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Fanfare, v. 2, issue 2, whole no.8, February 1942
Page 21
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detours 21 second-rate sf prozines, we came across "Genus HOmo" (L. Sprague de Camp) in the March '41 Super Science Novels. This has some good points. What appeals to us especially is the refreshing realism--the scienctists are markedly lacking in any physical prowess, the human beings do not march on victoriously over the prostrate bodies of "inferior" races, but are captured quite ignominiously, and so on. Particularly amusing is the account of the intelligence tests, which served somehow to remind us of the plight of Leslie F Stone's "Human Pets of Mars," who were not tested for mentality or though to have any. Why Campbell should have chosen that obscure shade of green for the cover of the first large-size Unknown Worlds we cannot say. It renders the magazine extremely inconspicuous, and is the worst possible color he could have employed. (Pardon me for busting in, Russ, but I just was hit with a theory. (Nawsty lump it raised, too) That shade of green is pretty close to olive drab - army color. A color that is attracting plenty of attention these days. - ed) The blues on one or two small size Unks have been peculiarly repulsive; (I can't understand such poor discernment in such an otherwise intelligent fellow - ed) the orange shade stands out better, but is not wholly pleasing. The red, like the blue and green, was too dark to be either effective or appealing. Only the yellow met with our approval. We hope that Campbell reads this, and will break down so far as to tell us which colors sold the best -- he need not reveal his jealously guarded circulation figures, but merely indicate the relative order of popularity of the several colors he has employed since instituting his "dignified" format. We hope that the single-column presentation of the lead story is used in Astounding before our grandchildren take our mind off of sf altogether. We like that one detail of Unknown's format better than the rest of the works. If we were Campbell, we would convert Unknown Worlds into a Quarterly, advertise it as such, and include good science fiction as well as fantasy. But if we were Campbell, it must be admitted that Street and Smith would probably kick us out rather quickly after taking a look at what our various "improvements" would doubtless do to the circulation figures of the Booful Twosome. The cessation of DETOURS left us with an item of unfinished business which may as well be disposed of here. Thus, Art Widner , commenting on a short of Koenig's in THEIR OWN PETARD anent a FANTASY NEWS correction of a trivial mistake, wishes to point out that it is a strange day in fandom when the smeller-out-of-errors is reduced to hissing at a correction of a previous blunder! It may be heresy, but we do not feel disposed to blame Miske for his decision to curtail his fan activity and drop his uniformly stimulating column, "Stardust." We have long held the philosophical theory that no one performs any action except from self interest, or rather, what one thinks to be self-interest. Fans are clearly in fandom for what they get out of it---and a fan who no longer feels that he is deriving any pleasure or profit from his fan associations seems to us well justified in shifting
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detours 21 second-rate sf prozines, we came across "Genus HOmo" (L. Sprague de Camp) in the March '41 Super Science Novels. This has some good points. What appeals to us especially is the refreshing realism--the scienctists are markedly lacking in any physical prowess, the human beings do not march on victoriously over the prostrate bodies of "inferior" races, but are captured quite ignominiously, and so on. Particularly amusing is the account of the intelligence tests, which served somehow to remind us of the plight of Leslie F Stone's "Human Pets of Mars," who were not tested for mentality or though to have any. Why Campbell should have chosen that obscure shade of green for the cover of the first large-size Unknown Worlds we cannot say. It renders the magazine extremely inconspicuous, and is the worst possible color he could have employed. (Pardon me for busting in, Russ, but I just was hit with a theory. (Nawsty lump it raised, too) That shade of green is pretty close to olive drab - army color. A color that is attracting plenty of attention these days. - ed) The blues on one or two small size Unks have been peculiarly repulsive; (I can't understand such poor discernment in such an otherwise intelligent fellow - ed) the orange shade stands out better, but is not wholly pleasing. The red, like the blue and green, was too dark to be either effective or appealing. Only the yellow met with our approval. We hope that Campbell reads this, and will break down so far as to tell us which colors sold the best -- he need not reveal his jealously guarded circulation figures, but merely indicate the relative order of popularity of the several colors he has employed since instituting his "dignified" format. We hope that the single-column presentation of the lead story is used in Astounding before our grandchildren take our mind off of sf altogether. We like that one detail of Unknown's format better than the rest of the works. If we were Campbell, we would convert Unknown Worlds into a Quarterly, advertise it as such, and include good science fiction as well as fantasy. But if we were Campbell, it must be admitted that Street and Smith would probably kick us out rather quickly after taking a look at what our various "improvements" would doubtless do to the circulation figures of the Booful Twosome. The cessation of DETOURS left us with an item of unfinished business which may as well be disposed of here. Thus, Art Widner , commenting on a short of Koenig's in THEIR OWN PETARD anent a FANTASY NEWS correction of a trivial mistake, wishes to point out that it is a strange day in fandom when the smeller-out-of-errors is reduced to hissing at a correction of a previous blunder! It may be heresy, but we do not feel disposed to blame Miske for his decision to curtail his fan activity and drop his uniformly stimulating column, "Stardust." We have long held the philosophical theory that no one performs any action except from self interest, or rather, what one thinks to be self-interest. Fans are clearly in fandom for what they get out of it---and a fan who no longer feels that he is deriving any pleasure or profit from his fan associations seems to us well justified in shifting
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