The Time Traveller (fanzine)
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The Time Traveller was one of the earliest science-fiction fanzines, started in 1932.[1] The title was inspired by the protagonist of The Time Machine by H.G. Wells.[2]
History
[edit]The Time Traveller grew out of a New York City fan club called The Scienceers and was started by Mort Weisinger, Julius Schwartz, Allen Glasser, and Forrest J Ackerman. Initially, Glasser was the "Editor" of the fanzine, Weisinger "Associate Editor," Schwartz "Managing Editor," and Ackerman "Contributing Editor." (Three of the four editors were 15–17 years old at the time. Allen Glasser was born in 1908.)
According to SF historian Sam Moskowitz, The Time Traveller was the first fanzine to be devoted exclusively to science fiction.[3] It was also the first fanzine not strictly associated with a club and, starting with its third issue, the first to be typeset.[1]: 26–29
The publication went through a two major changes. First, beginning in late 1932, the fanzine was absorbed by Science Fiction Digest, which was founded by earlier Time Traveller editors Schwartz, Ackerman, and Weisinger. Then, in 1933, in an attempt to attract more readers interested in weird fiction, SFD became Fantasy Magazine. It ceased publication in January 1937.[1]: 62–75
The fanzine's chief claim to fame[according to whom?] was its publication of a 17-part round-robin story called Cosmos (July 1933 – December 1934), each part written by a different writer. The roster of Cosmos writers included many of the leading lights of SF, fantasy, horror, and adventure fiction in that era, including A. Merritt, E.E. "Doc" Smith, Edmond Hamilton, John W. Campbell, E. Hoffmann Price, and Otis Adelbert Kline. The others involved were David H. Keller, P. Schuyler Miller, Arthur J. Burks, Ralph Milne Farley, "Eando Binder," Francis Flagg, Lloyd Arthur Eshbach, Bob Olsen, J. Harvey Haggard, and Abner J. Gelula; Raymond A. Palmer wrote one installment under his own name, and another under the pseudonym "Rae Winters." Hamilton composed the final episode of the serial, and finished with a bang, destroying the planets Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus with an atomic disintegrator ray.[citation needed]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Ritter, David; Ritter, Daniel (2024). The Visual History of Science Fiction Fandom. Vol. 1: The 1930s (3rd ed.). First Fandom Experience. ISBN 9781736659663. OCLC 1439221615.
- ^ Schwartz, Julius; Thomsen, Brian (2000). Man of Two Worlds : My Life in Science Fiction and Comics. HarperEntertainment. pp. 10–22. ISBN 0380810514. OCLC 44680790.
- ^ Moskowitz, Sam (1974) [First published 1966]. Seekers of Tomorrow: Masters of Modern Science Fiction (Hyperion Reprint ed.). Westport, Connecticut: Hyperion Press. pp. 105–115. ISBN 0883551586. LCCN 73-15073. OCLC 745897.
External links
[edit]- Scan of The Time Traveller's second issue at fanac.org
- The Cosmos Project - Bringing to life the Cosmos sci-fi serial novel