36:
128:, and quickly started bringing Scott science fiction stories as well. Scott bought scores of stories from the pair during the magazine's short life; Silverberg in particular had at least one story in every single issue, and often two or three (and on one occasion, four). Much of the remainder was sent in by literary agents, and generally comprised material rejected by other magazines first, though Scott did obtain two stories from
500:, sent Scott material that had been rejected by other magazines, and Silverberg later recalled one occasion on which he visited Scott in his office to find him laughing over one of these manuscripts. The agency had accidentally sent the manuscript's submission history along with the story, showing that it had been rejected eighteen times, starting in 1947, before reaching Scott, who also rejected it. Ellison was
472:. Silverberg and Ellison both began selling regularly to Scott, and that summer Scott let them know he had persuaded Feature Publications to add a science fiction title, which would pay the same high word rates as the crime magazines. By the end of June Silverberg had sold Scott "Catch 'Em All Alive", a short story that appeared in the first issue of
491:
Both
Silverberg and Ellison were producing work at high volume for the science fiction magazines active in the middle and late 1950s, and between them sold Scott nearly 40% of all the stories that appeared in the magazine. Silverberg also continued to sell Scott non-fiction filler material. Several
437:
a "Special
Monster Issue", and to add a "Monster" banner to the cover of every subsequent issue. The move was a failure; only three more issues appeared before Feature Publications closed the magazine down. There have been no anthologies consisting solely of stories from the magazine, but in 2012 a
577:
The magazine was published by
Feature Publications under its Headline imprint, and was edited by W. W. Scott for all eighteen issues. The first issue was dated December 1956; it was bimonthly, and ended with the October 1959 issue. The volume numbering was completely regular, with three volumes of
141:
a success at that time. Four more issues appeared, all the stories featuring a monster in some way, but
Feature brought the axe down in 1959. The last issue was dated October that year. The magazine is not highly regarded by critics, though Silverberg considers the material he wrote for Scott and
568:
as "mediocre". Ashley suggests that the magazine's late focus on monster stories might be of interest to fans of monster movies, but that otherwise it was "one magazine too many, coming in the final wave of interest in science fiction magazines at the end of the 1950s at a time when readers were
390:
Science fiction magazines proliferated during the 1950s, with dozens of new titles launched during the decade, but by the end of the decade the market was moving away from fiction magazines and towards paperbacks. The popularity of TV and comics was another obstacle to success. Magazine
521:, a supercomputer. When the "Monster" banner was added to the cover, all stories had to have a monster appearing in them. Silverberg continued to produce stories for Scott to the end, providing twelve stories in the four monster-themed issues, all but one under a pseudonym.
196:'s later recollection, the new magazine had been Scott's idea, and Scott had persuaded Feature to launch it. Scott paid two cents a word for both fiction and non-fiction, a rate that made the magazine competitive with the other major titles in the field.
547:
Ashley describes Scott's selections as "an appalling mixture", though he picks out two by
Ellison, both in the second issue, as worthy of mention—"Mission: Hypnosis", and "The Untouchable Adolescents"—and also praises two other stories in the same issue:
504:
in 1957, but
Silverberg's college exemption enabled him to continue writing for Scott, who eventually bought 36 stories from him, never rejecting a single submission. One exception to the rule that only rejected stories reached Scott was
544:, I jumped for it eagerly." Silverberg's stories included titles such as "Creatures of Green Slime" and "Beasts of Nightmare Horror", but Ashley comments that Silverberg was too talented to write stories as bad as the titles suggested.
399:
was fortunate in having independent distribution, and so was able to avoid the worst effects of the change, but the disruption to the distribution business meant that smaller magazines could not always be reliably found on newsstands.
564:, from his "Magnus Ridolph" series, and Asimov's "All the Troubles of the World" as highlights. In Subotsky's words, Scott was "unable to tell good fiction from bad", and the result was a magazine described by critic
480:, whom Ellison had introduced to Scott. Scott's editorial in the first issue claimed that the magazine would focus on people: "The Man of The Future is going to conquer the universe with his fists and fury."
536:, but he considers the space-adventure material he wrote to have been helpful in training him as a writer, and fun, recalling that he had "always had a sneaky fondness for the pulpier side of science fiction
593:
In Robert
Silverberg's reminiscences about the magazine he says Scott preferred to be called "Bill". He also says he thinks Scott had originally been a newspaperman before becoming a magazine editor.
1169:
488:, both science fiction historians, comment on the contradiction between the editorial and the contents of the first couple of issues, in many of which the protagonists fail, die, or go insane.
476:, as well as some short non-fiction material that Scott used to fill gaps at the bottom of pages in the magazine. Ellison also appeared in the first issue, with "Psycho at Mid-Point", as did
556:'s "Every Day is Christmas". After that issue "the quality of the fiction dropped rapidly," according to Ashley, though he adds that "there were just enough good stories to make
524:
At the time
Silverberg was producing action-adventure work for Scott and other editors, he was also writing more sophisticated stories for other science fiction markets such as
509:, who was turning to writing full-time, and was looking for new markets for his stories. Scott agreed to pay Asimov four cents a word, and bought two stories from him: "
1184:
1164:
460:
493:
549:
135:
After a couple of years, Feature decided to switch the focus of the magazine to monster stories, hoping to cash in on the trend that was making
1179:
192:
to
Headline's list at the end of 1956, and gave it to Scott to edit, though he was not knowledgeable about the genre. According to
176:, introduced in 1954, forced Feature to stop publication of all three titles by late 1956. Two crime magazines took their place:
1174:
168:
1097:
1038:
120:, who were at the start of their careers at the time, were already selling crime stories to Scott for his other magazines,
887:
856:
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391:
distribution, which had to be reliable to support newsstand sales, was made far more difficult when a major distributor,
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514:
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When the story appeared, Asimov was annoyed to discover that his name was mis-spelled "Issac" on the cover.
442:, appeared, with an introduction in which Silverberg reminisced about his involvement with the magazine.
421:
415:
162:
137:
105:
1135:
553:
526:
433:, tried to take advantage of the trend. Scott's response was to title the April 1959 issue of
1126:
Subotsky, Milton (1985). "Super-Science
Fiction". In Tymn, Marshall B.; Ashley, Mike (eds.).
882:
392:
173:
20:
1127:
481:
409:
151:
142:
other action-adventure magazine publishers to have helped him learn his trade as a writer.
109:
8:
823:
510:
454:
was living in uptown Manhattan, in the same apartment building as Robert Silverberg and
1027:
540:... when the chance came to write a slew of fast-paced action stories for W.W. Scott's
532:
851:
458:. Early that year Ellison took Scott some stories that he had been unable to sell to
1139:
1128:
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1034:
1011:
992:
883:"Culture : Super-Science Fiction : SFE : Science Fiction Encyclopedia"
193:
113:
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35:
824:"Authors : Silverberg, Robert : SFE : Science Fiction Encyclopedia"
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455:
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always interesting, if often disappointing," picking out "Worlds of Origin", by
852:"Authors : Ellison, Harlan : SFE : Science Fiction Encyclopedia"
497:
464:, a leading crime magazine, and Scott bought all of them for his crime titles,
451:
117:
1107:
Stableford, Brian (1981) . "Super-Science Fiction". In Nicholls, Peter (ed.).
1158:
1080:
1029:
Transformations: The Story of the Science-Fiction Magazines from 1950 to 1970
404:
185:
506:
501:
477:
184:. Both were edited by William W. Scott, who had come over to Feature from
156:
129:
403:
The late 1950s also saw an increase in public interest in science fiction
41:
561:
160:, and followed this with other successful superhero titles, including
108:
published from 1956 to 1959, edited by W. W. Scott and published by
518:
1050:
In Memory Yet Green: The Autobiography of Isaac Asimov, 1920–1954
1170:
Defunct science fiction magazines published in the United States
1071:
In Joy Still Felt: The Autobiography of Isaac Asimov, 1954–1978
1008:
The History of the Science Fiction Magazine: Part 4 1956–1965
989:
The History of the Science Fiction Magazine: Vol. 3 1946–1955
425:, quickly became very successful. Other magazines, such as
602:
Silverberg heard the news about the closure in March 1959.
188:, which had gone out of business in 1955. Feature added
1130:
Science Fiction, Fantasy and Weird Fiction Magazines
1134:. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp.
1185:Science fiction magazines established in the 1950s
1165:Bimonthly magazines published in the United States
1068:
1026:
438:collection of Robert Silverberg's stories, titled
822:Stableford, Brian; Clute, John (March 17, 2020).
1156:
821:
747:
745:
34:
1033:. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.
445:
40:Cover of the June 1958 issue; artwork by
1111:. St. Albans, UK: Granada. p. 585.
572:
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1092:. Royal Oak, Michigan: Haffner Press.
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180:, under their Headline imprint, and
1109:The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
991:. Chicago: Contemporary Books Inc.
888:The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
857:The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
829:The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
569:already turning to the paperback".
384:W. W. Scott was editor throughout.
13:
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754:
739:Silverberg (2012), pp. xxii–xxiii.
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14:
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776:Silverberg (2012), pp. xiii–xxvi.
710:
678:
632:
517:", one of Asimov's stories about
16:1950s US science fiction magazine
1180:Magazines disestablished in 1959
1090:Tales from Super-Science Fiction
944:Silverberg (2012), pp. xxi–xxii.
803:Silverberg (2012), pp. xvi–xvii.
785:Silverberg (2012), pp. xiii–xiv.
440:Tales from Super-Science Fiction
1010:. London: New English Library.
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881:Ashley, Mike (March 16, 2020).
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794:Silverberg (2012), pp. xiv–xv.
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587:
1:
1175:Magazines established in 1956
617:
515:All the Troubles of the World
850:Clute, John (May 12, 2020).
812:Silverberg (2012), p. xviii.
767:Subotsky (1985), pp. 629–31.
552:'s "Death of a Mutant", and
204:showing volume/issue number
7:
1088:Silverberg, Robert (2012).
962:Silverberg (2012), p. xxvi.
707:Ashley (1978), pp. 270–271.
689:Silverberg (2012), p. xvii.
492:literary agents, including
422:Famous Monsters of Filmland
416:Attack of the 50 Foot Woman
395:, was liquidated in 1957.
138:Famous Monsters of Filmland
54:; 67 years ago
10:
1201:
980:
974:Stableford (1981), p. 585.
908:Silverberg (2012), p. xix.
751:Silverberg (2012), p. xxv.
727:Ashley (2005), pp. 186–89.
698:Ashley (1977), pp. 323–25.
675:Silverberg (2012), p. xiv.
657:Ashley (2005), pp. 167–69.
629:Silverberg (2012), p. xvi.
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18:
917:Silverberg (2012), p. xx.
666:Silverberg (2012), p. xv.
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1006:Ashley, Michael (1978).
987:Ashley, Michael (1977).
581:
106:science fiction magazine
19:Not to be confused with
1075:. New York: Doubleday.
1052:. New York: Doubleday.
104:was an American digest
1067:Asimov, Isaac (1980).
1048:Asimov, Isaac (1979).
953:Asimov (1980), p. 117.
935:Asimov (1979), p. 663.
446:Contents and reception
419:, and a new magazine,
1025:Ashley, Mike (2005).
573:Bibliographic details
558:Super-Science Fiction
542:Super-Science Fiction
474:Super-Science Fiction
435:Super-Science Fiction
397:Super-Science Fiction
393:American News Company
202:Super-Science Fiction
190:Super-Science Fiction
101:Super-Science Fiction
28:Super-Science Fiction
21:Super Science Stories
152:Feature Publications
110:Feature Publications
511:The Gentle Vultures
431:Monsters and Things
205:
163:Frankenstein Comics
146:Publication history
30:
578:six numbers each.
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52:December 1956
26:
1099:978-1-893887-48-0
1040:978-0-85323-779-2
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194:Robert Silverberg
154:began publishing
114:Robert Silverberg
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70:October 1959
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174:Comics Code
67:Final issue
49:First issue
42:Kelly Freas
1159:Categories
618:References
562:Jack Vance
554:James Gunn
533:Astounding
407:, such as
200:Issues of
1081:460687107
450:In 1956,
150:In 1940,
519:Multivac
513:", and "
410:Godzilla
90:Language
981:Sources
894:May 17,
863:May 17,
502:drafted
466:Trapped
461:Manhunt
178:Trapped
172:. The
122:Trapped
93:English
82:Country
74:1959-10
72: (
59:1956-12
57: (
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835:May 9,
538:
527:Galaxy
470:Guilty
182:Guilty
126:Guilty
582:Notes
413:, or
350:1959
315:1958
280:1957
250:1956
209:Year
1140:ISBN
1113:ISBN
1094:ISBN
1077:OCLC
1054:ISBN
1035:ISBN
1012:ISBN
993:ISBN
896:2020
865:2020
837:2020
530:and
496:and
484:and
468:and
429:and
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242:Nov
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230:Jul
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224:May
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215:Feb
212:Jan
166:and
124:and
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