Tag: pulpfest 2020

Super-Science Kids: First Fandom Experience, part 2

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Super Science Kids Header

Enter First Fandom Experience At PulpFest 2019, I discovered an extraordinary project called, First Fandom Experience. Father and son, David and Daniel Ritter, are dedicated pulp fans and collectors with a special interest in the early days of science fiction fandom. They, along with core team members—John L. Coker III, Sam McDonald, Doug Ellis and Kate Baxter—have created a database of materials which they make available through their website, books, and on social media. Part 1 of this interview, published on the PulpFest blog in September, was a general introduction…

PulpFest Historical — Harry Bates, Pittsburgh’s Own

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I have a new article out today on the PulpFest website. When I was asked to write about Harry Bates,  I didn’t know much about him, only that he was an early editor of ASTOUNDING STORIES. I certainly didn’t know he’d written the story on which “The Day the Earth Stood Still” was based. Certainly, this was a big contribution the history of science fiction. But, to me, the bigger contribution was his being the very first editor of ASTOUNDING. Along with publisher William Clayton, Bates started a legacy that…

New article in print!

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The Pulpster #29 cover

I have an article in THE PULPSTER #29, out this week! THE PULPSTER is the annual magazine for PulpFest and, although the 2020 convention was canceled, the committee decided to publish the magazine anyway. It’s not a regular edition, oh no! While not as thick as a Ziff-Davis AMAZING STORIES QUARTERLY, THE PULPSTER #29 is almost twice as large as the 2019 edition. Weighing in at 84 pages, plus covers, it’s more like a “PULPSTER ANNUAL.” The issue celebrates the dual centennials of Ray Bradbury’s birth and the debut of BLACK…

PulpFest Profiles: David & Daniel Ritter & First Fandom Experience

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FFE pubs

If you follow me at all, you know about my fascination with early science fiction. Perhaps I was born into the wrong era or maybe it’s something in my astrological chart. Who knows? Either way, I find the early stories very compelling (well, not all of them, of course, but many) and feel that some of their themes can be successfully used to reinvigorate the contemporary trend of dystopian science fiction. When I first met David and Daniel Ritter at PulpFest 2019, I was surprised and delighted. Their First Fandom…

Pulpfest Profile: Bradbury in Oz

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Laurent Durieux_THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ

I love fairy tales, the stories, illustrations, the works! They form the basis for many cultural stereotypes and were used as both teaching tales for children and as a way to critique society without risk of censure. L. Frank Baum can be considered the first truly American fabulist. His Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) gave American boys and girls the chance to imagine fairy tales taking place in their own country. It was ground-breaking at the time and firmly stamped the land of Oz into the fabric of our society.…

PulpFest Profile — Visions of Mars: The Pulp Years

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Thrilling Wonder Stories cover June 1949

August 22, 2020 is Ray Bradbury’s 100th birthday. PulpFest is celebrating Bradbury as part of their 2020 theme of “Bradbury, BLACK MASK, and Brundage.” The August 6-9 convention is still planned for its physical location in Pittsburgh, PA. I will be giving a presentation at PulpFest 2020 about how pulp authors like Bradbury envisioned the red planet. I briefly outline this material in my new article,  Visions of Mars: The Pulp Years which is live on the PulpFest site today. Here’s a clip: THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES The first story to…

Good reviews are always welcome

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My new Captain Future article just got a nice mention from the Little Red Reviewer in this week’s Vintage Sci-Fi Round Up! Sara Light-Waller has an excellent profile of Captain Future, at PulpFest. The mythos of Captain Future goes back to the first Worldcon, how cool is that? I’ve seen other nice comments on social media as well. Feeling very grateful today. 🙂

PulpFest Profile — Eighty Years of CAPTAIN FUTURE

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Captain Future Vol. 3, No. 2 (Fall, 1941). Cover Art by George Rozen

Oh, for a handsome man in a space suit! *heavy sigh* Curtis Newton, Captain Future, was space opera hero of the 21st Century. Born in 1990, he was the solar system’s greatest defender. Curt was a genius inventor with flaming red hair, a ready laugh and a keen eye for justice. Superman’s Fortress of Solitude was inspired by Future’s secluded base on the Moon. And the Bat-Signal by his North Pole flare. His unhuman sidekicks included a robot, an android, and a disembodied brain. Yes, it all sounds very corny…

An ASTOUNDING 90 Years

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Astounding Science-Fiction, March 1938.

When PulpFest’s blog editor asked me to write an article about Astounding/Analog’s 90th birthday I had only the slightest idea of what I’d be writing about. Oh sure, I knew the magazine and I knew that John W. Campbell, Jr. was a hugely important figure in the history of science fiction. He had an extraordinarily long tenure as the magazine’s editor (from late 1937 until his death in 1971) and during that time shaped science fiction as we know it. Here’s a delightful video about him on YouTube.  As I…