Transcribe
Translate
Fantasy Commentator, v. 1, issue 5, Winter 1944-1945
Page 100
More information
digital collection
archival collection guide
transcription tips
100 FANTASY COMMENTATOR March 20 saw the start of a two-part serial by J. U. Giesy and Junius B. Smith, featuring the occult detective Semi Dual. While a number of readers do not consider Semi Dual stories outright fantasy, they nevertheless contain elements that make them definitely worth reading. Here, "The Web of Destiny" shows this famous fictional detective tracing a missing girl. "The Laughing Death" by Florence Crewe-Jones---actually an adaptation from the French of Paul D'Avoi---began in the issue of March 27; it tells of espionage in the future, with a mysterious spy who kills with a strange weapon that leaves a horrible laugh frozen on the victim's face. In quality, average. Argosy, in this period, was still a monthly. The January number had a novel by P. P. Sheehan that would be hard to equal for the strange atmosphere it invokes. "The Abyss of Darkness" tells the story of a young American who has Shaman blood in his veins. Growing up under the tutelage of an old Chinese laundryman and a Russian cobbler, he becomes aware of his heritage and succumbs to the urge to seek out the lost city in the Gobi Desert at the tomb of Genghis Khan. The three start for the city by various routes, and eventually meet in the desert. They do indeed discover the city, with its usual lost race---now riven by civil strife---that is nearing its end. The latter chapters of the story are a slight let-down, but even so "The Abyss of Darkness" is worthwhile reprinting. Also in the January number was "The Disappearance of Mr. Halsworthy"---a borderline scientific detective bit---and another yarn of this variety appeared in March; it was titled "The Message of the Tides." And the February, 1915 issue contained Lowell Hardy's "Visions to Order," a minor short story. Again leaping forward a decade, we arrive at 1925. By this time the two magazines had combined, and were appearing as Argosy-Allstory, a weekly periodical. A. Merritt's finest story, "The Ship of Ishtar," had just ended. From then on, nothing in the way of fantasy cropped up until February 21, when Burroughs' sequel to "The Moon Maid" began. "The Moon Man" was a four-part serial, telling the story of Julian 9th in Chicago of the 22nd century, after the country had been overrun by the Kalkans of the Moon. Men have fallen to barbarism, and a group of them, led by Julian, stages a revolt which fails gloriously. This trilogy probably represents Edgar Rice Burroughs finest work. Of minor importance is L. R. Sherman's "Throwback," in the February 21 issue; it treats of the discovery of Arizonian dinosaurs and of a man who is a throwback to the early cavemen. The week after the Burroughs serial ended, the sequel to "The Radio Man" began. "The Radio Beasts" ran to four parts; it tells the story of Myles Standish Cabot's new adventures on Venus. Ant-men kill the king of Capia, and Cabot's son, the new king, disappears. By the end of March things are in an awful mess. Munsey's Magazine had two fantasy yarns in its January 1925 issue: "The Challenge of the Chief," by Charles G. D. Roberts, is a cave-man story---neither better nor worse than the usual run of prehistoric tales---and E. F. Benson's "Corstophine," which tells of an interesting case of pre-vision. Argosy (weekly) for January 12, 1935 began a three-part serial---"Jan in India"---which was a jungle yarn about the poor man's Tarzan. One of Ray Cummings' typical space operas, "The Moon Plot," appeared in the February 16 issue: it tells of a Martian-fomented revolt among moon colonists, with the hero and heroine saving the situation in the usual fashion. And with the succeeding number began George F. Wort's serial, "The Monster of the Lagoon," featuring the popular fictional character of Singapore Sammy. A giant amoeba appearing in the late chapters earns the novel its fantasy classification, and it is fairly interesting---the more so, too, as the end approaches. And there you are---the fantasy that appeared ten, twenty, thirty, and forty years ago in the non-specialized Munsey magazines. In the next issue, in addition to these, this column will cite coeval fantasy from the pages of The Blue Book Magazine as well...
Saving...
prev
next
100 FANTASY COMMENTATOR March 20 saw the start of a two-part serial by J. U. Giesy and Junius B. Smith, featuring the occult detective Semi Dual. While a number of readers do not consider Semi Dual stories outright fantasy, they nevertheless contain elements that make them definitely worth reading. Here, "The Web of Destiny" shows this famous fictional detective tracing a missing girl. "The Laughing Death" by Florence Crewe-Jones---actually an adaptation from the French of Paul D'Avoi---began in the issue of March 27; it tells of espionage in the future, with a mysterious spy who kills with a strange weapon that leaves a horrible laugh frozen on the victim's face. In quality, average. Argosy, in this period, was still a monthly. The January number had a novel by P. P. Sheehan that would be hard to equal for the strange atmosphere it invokes. "The Abyss of Darkness" tells the story of a young American who has Shaman blood in his veins. Growing up under the tutelage of an old Chinese laundryman and a Russian cobbler, he becomes aware of his heritage and succumbs to the urge to seek out the lost city in the Gobi Desert at the tomb of Genghis Khan. The three start for the city by various routes, and eventually meet in the desert. They do indeed discover the city, with its usual lost race---now riven by civil strife---that is nearing its end. The latter chapters of the story are a slight let-down, but even so "The Abyss of Darkness" is worthwhile reprinting. Also in the January number was "The Disappearance of Mr. Halsworthy"---a borderline scientific detective bit---and another yarn of this variety appeared in March; it was titled "The Message of the Tides." And the February, 1915 issue contained Lowell Hardy's "Visions to Order," a minor short story. Again leaping forward a decade, we arrive at 1925. By this time the two magazines had combined, and were appearing as Argosy-Allstory, a weekly periodical. A. Merritt's finest story, "The Ship of Ishtar," had just ended. From then on, nothing in the way of fantasy cropped up until February 21, when Burroughs' sequel to "The Moon Maid" began. "The Moon Man" was a four-part serial, telling the story of Julian 9th in Chicago of the 22nd century, after the country had been overrun by the Kalkans of the Moon. Men have fallen to barbarism, and a group of them, led by Julian, stages a revolt which fails gloriously. This trilogy probably represents Edgar Rice Burroughs finest work. Of minor importance is L. R. Sherman's "Throwback," in the February 21 issue; it treats of the discovery of Arizonian dinosaurs and of a man who is a throwback to the early cavemen. The week after the Burroughs serial ended, the sequel to "The Radio Man" began. "The Radio Beasts" ran to four parts; it tells the story of Myles Standish Cabot's new adventures on Venus. Ant-men kill the king of Capia, and Cabot's son, the new king, disappears. By the end of March things are in an awful mess. Munsey's Magazine had two fantasy yarns in its January 1925 issue: "The Challenge of the Chief," by Charles G. D. Roberts, is a cave-man story---neither better nor worse than the usual run of prehistoric tales---and E. F. Benson's "Corstophine," which tells of an interesting case of pre-vision. Argosy (weekly) for January 12, 1935 began a three-part serial---"Jan in India"---which was a jungle yarn about the poor man's Tarzan. One of Ray Cummings' typical space operas, "The Moon Plot," appeared in the February 16 issue: it tells of a Martian-fomented revolt among moon colonists, with the hero and heroine saving the situation in the usual fashion. And with the succeeding number began George F. Wort's serial, "The Monster of the Lagoon," featuring the popular fictional character of Singapore Sammy. A giant amoeba appearing in the late chapters earns the novel its fantasy classification, and it is fairly interesting---the more so, too, as the end approaches. And there you are---the fantasy that appeared ten, twenty, thirty, and forty years ago in the non-specialized Munsey magazines. In the next issue, in addition to these, this column will cite coeval fantasy from the pages of The Blue Book Magazine as well...
Hevelin Fanzines
sidebar
