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Fantascience Digest, v. 2, issue 1, Novermber-December 1938
Page 13
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page 14 FANTASCIENCE DIGEST left---in fact, the sillyness of the cartoons is one of the reasons why the general public does not hold a very good opinion of stf. What can be done to remedy the situation? One thing, and one thing only--- let a truly great stf. artist, preferably Paul, collaborate with a truly great stf. author on a comic strip that, while retaining the necessary qualities of action, villains, suspense, will nevertheless have a sane and well-worked-out plot--- or else have an artist do a strip from one of the great stf. yarns of the past--- the "Skylark" stories would be admirable for this purpose. Perhaps Dr. Smith might be persuaded to do the dialogue, and when all the material has been exhausted, which would not be for many years, write further adventures of the "Skylarks".In this way, and this way alone, can a truly great stf. strip be created, and become popular with all. ---------------------- Science Fiction Review by Thomas Whiteside There have been quite a number of fan mag reviews in the several fan mags that are being published, but so far there has been little time and space devoted to a review of the professional magazines; at least I have not read more than one. Therefore, this column, which will appear every issue, will review the professional magazines, and you can compare your ratings with my own. In keeping my own tabulated list of stories, I usually rate the stories as follows: /, F minus, F, F plus, G minus, G plus, E minus, E, E plus, and R. The marks, as you may have noticed, are similar to the marks you may have received in school. The (/) sign I place on all stories that are actually poor, and the letter "R" signifies a story that is even better the excellent plus [sic]. AMAZING STORIES: Dec. 1938 Ghost of Mars by Festus Pragnell. It is a relief to the old and worn out plot, in which the hero and heroine marry and live happily ever after. The characters in this story have the good and bad features that you find in the real people you meet in all wakes of life. The scientific explanations are not only plausible, but are in accord with known Geoligical [sic] and medical facts. I rate "The Ghost of Mars" as G. Master of Telepathy by Eando Binder. Oh baby! This fellow Binder can turn out the stories! It is a good thing that there are not a few men running around with the power of mind that Binder gave his character in this story. It is one of the best stories dealing with the human mind that I have read. I rate the story E minus. Purge of the Deaf by A.R. Tefte & L.A. Schmidt. A good idea and a good plot, but not executed as well as it could have been. The authors of this one could have put a little more action into the story, and built up a good novel-length story. The story as it stands is merely good enough to hold the interest of the reader to the last page, but not good enough to cause one to want to reread the story for want of something good to read, or for want of an idea. Rates G minus. Prince Derus Returns [?] by Earl
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page 14 FANTASCIENCE DIGEST left---in fact, the sillyness of the cartoons is one of the reasons why the general public does not hold a very good opinion of stf. What can be done to remedy the situation? One thing, and one thing only--- let a truly great stf. artist, preferably Paul, collaborate with a truly great stf. author on a comic strip that, while retaining the necessary qualities of action, villains, suspense, will nevertheless have a sane and well-worked-out plot--- or else have an artist do a strip from one of the great stf. yarns of the past--- the "Skylark" stories would be admirable for this purpose. Perhaps Dr. Smith might be persuaded to do the dialogue, and when all the material has been exhausted, which would not be for many years, write further adventures of the "Skylarks".In this way, and this way alone, can a truly great stf. strip be created, and become popular with all. ---------------------- Science Fiction Review by Thomas Whiteside There have been quite a number of fan mag reviews in the several fan mags that are being published, but so far there has been little time and space devoted to a review of the professional magazines; at least I have not read more than one. Therefore, this column, which will appear every issue, will review the professional magazines, and you can compare your ratings with my own. In keeping my own tabulated list of stories, I usually rate the stories as follows: /, F minus, F, F plus, G minus, G plus, E minus, E, E plus, and R. The marks, as you may have noticed, are similar to the marks you may have received in school. The (/) sign I place on all stories that are actually poor, and the letter "R" signifies a story that is even better the excellent plus [sic]. AMAZING STORIES: Dec. 1938 Ghost of Mars by Festus Pragnell. It is a relief to the old and worn out plot, in which the hero and heroine marry and live happily ever after. The characters in this story have the good and bad features that you find in the real people you meet in all wakes of life. The scientific explanations are not only plausible, but are in accord with known Geoligical [sic] and medical facts. I rate "The Ghost of Mars" as G. Master of Telepathy by Eando Binder. Oh baby! This fellow Binder can turn out the stories! It is a good thing that there are not a few men running around with the power of mind that Binder gave his character in this story. It is one of the best stories dealing with the human mind that I have read. I rate the story E minus. Purge of the Deaf by A.R. Tefte & L.A. Schmidt. A good idea and a good plot, but not executed as well as it could have been. The authors of this one could have put a little more action into the story, and built up a good novel-length story. The story as it stands is merely good enough to hold the interest of the reader to the last page, but not good enough to cause one to want to reread the story for want of something good to read, or for want of an idea. Rates G minus. Prince Derus Returns [?] by Earl
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