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Sun Spots, v. 3, issue 3, whole no. 11, October 5, 1940
Page 6
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Oct. 5, 1940 SUN SPOTS Page 5. EDITORIAL # 3. By Roy Plotkin. Fantasy may come and Fantasy may go.. That is the title of an article in this issue of Sun Spots and in this brief column, or I should say, page,I propose to enlarge on that theme somewhat and to fill in a few gaps where our contributor devoted space to some other topic. First ,I will name the fantasy magazines already on the market. There are really only two--Fantastic Adventures and Unknown. Of these, the former is rumored to be all but folded up, but as it is still in circulation at time of going to press I will include it in this survey. Unknown, put out by Street& Smith, is a rather morbid sort of thing, having it seems a definite object in view--either boring the reader stiff or scaring him out of his wits. I recently read a story by Robert Henlein in Unknown entitled "The Devil Makes the Law". Now I heard someone say that this was one of the funniest things they had ever read but that story impressed me as being rank nonsense. There were several funny sequences in it, admitted, but these were insufficient to atone for the boredom afforded by the other part. The short stories were mediocre with one excepted-"The Hardwood File"was very cleverly written, and was about the best story in the issue. In an earlier issue I read "Fear". Now this, if intended for a third degree, was ideal. It was beautifully written but had me on the verge of rushing to the door. The warning given by the author at the beginning is quite conservative in comparison with the actual "Scariness" of the story. Now to turn to Fantastic Adventures. In accordance with the Ziff-Davis policy of pleasing the masses, this magazine made quite a name for itself. It carried an interesting, light and adventuresome brand of Fantasy fiction, that was in direct contrast to Unknown's, although the the actual brand of writing wasn't and isn't yet as high as that in the Street & Smith publication. The humor stories carried by Fantastic Adventures are of a sort hitherto unknown (no pun intended). The Hector Squinch series are quite good, and Lancelot Biggs, formerly in Fantastic but harnessed for the latest issue of Amazing are also very interesting to read. Most people read for sheer enjoyment, and they read fantasy fiction to try and stretch their imaginations a little. The object is well born in mind by Palmer when he edits Fantastic Adventures, but Campbel seems to think that the scare of the century is quite in order for the Unknown public (again, no pun intended) and so he proceeds to dish up "Fear". As if resting on his laurels, an issue or so later, up comes the so-called humor angle--The Devil Makes the Law. I'll tender a word of welcome advice to MrCampbel. Cocentrate on "straight" fantasy, and leave the humor to Fantastic Adventures. Their make-up is better adapted to it. Well, there I have dealt in brief with the two principle exponents of fantasy fiction, and so to conclude, I'll waste a little space on a brief review of the "Jongor of Lost Land" lead story in the latest Fantastic Adventures. So var I have been building up Fantastic Adventures, at the expense of "Unknown", but I'll go into reverse and say that Campbel could not publish anything so utterly puerile as Robert Moore Williams' poor attempt to imitate Burroughs. This "masterpiece" takes place in the wilds of Australia, and is all about a goon who has a magic ring that enables him to control the mighty dinosaurs which he uses as horses. He meets up with a band of white people and.... well I'll not spoil it for you if you feel like reading it. So long. P.S. Campbell is spelt wrong.
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Oct. 5, 1940 SUN SPOTS Page 5. EDITORIAL # 3. By Roy Plotkin. Fantasy may come and Fantasy may go.. That is the title of an article in this issue of Sun Spots and in this brief column, or I should say, page,I propose to enlarge on that theme somewhat and to fill in a few gaps where our contributor devoted space to some other topic. First ,I will name the fantasy magazines already on the market. There are really only two--Fantastic Adventures and Unknown. Of these, the former is rumored to be all but folded up, but as it is still in circulation at time of going to press I will include it in this survey. Unknown, put out by Street& Smith, is a rather morbid sort of thing, having it seems a definite object in view--either boring the reader stiff or scaring him out of his wits. I recently read a story by Robert Henlein in Unknown entitled "The Devil Makes the Law". Now I heard someone say that this was one of the funniest things they had ever read but that story impressed me as being rank nonsense. There were several funny sequences in it, admitted, but these were insufficient to atone for the boredom afforded by the other part. The short stories were mediocre with one excepted-"The Hardwood File"was very cleverly written, and was about the best story in the issue. In an earlier issue I read "Fear". Now this, if intended for a third degree, was ideal. It was beautifully written but had me on the verge of rushing to the door. The warning given by the author at the beginning is quite conservative in comparison with the actual "Scariness" of the story. Now to turn to Fantastic Adventures. In accordance with the Ziff-Davis policy of pleasing the masses, this magazine made quite a name for itself. It carried an interesting, light and adventuresome brand of Fantasy fiction, that was in direct contrast to Unknown's, although the the actual brand of writing wasn't and isn't yet as high as that in the Street & Smith publication. The humor stories carried by Fantastic Adventures are of a sort hitherto unknown (no pun intended). The Hector Squinch series are quite good, and Lancelot Biggs, formerly in Fantastic but harnessed for the latest issue of Amazing are also very interesting to read. Most people read for sheer enjoyment, and they read fantasy fiction to try and stretch their imaginations a little. The object is well born in mind by Palmer when he edits Fantastic Adventures, but Campbel seems to think that the scare of the century is quite in order for the Unknown public (again, no pun intended) and so he proceeds to dish up "Fear". As if resting on his laurels, an issue or so later, up comes the so-called humor angle--The Devil Makes the Law. I'll tender a word of welcome advice to MrCampbel. Cocentrate on "straight" fantasy, and leave the humor to Fantastic Adventures. Their make-up is better adapted to it. Well, there I have dealt in brief with the two principle exponents of fantasy fiction, and so to conclude, I'll waste a little space on a brief review of the "Jongor of Lost Land" lead story in the latest Fantastic Adventures. So var I have been building up Fantastic Adventures, at the expense of "Unknown", but I'll go into reverse and say that Campbel could not publish anything so utterly puerile as Robert Moore Williams' poor attempt to imitate Burroughs. This "masterpiece" takes place in the wilds of Australia, and is all about a goon who has a magic ring that enables him to control the mighty dinosaurs which he uses as horses. He meets up with a band of white people and.... well I'll not spoil it for you if you feel like reading it. So long. P.S. Campbell is spelt wrong.
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