The space opera epic Cosmos was a watershed moment in the history of science fiction. Not just because it was the first science fiction round-robin novel, but also because it was part of the first amateur fan magazines of the 1930s. This wave of publications spawned the semi-pro and indie sci-fi and fantasy magazines we know today.
Fanzines of the 1930s
Fan magazines (fanzines) started with groups of sci-fi fans, sometimes as club newsletters. Among the earliest organized science fiction fan groups was the Science Correspondence Club which later evolved into the International Scientific Association (ISA). Raymond A. Palmer was a member and encouraged fan correspondence on a larger group scale. This led directly to a club newsletter called the Comet the first issue dated May 1930. The stated purpose of this publication was “the furtherance of science and its dissemination among the laymen of the world and the final betterment of humanity.” Ray Palmer was the Comet’s editor. The Comet is considered the first science fiction fanzine.
Art by Walter E. Marconette. (Courtesy of the First Fandom Experience archives.)
Book cover from “The Complete Science Fiction Digest and Fantasy Magazine. Volume 3: Cosmos,” First Fandom Experience LLC, 2019. Cover art by Hannes Bok.
What is Cosmos?
The Cosmos “super-serial” was Raymond A. Palmer’s brainchild and ran as a pull-out section in the semi-pro fanzine Science Fiction Digest (later Fantasy Magazine) from July 1933 through December 1934.
“The most unusual idea ever conceived in the science fiction field.
A sensational and unique plot.
Presented in a new way,
Sixteen thrill packed chapters.
Sixteen of Science Fiction’s Foremost Authors.
Colossal! Gigantic!
Don’t Miss a single episode of this great Super Novel.
Tell your friends about COSMOS.
Tell everybody about COSMOS.
For it’s something no science fiction fan can miss.“
–Science Fiction Digest (June, 1933)
“For all-around quality Science Fiction Digest has never been surpassed in the history of fandom.” Sam Moskowitz, The Immortal Storm.
Ad seen in Fantasy Magazine June, 1934. (Courtesy of the First Fandom Experience archives.)
Ray Palmer’s “Super-Serial”
“COSMOS the science fiction novel extraordinary
One of the big topics of conversation, wherever science fiction fans meet
Follow this colossal, stupendous interplanetary novel of unparalleled adventure and intrigue. Excitement, suspense, humor, crowd the pages of this remarkable masterpiece of scientific fiction. An Exclusive SFD [Science Fiction Digest] Special.”
–Science Fiction Digest (August, 1933)
Art by Clay Ferguson Jr. (Courtesy of the First Fandom Experience archives.)
Art by Frank R. Paul as seen on the cover of Air Wonder Stories magazine, August 1929 issue. The cover art is for a featured story by Henrik Dahl Juve called “The Silent Destroyer.”
The Sixteen Authors
- Ralph Milne Farley
- David H. Keller, M.D.
- Arthur J. Burks
- Bob Olsen
- Francis Flagg
- John W. Campbell
- Rae Winters (Ray Palmer)
- Otis Adelbert Kline and E. Hoffman Price
- Abner J. Gelula
- Raymond A. Palmer
- A. Merritt
- J. Harvey Haggard
- Edward E. Smith, Ph.D.
- P. Schuyler Miller
- L. A. Eshbach
- Eando Binder
- Edmond Hamilton
Cosmos was an ambitious project featuring top names in the professional science fiction writing field. The authors were popular in the pro-zines and excitement for reading their new stories in Science Fiction Digest was real, not marketing hype
Ad seen in Fantasy Magazine June, 1934 showing the original intended list of authors. (Courtesy of the First Fandom Experience archives.)
The 2020 Cosmos Prize
The Cosmos Prize was developed by First Fandom Experience Project as an homage to the contests Hugo Gernsback ran in his early science fiction pulp magazines including Wonder Stories. The contest challenge was to re-write Edmond Hamilton’s final chapter of the serial novel Cosmos which ran from 1933-1934 in the semi-pro fanzine
Science Fiction Digest.
“Battle at Neptune” original story art by Sara Light-Waller. Private collection.
“Battle at Neptune”
When I met David and Daniel Ritter of First Fandom Experience at PulpFest 2019 and heard about the Comos Contest, I knew I’d have to try it. Edmond Hamilton is my favorite sci-fi pulp writer, and the idea of working with his story. “Armageddon in Space” (Chapter 17 of Cosmos) was too tempting to resist. It took many months to deconstruct the original novel. I took careful notes and tracked (often messy) plot points. In the end, I did my reconstruction of the final chapter, which I’d hoped would do credit to the original story. My “Battle at Neptune” won the Grand Prize and has since been acknowledged by pulp historians and established science fiction writers.
Chapter Seventeen of Cosmos
“Armageddon in Space” by Edmond Hamilton, the original conclusion of the super-serial Cosmos.
Chapter 17 begins like this…
“Ferdinand Stone sprang forward quickly as he and Alan Martin, Flight Director of the Earth Fleet, saw in the visiplate of their flagship, the Washington, the strange little approaching ship.
“Better order our beamers to stand ready to blast that craft,” Stone advised. “It may be another trick of the robots.”
“No, wait,” Alan Martin said, peering keenly into the instrument. “I’ve seen that ship before.”
“It’s Dos-Tev’s little ship!” he exclaimed a moment later. “I saw it when we attended the Copernicus conference.”
He turned swiftly to Captain Malcolm. “Something’s wrong. We’ve got to contact that craft at once.” *
*This is the divergence point for my new story.
“Battle at Neptune” is available to read in the Lucina Press reading room.
Click on the rocket below to proceed to the reading room.
(My thanks to the First Fandom Experience Project for their help with materials and information.)