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Fantasy Commentator, v. 1, issue 9, Winter 1945-1946
Page 204
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204 FANTASY COMMENTATOR Herbert apparently broke away from Mssrs. Lloyd Cole to form a "Utopia Publications, Ltd." This firm, working on the sound principle that Utopia is the Place Where One Gets What One Wants, has found that almost any printed matter will sell if its cover is embellished with a good female nude. I am told, in fact, that the first publication of this house was a volume of photographic nudes; this I do not have available for description. Next came Girl in Trouble by E. Frank Parker (London, no date; 36pp; 20 x 12-1/2cm; 9d.), a lurid interplanetary tale; my copy is printed on pale green paper. The nude on its orange cover has arching, bad-tempered brows. There followed Arctic Bride by Major S.P. Meek (no date; 36pp; 18 x 12cm; 9d.), which, in addition to the title story, contains a tale called "Nasturtin" by the same author; the cover is a photographic reproduction of a skeleton, behind which sits the inevitable nude. Robert Bloch's Sea Kissed (no date; 39pp; 18-1/2 x 12-1/2cm; 1/-) is a booklet of short stories, all by this author. There exists a variant edition, in which the number of pages has been reduced to thirty-six, although an extra story has somehow crept in. This is Benson Herbert's "Goper's Head," and is not unamusing. It concerns a retired grocer who contrives to transmit his body into "another universe or dimension or something" while his head is embarrassed to find itself still in this one. The situation resolves itself when his body is eaten by an other-world carnivore. A nude hanging over space and reaching upward adorns the cover of Lady in Danger by Jack Williamson (no date; 36pp; 18-1/2 x 12cm; 1/-). Besides the title story, the volume contains "Spanish Vampire" by E. Hoffmann Price and "The Curse of the House" by Robert Bloch. Love in Time by Johnson Harris, pseud. (John Boynon Harris) (No date; 18-1/2 x 12cm; 36pp; 1/-) contains one story only (reprinted from Wonder Stories magazine). Tiger Girl (no date; 36 pp; 18-1/2 x 12 cm; 1/-) contains the title tale (by Edmund Hamilton) and E. Hoffman Price's "Apprentice Magician." In Youth Madness by Stanton A. Coblentz (no date; 36pp. 18-1/2 x 12 cm; 1/-) there is also a story by Robert Bloch, "The Secret of Sebek." The booklet's cover is a silhouetted nude with a peacock-patterned background; it bears the legend: "American Fiction No. 8.) No. 9 is The Sex Serum by H. O. Dickinson (no date; 36pp; 18-1/2 x 12cm; 1/-); this also contains "The Man wth X-Ray Eyes" by Edmund Hamilton and "The Red Swimmer" by Robert Bloch. Strange Offerings by Raymond A. Palmer (subtitled "American Fiction No. 10) (no date; 36 pp; 18-1/2 x 12cm; 1/-) is accompanied by "The Malignant Entity" of Otis Adelbert Kline. The full-length cover nude is the most attractive of the lot. A number of fantasies have been put out by [?] & Swan, Ltd. Their paper and printing are usually of poor quality. Into the Fourth Dimension by Ray Cummings (London: no date; 128pp. 18-1/2 x 12 cm; 1/-) and The Moon Conquerors by R. H. Romans ((no date; 176pp. 18-1/2 x 12 cm; 1/-) both contain, besides the title novels, short stories reprinted from the American Science Fiction magazine group edited by Charles Hornig. The Dark City by Kay Hammond (no date; 48pp. 21 x 14 cm; 4d.) is a lost civilization tale, and is inscribed "Weird Pocket Library No. 1" ---No. 2 never appeared; Mssrs. Swan excel in issuing solitary numbers of a series. Weird Shorts, First Selection (no date; 35pp.; 20-1/2 x 13cm; 7d.) contains a selection of hitherto unpublished short stories by W. P. Cockroft, J. C. Evans, etc., which are for the most part rather good. David Alun's Demon and the Dictator pilfers blatantly from John Collier's mythology. (The bibliography of these Swan productions, not easily come by under the most favorable of conditions, is the same title, cover and format as Weird Shorts: First Selection. The prices of ones are often found stuck over the original markings.) More, there is The Case of the Missing Airman (no date; 36pp. 18 x 12 cm; 4d.), one of a series of booklets about Martin Sneed, Detective; it is authored by George Elliott, and is of
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204 FANTASY COMMENTATOR Herbert apparently broke away from Mssrs. Lloyd Cole to form a "Utopia Publications, Ltd." This firm, working on the sound principle that Utopia is the Place Where One Gets What One Wants, has found that almost any printed matter will sell if its cover is embellished with a good female nude. I am told, in fact, that the first publication of this house was a volume of photographic nudes; this I do not have available for description. Next came Girl in Trouble by E. Frank Parker (London, no date; 36pp; 20 x 12-1/2cm; 9d.), a lurid interplanetary tale; my copy is printed on pale green paper. The nude on its orange cover has arching, bad-tempered brows. There followed Arctic Bride by Major S.P. Meek (no date; 36pp; 18 x 12cm; 9d.), which, in addition to the title story, contains a tale called "Nasturtin" by the same author; the cover is a photographic reproduction of a skeleton, behind which sits the inevitable nude. Robert Bloch's Sea Kissed (no date; 39pp; 18-1/2 x 12-1/2cm; 1/-) is a booklet of short stories, all by this author. There exists a variant edition, in which the number of pages has been reduced to thirty-six, although an extra story has somehow crept in. This is Benson Herbert's "Goper's Head," and is not unamusing. It concerns a retired grocer who contrives to transmit his body into "another universe or dimension or something" while his head is embarrassed to find itself still in this one. The situation resolves itself when his body is eaten by an other-world carnivore. A nude hanging over space and reaching upward adorns the cover of Lady in Danger by Jack Williamson (no date; 36pp; 18-1/2 x 12cm; 1/-). Besides the title story, the volume contains "Spanish Vampire" by E. Hoffmann Price and "The Curse of the House" by Robert Bloch. Love in Time by Johnson Harris, pseud. (John Boynon Harris) (No date; 18-1/2 x 12cm; 36pp; 1/-) contains one story only (reprinted from Wonder Stories magazine). Tiger Girl (no date; 36 pp; 18-1/2 x 12 cm; 1/-) contains the title tale (by Edmund Hamilton) and E. Hoffman Price's "Apprentice Magician." In Youth Madness by Stanton A. Coblentz (no date; 36pp. 18-1/2 x 12 cm; 1/-) there is also a story by Robert Bloch, "The Secret of Sebek." The booklet's cover is a silhouetted nude with a peacock-patterned background; it bears the legend: "American Fiction No. 8.) No. 9 is The Sex Serum by H. O. Dickinson (no date; 36pp; 18-1/2 x 12cm; 1/-); this also contains "The Man wth X-Ray Eyes" by Edmund Hamilton and "The Red Swimmer" by Robert Bloch. Strange Offerings by Raymond A. Palmer (subtitled "American Fiction No. 10) (no date; 36 pp; 18-1/2 x 12cm; 1/-) is accompanied by "The Malignant Entity" of Otis Adelbert Kline. The full-length cover nude is the most attractive of the lot. A number of fantasies have been put out by [?] & Swan, Ltd. Their paper and printing are usually of poor quality. Into the Fourth Dimension by Ray Cummings (London: no date; 128pp. 18-1/2 x 12 cm; 1/-) and The Moon Conquerors by R. H. Romans ((no date; 176pp. 18-1/2 x 12 cm; 1/-) both contain, besides the title novels, short stories reprinted from the American Science Fiction magazine group edited by Charles Hornig. The Dark City by Kay Hammond (no date; 48pp. 21 x 14 cm; 4d.) is a lost civilization tale, and is inscribed "Weird Pocket Library No. 1" ---No. 2 never appeared; Mssrs. Swan excel in issuing solitary numbers of a series. Weird Shorts, First Selection (no date; 35pp.; 20-1/2 x 13cm; 7d.) contains a selection of hitherto unpublished short stories by W. P. Cockroft, J. C. Evans, etc., which are for the most part rather good. David Alun's Demon and the Dictator pilfers blatantly from John Collier's mythology. (The bibliography of these Swan productions, not easily come by under the most favorable of conditions, is the same title, cover and format as Weird Shorts: First Selection. The prices of ones are often found stuck over the original markings.) More, there is The Case of the Missing Airman (no date; 36pp. 18 x 12 cm; 4d.), one of a series of booklets about Martin Sneed, Detective; it is authored by George Elliott, and is of
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