Science Fiction Magazines – Startling Stories – Literary Art and Illustration

Startling Stories, November, 1952, featuring “The Star Dice”, by Roger Dee, and “The Crook in Time”, by R.J. McGregor [Walter Popp]

The November, 1952 issue of Startling Stories features two excellent examples of GGA, or, “good girl art”.

Or “good, girl art”?

Or, “good girl, art”?

I guess the answer depends on the situation…

Regardless, the magazine’s cover painting and (one) interior illustration are striking examples of this genre. Walter Popp’s cover art has visual tropes so very emblematic of science-fiction art of the mid-twentieth century. Startled, a hero and heroine (or, is it fugitive and his not-entirely-reluctant companion? – well, she still has her pistol), both dressed in close fitting garments, are confronted by a flight of one-man pursuit craft, as they run from a spacecraft perched upon a hilltop. A city, in the distance: Massive gray buildings, each surmounted by a dome, the metropolis crossed and enwrapped by elevated skyways. The clouded horizon giving way from yellow, to pale green, to grayish-blue. Is it morning or evening?

The illustration is completely unrelated to any story in the issue, so its events are left to our imagination. The images below show the entire front cover, then the illustration “framed” with its red and white border, and finally, the illustration cropped in white. “Deleted” in the latter manner from the rest of the cover, it presents a catchy image.

According to the Internet Speculative Fiction Database, Roger Dee’s “The Star Dice” was expanded into a novella entitled “An Earth Gone Mad“, which was republished eight times, the first as Ace Double D-84, the cover of which was illustrated by Ed Valigursky. When I first saw this issue of Startling, I assumed this lead illustration (on pages 10-11) was by Virgil Finlay, but I immediately noticed otherwise: While remarkably Finlayeqsue in theme, and, levels of intricacy and detail, it’s actually by Peter N. Poulton, whose body of black and white work was stylistically very similar to Finlay’s.

A reference or two (or three)…

Peter Poulton, at…

… Internet Speculative Fiction Database

… Mutual Art

… FindAGrave

Startling Stories, March, 1952, featuring “The Well of the Worlds” by Henry Kuttner, and “Things of Distinction”, by Kendell Foster Crossen [Earle K. Bergey]

The March, 1952 issue of Startling Stories includes four illustrations by Virgil Finlay, of his typically masterful quality. Three are for “The Well of the Worlds”, while the fourth – show below – is for “Things of Distinction”. As for Early Bergey’s cover art? Well, the table of contents has no actual mention of Bergey, and, I don’t think the cover has any relation to any story carried within the magazine. It’s simply a nicely representative example of Bergeyology!

As for “Things of Distinction” itself? It seems to be an example of science-fiction humor, a sub-genre which to me is a literary oxymoron that falls flatter than flat. The story itself was only anthologized once; that in The Bodley Head’s 1954 Future Tense. Regardless, Virgil Finlay’s lead illustration – taking full advantage of the horizontal format available by virtue of the magazine’s size – is imaginative and playful. Even that is outdone by his three illustrations for Henry Kuttner’s never (really) anthologized “The Well of the Worlds“, which, like many Finlay compositions, seem to emanate from a world of unrecorded myth.

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Illustrations by Virgil W. Finlay, for “The Well of the Worlds“, by Henry Kuttner

(Page 10)

(Page 13)

(Page 27)

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Illustration for “Things of Distinction“, by Kendell Foster Crossen (pages 98-99)

And a little bit more…

Kendell Foster Crossen, at…

… Wikipedia

… Internet Speculative Fiction Database

… Project Gutenberg

… Fantastic Fiction

Startling Stories – October, 1954 (Featuring “Spacemen Lost”, by George O. Smith) [Alex Schomburg]

This post dates back a-ways. Specifically, to February of 2018. Displaying Alex Schomburg’s cover for the October, 1954 issue of Startling Stories, as a way of indirectly leading to Virgil Finlay’s illustration for “Spacemen Lost”, the image I showed originally was simply “copy & saved” from the Internet. (It’s now shown all the way at the bottom of the post.)

Since then, I’ve been able to acquire a copy of this issue in very nice condition, with the cover featuring only one minor fold on the right edge, but no real tears or crinkles. Considering the untrimmed fragility of the cover edges of Startling Stories and similar Thrilling Publication pulps, it’s a fortunate find.

And so, the entire cover…

…and then, a cropped view of Schomburg’s art. The scene depicted bears no direct (for that matter, not even an indirect) relationship to the issue’s contents, but it’s quite appropriate, the shades of blue in the painting nicely balanced by the white and blue border. Then again, on second thought, notice that the earth’s cloudless? Just how did all that tan moondust (spacedust?) pile up around the lower stages of the two spaceships? Where are the astronauts going? No matter; it’s nice to look at.

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Here’s Virgil Finlay’s illustration, on page 19, for “Spacemen Lost”.

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And the rear cover, featuring an advertisement for the Collected Works of Zane Grey.

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On a related note, prompted by a reader’s inquiry (about which probably more in the future?), I learned about the Italian science fiction magazine Urania, which commenced publication on October 10, 1952, by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore. A degree of further searching led to MondoUrania, an excellently organized website, where medium-size covers for all issues of the magazine are displayed, and (this is the really impressive part) clicking on the cover image of any randomly-chosen issue generates the same image in slightly larger size, accompanied by bibliographic information about that issue, and, a summary blurb about the issue’s central sttory.

So, scrolling through, among, between, and within and without all these images, I was surprised to recognize the cover art for Startling Stories of October, 1954, for the cover of Urania issue 98, dated September 29, 1955. And then, I realized that the Urania cover is not that of Startling, but an adaptation which features two spacecraft, and, astronauts in different positions. What? Who?

Well, it turns out that the cover art is by Curt Ceaser (working name for Kurt Kaiser), who completed approximately 200 covers for Urania for issues published between 1952 and 1957. Some of his oeuvre are, frankly, “meh”, many are knock-offs and adaptations of contemporary American science fiction pulp art – which will probably be readily recognizable, like this one, and, this one, both inspired by Galaxy Science Fiction – while some seem to have a relatively greater degree of originality.

So, here’s the bibliographical information accompanying MondorUrania’s illustration of issue 98. (In Italian, of course.)

98 – 29/9/1955
Copertina di C. Caesar

I PIANETI DELLA LIBERTA (BORN LEADER) – J.T. McINTOSH

L’autore immagina che, negli ultimi giorni di agonia della Terra distrutta dalle radiazioni, un’astronave parta per il primo viaggio interplanetario con un carico di ragazzi sui sedici anni che saranno, su un nuovo pianeta, il Mundis, il ceppo della nuova Umanità. Durante il viaggio, che dura quattordici anni, le coppie che si sono formate decidono di non avere figli se non quando saranno arrivati al termine del viaggio. Per conseguenza, la nuova generazione è divisa dalla vecchia da un periodo di tempo che costituisce un abisso tra il mondo degli anziani e quello dei giovani, abisso reso più profondo dall’ignoranza completa dei giovani su tutto ciò che, sulla Terra, aveva costituito una base di vita per i loro padri, compresa la forza nucleare, considerata tabù. Mundis è un mondo felice, ma fermo. E i giovani che dai microfilm trasportati sull’astronave e gelosamente conservati, capiscono che la Terra era molto più progredita nella scienza, si ribellano alla congiura del silenzio dei vecchi, vogliono che il mondo sul quale sono nati fruisca anch’esso del progresso. La lotta fra loro e i vecchi si risolve attraverso un pericoloso avvenimento: l’arrivo su Mundis di un’altra astronave, la Clades, che trasporta gli ultimi – questa volta veramente tali – superstiti della Terra. Gli scampati hanno un altro sistema di vita, militaresco e dittatoriale, e sono animati da spirito di conquista. Chi prevarrà nella lotta fra questi due mondi, fra questi ultimi campioni dell’umanità divisi da diverse ideologie? Il romanzo ha un alto contenuto umano e sociale e piacerà a tutti, perchè rispecchia noi tutti, esseri umani, con le nostre debolezze, le nostre qualità, i nostri desideri, i nostri errori e le nostre aspirazioni.

INDICE
MONDI SENZA FINE – CLIFFORD D. SIMAK – 13° puntata
ESISTONO GLI SPIRITI FOLLETTI? – Curiosità scientifiche

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Here’s the English translation of the above, courtesy of Oogle Translate:

Issue 98 – September 29, 1955
Cover by C. Caesar

THE PLANETS OF FREEDOM (BORN LEADER) – J.T. McINTOSH

The author imagines that, in the last days of the agony of the Earth destroyed by radiation, a spaceship leaves for the first interplanetary journey with a load of boys of about sixteen years of age, on a new planet, Mundis, the strain of the new Humanity. During the journey, which lasts fourteen years, the couples who have formed decide not to have children until they arrive at the end of the journey. Consequently, the new generation is divided from the old by a period of time which constitutes an abyss between the world of the elderly and that of the young, a gulf made deeper by the complete ignorance of the young on all that, on Earth, had constituted a basis of life for their fathers, including nuclear power, considered taboo. Mundis is a happy but firm world. And the young people who, from the microfilms transported on the spaceship and jealously preserved, understand that the Earth was much more advanced in science, rebel against the conspiracy of the silence of the old, they want the world on which they were born also benefits from progress. The struggle between them and the old is resolved through a dangerous event: the arrival on Mundis of another spaceship, the Clades, carrying the last – this time truly such – Earth survivors. The survivors have another way of life, military and dictatorial, and are animated by a spirit of conquest. Who will prevail in the struggle between these two worlds, between these last champions of humanity divided by different ideologies? The novel has a high human and social content and will please everyone, because it reflects all of us, human beings, with our weaknesses, our qualities, our desires, our mistakes and our aspirations.

INDEX
WORLDS WITHOUT END, by CLIFFORD D. SIMAK – 13th episode
DO ELEGANT SPIRITS EXIST? – Scientific curiosities

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Some References That May Interest You…

Urania Magazine, at…

… Wikipedia (Urania Magazine)

… MondoUrania (“The World of Urania”)

… UraniaMania

… Science Fiction Project – The Lost Treasures

Urania – Issue 98 (September 29, 1955), at…

… MondoUrania

… Internet Speculative Fiction Database

Born Leader, by J.T. McIntosh, at…

… Internet Speculative Fiction Database

… GoodReads

Zane Gray (Paul Zane Gray), at…

… Wikipedia

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Here’s the image of Startling that originally appeared in this post…

2/25/18 244

Startling Stories – May, 1952 (Featuring “The Hellfower”, by George O. Smith) [Alex Schomburg]

Typical of Startling Stories from the early 1950s, the magazine’s content is comprised of a complete novel, a novelet, short stories, and features, with the first two items- by George O. Smith and Kendell Foster Crossen, respectively – being featured as cover titles.

As the magazine’s main and lead item, “The Hellflower“, which starts on page 12, features one of Virgil Finlay’s well-known, intricate, dual panel art treatments (with a lightly erotic overtone) followed by two other illustrations later on. The great illustration of the battling astronauts on page 23 shows Finlay’s emphasis on visual style over technology, unlike Edmund Emshwiller (“Emsh”). But, the technology present in the illustration, is still fitting.

The cover illustration – done in airbrush? – by Alex (Alejandro) Schomburg makes a clever twist upon 1950s pop culture: Flying saucers hover over an alien landscape, but the beings floating to descend on the planet’s surface are not aliens, but men. Of course, to anybody or anything native to this cratered moon of a brown-hued gas-giant, these very beings would be aliens, and not men.

Well, aliens or men, you get the idea: It’s all in the perspective.

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Pages 12-13

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Page 17

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Page 23

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References(s)

Kendell Foster Crossen, at Wikipedia

Kendell Foster Crossen, at Official Green Lama

Kendell Foster Crossen, at ChicagoBoyz (Essay by David Foster in reference to Crossen’s eerily prophetic novel, Year of Consent)

Virgil W. Finlay, right-here-at-this-blog!

Alex A. Schomburg (“Alejandro Schomburg y Rosa”), at Wikipedia

Alex A. Schomburg (“Alex Alejandro Schomburg”), at FindAGrave

George O. Smith, at The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction

George O. Smith, at Wikipedia

Startling Stories – April, 1952 (Featuring “The Glory That Was”, by L. Sprague de Camp) [Alex Schomburg] [Updated post…!]

[Update, May, 2021! … I recently learned from Mike Chomko, publisher of The Pulpster (affiliated with PulpFest), that the cover artist of this issue of Startling Stories was Alex Schomburg. So, the text of this post has been updated accordingly. Thanks for the tip, Mike.]

I’ve recently had the good fortune to acquire several issues of Startling Stories, giving me the opportunity to present my own scans of this magazine, rather than images randomly found on the ‘net.

This post is the first such example: Originally created on February 17, 2018, it’s been updated to include images of the front and rear covers of the the magazine’s issue of April, 1952.

Though no artist’s names appear in the issue’s table of contents, this softly-pink-horizoned-moonscape-with-cloudless-earth-floating-in-the-distance was created by Alex Schomburg. It looks as if the light gray to silver to dark gray to black shadings of the lunar mining machine were done via airbrush…

So, the front cover:

…and the back cover, with an advertisement for The Collected Works of Zane Grey.

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Here’s Paul Orban’s Illustration – on page 89 – for “The Intruder”, by Oliver E. Saari, whose life encompassed the realms of engineering and science fiction.

I’ve not read Saari’s story, but the theme of the “header” blurb – below – reminds me of episode six from (the otherwise sadly and highly uneven) season four of The Man in The High Castle: (“All Serious Daring“).

The concept is also highly reminiscent of Fritz Leiber, Junior’s, “Destiny Times Three” – one of the most brilliantly executed tales of parallel universes I’ve ever read! Then again, Leiber was an extraordinary writer! – which appeared in Astounding Science Fiction in March and April of 1945.

“To have an exact duplicate of yourself show up and take over your business, your wife? … brother, it’s murder!”

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Here’s the cover image – from Archive.org – that originally appeared in this post.

Startling Stories – Spring, 1954 (Featuring “The Houses of Iszm”, by Jack Vance) [Alex Schomburg]

Startling Stories and Thrilling Wonder Stories were particularly suitable venues for Virgil Finlay’s art, the page size of both publications allowing Finlay’s painstaking emphasis on detail and shading, rendering illustrations of a near photographic nature, to be displayed to maximum advantage. For instance, the lead illustration for Jack Vance’s tale “Abercrombie Station”, on pages 10-11 in the March, 1952, issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories...

Another Jack Vance tale illustrated by Finlay was “The Houses of Iszm”, in the Spring, 1954 issue of Startling Stories. Not actually having yet read the tale (well, I possess the Ace Double edition shown below; it’s in my queue of books-I-hope-to-read-someday, the “end” of which lies far beyond the visible horizon…), the figure of the young woman is probably allegorical and symbolic – there may be no actual female protagonist, as such – since the story revolves around the efforts of one Ailie Farr to steal a tree that is specifically female.

The illustrations below were downloaded from Archive.org, and edited using Photoshop to render the best possible images.

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Illustration by Virgil Finlay, pages 10-11.

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Illustration by Virgil Finlay, page 19

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“The people of Izsm lived in homes that were alive. Their dwelling places were elaborate, lush hollow trees, wherein the very walls, floors, ceilings, and even the furniture and plumbing, were all part of the living, thriving plant.

The Iszic, alone of all the people of the universe, possessed the secret of cultivating such a dwelling. The result was that they were holders of a gigantic, lucrative monopoly, exporting millions of such home to all the other worlds.

For decades, aliens from other worlds, including Earth, had been desperately trying to steal a female house-seed in order to break the monopoly. The Iszic security force had squashed every attempt successfully.

This is the story of yet another plot – the most ingenious of all – to carry off a prize worth billions, just one seed from The Houses of Iszm.”

(Ace Double 77525, published 1964, cover by Dean Ellis)

References