tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7527967.post147039411025514381..comments2024-03-27T10:50:17.270-05:00Comments on Rough Edges: Sunday Morning Bonus Pulp: Super Science Stories, March 1950James Reasonerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18049917964433932612noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7527967.post-21704769001298122342017-04-09T14:12:14.939-05:002017-04-09T14:12:14.939-05:00I imagine there was some pulp field that sold less...I imagine there was some pulp field that sold less well. Certainly fantasy and horror magazines received less sustained support, even though WEIRD TALES survived and others got by in very clearly mixing in sf or, as with JUNGLE STORIES, other sorts of adventure story. And shudder, after its brief Depression vogue. Hm, wonder what else, particularly among broad categories (as opposed to zeppelin magazines) might've done less well.<br /><br />Popular hired Frederik Pohl as a kid to do their first versions of SUPER SCIENCE and its sibling ASTONISHING, and he did pretty well, but was in a failing marriage and feeling as if he should be drafted. Alden H. Norton, his boss, took them over, then folded them, and wasn't really too tuned in to sf, nor was revival editor Ejler Jakobsson. It amused Pohl, the coincidence that EJ would follow him as editor of the GALAXY/IF group years later. Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18104399586348314594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7527967.post-18401917095518466282017-04-09T09:41:42.740-05:002017-04-09T09:41:42.740-05:00You are right about SF being the poorest selling o...You are right about SF being the poorest selling of all the pulp genres. Though more of the actual magazines survived because so many young men were obsessive collectors and saved their copies. Most readers of the other genres threw their copies away or passed them on to other readers. Thus less copies survived even though there were more printed.Walker Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16089880902426182100noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7527967.post-52874866947677217732017-04-09T07:12:12.716-05:002017-04-09T07:12:12.716-05:00Didn't science fiction tend to sell the worst ...Didn't science fiction tend to sell the worst of all the pulp genres? Maybe there just wasn't enough of a market and ASTOUNDING, PLANET STORIES, STARTLING STORIES, and THRILLING WONDER STORIES had enough of the readership that there just wasn't enough left over to support any other magazines over the long haul.James Reasonerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18049917964433932612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7527967.post-20895143304843727302017-04-09T06:55:42.392-05:002017-04-09T06:55:42.392-05:00Popular Publications managed to be successful with...Popular Publications managed to be successful with all the genres: detective, adventure, western, sports, and romance but they never figured out how to publish a quality SF magazine. They just about all were short run SF titles and the stories were not that impressive. <br /><br />A publishing puzzle...Walker Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16089880902426182100noreply@blogger.com