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Fantasy Commentator, v. 1, issue 9, Winter 1945-1946
Page 210
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210 FANTASY COMMENTATOR It Nearly Was by Richard Frank (Author's note: Sam Moskowitz's article "It Might Have Been---", which appeared in the Winter 1944-45 issue of this magazine, was extremely interesting to me because back in 1935-37 I had frequent contact with William L. Crawford and his troubles regarding Marvel Tales. The following account is an attempt to throw more interesting sidelights on the fascinating background of this fine fan publication.) Ten years ago I was living in my home town of Millheim, having just completed high school, and intended to wait a year before continuing my studies at Pennsylvania State College. One day the doorbell buzzed at my home, and a slim, moderately well-dressed chap of medium height stood in his doorway. He introduced himself as William L. Crawford, editor of Marvel Tales and Unusual Stories, and head of the Visionary Publishing Company. He said he had happened to be at the college---twenty miles away---and had noticed that Millheim was relatively near by. Since he had three subscribers in the town, he had decided to visit them. Prior to seeing me he had contracted K. Russell Miller (who later helped me publish the first number in the Bizarre Series), but had failed to find the other fan at home. Crawford and I had a pleasant chat about fantasy, Marvel's future, and the possibility of his publishing science-fiction books. The upshot of it all was that he invited me to go along back with him to Everett, Pa., and spend some time there at his home with him. I've never regretted that trip. Although it is only a hundred miles from Millheim to Everett, it was rather cold that Fall of 1935, and we intended to hitch-hike through lonely, mountainous country. Crawford had arrived in Millheim in the same way. We eventually arrived at our destination, but I sometimes think that we walked longer than we rode! First I toured the Marvel Tales printing shop. Perhaps a description of that will help readers understand some of the difficulties that Crawford mentioned so often in his advertisements. We mounted a rickety stair to a loft on the second floor, and entered a barn-like room which must have once housed poultry. The floor was littered with feathers. Threading the way through other debris, we eventually arrived at a little room cluttered with fonts of type, an old platen job-press, and a toy-like hand press on which---believe it or not!---the first valuable issues of Marvel and Unusual were printed. Judging by the advertisements and the excellent amateur magazines I had received by mail, I had expected to find the Visionary Publishing Company a more impressive plant. For, while containing typographical faults, its magazines were top-flight editorially. What I saw was naturally surprising; I had not known, of course, that Crawford was just an ardent fan losing money for the love of his hobby. During the next few days I got the thrill of my fan life. For Julius Schwartz, then editor of Fantasy Magazine---the greatest fan magazine of them all---and Charles D. Hornig, then managing editor of Gersback's Wonder Stories, both called. (I might mention parenthetically here that as a result of the meeting Hornig and I became close friends, and that he visited me frequently during the next eight years. The following Summer, too, I was the New York City guest of Schwartz and Otto Binder.) But to return to Crawford's "insurmountable obstacles," as the advertisements called them... Any fellow who is---or was---an amateur publisher is aware of the trouble involved in getting out their sheet. Miller and I ran into plenty in the Bizarre Series, so I can speak with some experience. Here, now, was a fan setting type by hand, printing entire issues alone, and at first even
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210 FANTASY COMMENTATOR It Nearly Was by Richard Frank (Author's note: Sam Moskowitz's article "It Might Have Been---", which appeared in the Winter 1944-45 issue of this magazine, was extremely interesting to me because back in 1935-37 I had frequent contact with William L. Crawford and his troubles regarding Marvel Tales. The following account is an attempt to throw more interesting sidelights on the fascinating background of this fine fan publication.) Ten years ago I was living in my home town of Millheim, having just completed high school, and intended to wait a year before continuing my studies at Pennsylvania State College. One day the doorbell buzzed at my home, and a slim, moderately well-dressed chap of medium height stood in his doorway. He introduced himself as William L. Crawford, editor of Marvel Tales and Unusual Stories, and head of the Visionary Publishing Company. He said he had happened to be at the college---twenty miles away---and had noticed that Millheim was relatively near by. Since he had three subscribers in the town, he had decided to visit them. Prior to seeing me he had contracted K. Russell Miller (who later helped me publish the first number in the Bizarre Series), but had failed to find the other fan at home. Crawford and I had a pleasant chat about fantasy, Marvel's future, and the possibility of his publishing science-fiction books. The upshot of it all was that he invited me to go along back with him to Everett, Pa., and spend some time there at his home with him. I've never regretted that trip. Although it is only a hundred miles from Millheim to Everett, it was rather cold that Fall of 1935, and we intended to hitch-hike through lonely, mountainous country. Crawford had arrived in Millheim in the same way. We eventually arrived at our destination, but I sometimes think that we walked longer than we rode! First I toured the Marvel Tales printing shop. Perhaps a description of that will help readers understand some of the difficulties that Crawford mentioned so often in his advertisements. We mounted a rickety stair to a loft on the second floor, and entered a barn-like room which must have once housed poultry. The floor was littered with feathers. Threading the way through other debris, we eventually arrived at a little room cluttered with fonts of type, an old platen job-press, and a toy-like hand press on which---believe it or not!---the first valuable issues of Marvel and Unusual were printed. Judging by the advertisements and the excellent amateur magazines I had received by mail, I had expected to find the Visionary Publishing Company a more impressive plant. For, while containing typographical faults, its magazines were top-flight editorially. What I saw was naturally surprising; I had not known, of course, that Crawford was just an ardent fan losing money for the love of his hobby. During the next few days I got the thrill of my fan life. For Julius Schwartz, then editor of Fantasy Magazine---the greatest fan magazine of them all---and Charles D. Hornig, then managing editor of Gersback's Wonder Stories, both called. (I might mention parenthetically here that as a result of the meeting Hornig and I became close friends, and that he visited me frequently during the next eight years. The following Summer, too, I was the New York City guest of Schwartz and Otto Binder.) But to return to Crawford's "insurmountable obstacles," as the advertisements called them... Any fellow who is---or was---an amateur publisher is aware of the trouble involved in getting out their sheet. Miller and I ran into plenty in the Bizarre Series, so I can speak with some experience. Here, now, was a fan setting type by hand, printing entire issues alone, and at first even
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