
Final issue — Number	Winter 1955 200
Country	United States
Language	English

Wonder Stories was a science fiction magazine which published 66 issues between 1930 and 1936, edited by Hugo Gernsback. There have been other magazines containing Wonder Stories in their name, which are closely related to this one.

Gernsback founded Air Wonder Stories and Science Wonder Stories in 1929, after he lost control of Amazing Stories. Air Wonder Stories and Science Wonder Stories published 11 and 12 issues respectively, before Air Wonder Stories merged with Science Wonder Stories, which was then renamed just Wonder Stories (beginning with Volume 2 No 1).

In 1936, Wonder Stories was sold to Thrilling Publications. To match with their other pulps (e.g. Thrilling Western, Thrilling Detective) the title was changed to Thrilling Wonder Stories. This is considered to be a continuation of Wonder Stories since it began with Volume 8, Number 1. This published a further 112 issues, closing in 1955.

The Gernsback Wonder Stories were all oversized, premium, pulp magazines with covers by Frank R. Paul and with a similar editorial slant to Amazing Stories. Thrilling Wonder Stories was standard pulp size and took a more junior slant, shown especially with a "Sergeant Saturn" policing the letters page. However it was to publish many major figures, including Arthur C. Clarke, L. Sprague de Camp Robert A. Heinlein, Henry Kuttner, Theodore Sturgeon, A. E. Van Vogt, and Stanley G. Weinbaum.

Related publications included British and Canadian reprints, Science Wonder Quarterly (3 issues), Wonder Stories Quarterly (14 issues), Wonder Stories Annual (4 issues) and two reprint issues from 1957 and 1963.

The first issue of Air Wonder Stories (July 1929), including all illustrations, has been recreated online.^[1]

[edit] 2007 Revival

In the June, 2007 issue of the long-running British fanzine Ansible, editor David Langford announced that Thrilling Wonder Stories will be re-launched under new editor/publisher Winston Engle.^[2]. Langford quoted Engle as saying "It's not a pastiche or nostalgia exercise as much as modern SF with the entertainment, inspirational value, and excitement of the golden age."

A search of U.S. trademark records^[3] shows that Engle has indeed re-registered the previously fallow Thrilling Wonder Stories trademark "(Based on Intent to Use) Entertainment Services namely providing a website featuring, photographic, audio, video and prose presentations featuring science fiction." The Summer 2007 issue (vol. XLVI, No. 1) appeared in September or October in trade paperback format, with a mix of reprints and original stories. Contributors include Geoffrey A. Landis, R. Neube, Eric Brown, Michael Kandel, Ben Bova, Jack Williamson, and Raymond F. Jones. Winston Engle is editor and publisher of the issue.