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Fantasy Commentator, v. 1, issue 6, Spring 1945

Page 132

132
FANTASY COMMENTATOR

stallments of the novel. Good if you like Burroughs---I do... Several stories having a minor tinge of fantasy appeared in the next few issues. "The White Gorilla" of Elmer Brown Mason (June 5) deals with an aboriginal tribe which has a giant albino ape as its god; J. U. Giesy's "House of the Hawk" and "Mr. North of [illegible]" by Frank Blukton are probably of interest only to rabid completists. If you should have the opportunity, though, read them.

Argosy for May of 1915 (still a monthly) offered two fantasy tales. One of these was Edgar Franklin's "Hawkins Auto-Blaster," the first of a new series of tales about this backyard inventor's humorous adventures. Judged by the other Hawkins stories yet to appear, this one would be labelled only average. Accompanying this was Garrett P. Serviss' full-length novel "The Moon Maiden." It tells of Antinous Smith's discovery, using new telescopic light-filters, that the moon is inhabited, and of how communication between the two worlds was effected. Serviss---himself an astronomer---avoids the pitfalls of inaccurate science, and this novel, like his others, is an undoubted classic.

The June Argosy had H. Bedford-Jones' "Seal of Solomon," a novel wherein the efforts of a group of Moslems and Christians, aided by John Soloman, to locate a lost city are told. The city's inhabitants, descendants of the crusaders, are said to possess documents proving that Mohammed embraced the Christian faith before his death; in the end, though, these papers are destroyed. Although not a classic, this novel is an excellent one... In the same issue is "'I Want to Know!'" by Frank Leon Smith, a tale of a pet dinosaur not worth reading.

The 1915 Blue Book was featuring an eight-part Rider Haggard novel of Allan Quatermain's African adventures, "The Ivory Child." This is better than Burroughs' work---in fact, a minor classic... The April number also had a quaint Irish folk-fairy tale by Seumas MacManus: "The Princess Suil-Dubh." If you like Dunsanian fantasy, you will find this excellent.

By 1925 All-Story had of course combined with Argosy, and early April saw the finish of Ralph Milne Farley's "Radio Beasts" serial in the author's usual rosy fashion; and Cabot---the hero---returns suddenly to Venus at the finale which of course paved the way for still another sequel. The only other fantasy to be noted in the Munsey magazines of the period was B. Wallis' "Tiger Weed," a tale of a strange animate New Guinea plant; it is of only average quality.

Blue Book's sole fantasy for the entire year appeared in this period: Hugh Thomason's "When England Was Jungle"; this furnishes the reader with a brief glimpse of dawn-age man in Britain, and is fair entertainment.

Another decade passes, and we arrive at 1935. Argosy for April 6th offered one of Loring Brent's stories featuring popular Peter the Brazen, whose adventures often bordered on the fantastic. "Over the Dragon Wall" finds Peter engaged in trying to capture a dragon that is held as a god by a remote Indo-Chinese tribe. In the process he encounters his sweetheart Susan O'glive, who had supposedly died in the last Brent story. All ends happily of course; and if you like Pete as I do, you'll find the yarn an enjoyable one. (Incidentally, somewhere in the course of this series Peter has abandoned his love of the 1918 Argoesies, Aileen Latimer. Ah, fickle youth!) ... The April 13th issue gave readers Ray Cummings' "Polar Light," a tale of smugglers in 1977; it follows the expected Cummings pattern... A seven-part serial novel by Theodore Roscoe, "War Declared!" began two weeks later. Its plot was laid in Europe for 1936---making it fantasy by a bare year---and like most stories in its genre it dealt in the main with spies and counter-intrigues behind the political scene... J. Allan Dunn's "Goblin Trail" appeared in the June 15th Argosy. It tells of a mounty in the Canadian northwest who discovers a lost race of Vikings in a hidden valley. An earthquake finally destroys all of its inhabitants---with the exception, of course, of the beautiful girl who escapes with the hero.

And in Blue Book Magazine, Burroughs brings John Carter safely back from the Martian moons in the concluding installment of "Swords of Mars."

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132 FANTASY COMMENTATOR stallments of the novel. Good if you like Burroughs---I do... Several stories having a minor tinge of fantasy appeared in the next few issues. "The White Gorilla" of Elmer Brown Mason (June 5) deals with an aboriginal tribe which has a giant albino ape as its god; J. U. Giesy's "House of the Hawk" and "Mr. North of [illegible]" by Frank Blukton are probably of interest only to rabid completists. If you should have the opportunity, though, read them. Argosy for May of 1915 (still a monthly) offered two fantasy tales. One of these was Edgar Franklin's "Hawkins Auto-Blaster," the first of a new series of tales about this backyard inventor's humorous adventures. Judged by the other Hawkins stories yet to appear, this one would be labelled only average. Accompanying this was Garrett P. Serviss' full-length novel "The Moon Maiden." It tells of Antinous Smith's discovery, using new telescopic light-filters, that the moon is inhabited, and of how communication between the two worlds was effected. Serviss---himself an astronomer---avoids the pitfalls of inaccurate science, and this novel, like his others, is an undoubted classic. The June Argosy had H. Bedford-Jones' "Seal of Solomon," a novel wherein the efforts of a group of Moslems and Christians, aided by John Soloman, to locate a lost city are told. The city's inhabitants, descendants of the crusaders, are said to possess documents proving that Mohammed embraced the Christian faith before his death; in the end, though, these papers are destroyed. Although not a classic, this novel is an excellent one... In the same issue is "'I Want to Know!'" by Frank Leon Smith, a tale of a pet dinosaur not worth reading. The 1915 Blue Book was featuring an eight-part Rider Haggard novel of Allan Quatermain's African adventures, "The Ivory Child." This is better than Burroughs' work---in fact, a minor classic... The April number also had a quaint Irish folk-fairy tale by Seumas MacManus: "The Princess Suil-Dubh." If you like Dunsanian fantasy, you will find this excellent. By 1925 All-Story had of course combined with Argosy, and early April saw the finish of Ralph Milne Farley's "Radio Beasts" serial in the author's usual rosy fashion; and Cabot---the hero---returns suddenly to Venus at the finale which of course paved the way for still another sequel. The only other fantasy to be noted in the Munsey magazines of the period was B. Wallis' "Tiger Weed," a tale of a strange animate New Guinea plant; it is of only average quality. Blue Book's sole fantasy for the entire year appeared in this period: Hugh Thomason's "When England Was Jungle"; this furnishes the reader with a brief glimpse of dawn-age man in Britain, and is fair entertainment. Another decade passes, and we arrive at 1935. Argosy for April 6th offered one of Loring Brent's stories featuring popular Peter the Brazen, whose adventures often bordered on the fantastic. "Over the Dragon Wall" finds Peter engaged in trying to capture a dragon that is held as a god by a remote Indo-Chinese tribe. In the process he encounters his sweetheart Susan O'glive, who had supposedly died in the last Brent story. All ends happily of course; and if you like Pete as I do, you'll find the yarn an enjoyable one. (Incidentally, somewhere in the course of this series Peter has abandoned his love of the 1918 Argoesies, Aileen Latimer. Ah, fickle youth!) ... The April 13th issue gave readers Ray Cummings' "Polar Light," a tale of smugglers in 1977; it follows the expected Cummings pattern... A seven-part serial novel by Theodore Roscoe, "War Declared!" began two weeks later. Its plot was laid in Europe for 1936---making it fantasy by a bare year---and like most stories in its genre it dealt in the main with spies and counter-intrigues behind the political scene... J. Allan Dunn's "Goblin Trail" appeared in the June 15th Argosy. It tells of a mounty in the Canadian northwest who discovers a lost race of Vikings in a hidden valley. An earthquake finally destroys all of its inhabitants---with the exception, of course, of the beautiful girl who escapes with the hero. And in Blue Book Magazine, Burroughs brings John Carter safely back from the Martian moons in the concluding installment of "Swords of Mars."