The 1940s- Heroes and Villains

Summary:

The 1940s were a decade dominated by World War II. This conflict, fueled by ambition, conquest, and desperation, rivaled, and even surpassed the Great War in its scope, causing the two wars to be renamed World War I and World War II. It was a time when human depravity was on display, and when human morality had a chance to triumph. Yet, there were many areas of murky grey when it came to the Second World War as well.

Many of the moral questions raised by World War II involved the new technologies which were being invented and utilized in battle. Radar,  ballistic missiles, computers, and jet aircraft were all employed in the war effort. Most notably, the atomic bomb was developed and used during the course of the war. The first, and to this date, the only, use of an atomic bomb in battle was when the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki- effectively ending the war.

As human nature reared its ugly head, and issues of morality and technology presented themselves, science fiction came right alongside all of it- to make commentary on it, question it, and speculate about it.

Science Fiction:

As I have previously mentioned, there was an explosion of high-quality science fiction material from the end of the 1930s through the 1950s. This is explosion is known as the golden age, and the 1940s fall right at the center of it.

Literature-

In 1941, science fiction giant Isaac Asimov published his acclaimed short story “Nightfall”, which he later expanded into a full-length short story. It speculates on a world that is surrounded by six suns preparing to experience a very rare phenomenon known as “night”.  The same year, the notable author Theodore Sturgeon, who wrote many classics on his own, as well as adding to other science fiction projects later on, published Microcosmic God. This book tells the story of a man who creates a race of intelligent beings, and evolves them rapidly to invent highly advanced technology for his own gain.

Also in 1941, Robert A. Heinlein, another name revered throughout science fiction literature, published “Universe”, the first short story in his collection Orphans of the Sky. These stories concern what has come to be known as a generation ship- a ship on which a population of humans lives, reproduces, and dies until it can reach its faraway destination.

One of the first major science fiction anthologies, The Other Worlds: 25 Modern Stories of Mystery and Imagination, was edited and published by Phil Strong in 1941.

Around 1942, Isaac Asimov began work on the stories that would become one of his most famous accomplishments, the Foundation series. Foundation is about a future history in which the science of psychohistory allows those who study it to predict future events.

Christian theologian and expert wordsmith C.S. Lewis continued his Space Trilogy in 1944 with Perelandra. He speculates on what the temptation and fall of mankind may have looked like under different circumstances, and on another planet. He concluded the series in 1947 with That Hideous Strength.

The first academic analysis of science fiction as a genre was released by J.O. Bailey in 1947. It was called Pilgrims Through Space and Time.

George Orwell published his dystopian novel 1984 in the year 1949. The world he created was one of war, tight government surveillance, and individual thought. This novel has since taken its place in both literary and science fiction history.

Magazines-

The war impacted all areas of life, including the magazine publication industry. In 1941, a severe paper shortage in England forced editor John W. Campbell to shut down Unknown Magazine in order to preserve Astounding Science Fiction.

However, a new addition to the array of English science fiction magazines came in 1946 when New Worlds began publication. It would go on to become one of the most influential British sci-fi magazines.

Another important magazine, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, released its first issue in 1949.

Film-

A fifteen chapter Batman serial was released in American theatres in 1943. It was Batman’s first on screen appearance. The caped crusader himself was played by Lewis Wilson. Douglas Croft played his sidekick Robin; and the villain, a Japanese agent named Dr. Daka was played by J. Carrol Naish. It ran for fifteen installments, and served as both entertainment, and war propaganda.

Superman also made his first live-action appearance in 1948 in a fifteen-part serial in which he was played by Kirk Alyn. This was not the first time Superman took to the screen, however, as an animated Superman serial was released from 1941-1942.

Comics-

The universe of comic book characters exploded with new additions in the 1940s. DC Comics characters The Flash, Green Lantern, and Robin were created in 1940, along with the superhero team up Justice Society of America. Captain Marvel was also introduced in this year. In 1941, two of the most iconic characters after Superman and Batman, Captain America and Wonder Woman, debuted in comics.

Television-

Television was just becoming a widespread phenomenon at the end of the 1940s, and science fiction was already on the cutting edge. Though the show is not widely remembered, Captain Video, beginning in 1949, holds the distinction of being the first American science fiction television show. It told the story of a hero protecting the world from galactic terrors alongside his teenage sidekick. While rather unassuming, Captain Video paved the way for some of the most memorable science fiction in the history of the genre.

Keep on glowing in the dark,

Elora

Top-5 Tuesday- Most Influential Science Fiction Magazines

Early in the 20th century, as science fiction came into its own, magazines of science fiction stories began to be published. These magazines were important in defining science fiction as a distinct genre, and have brought some of the greatest authors and ideas of sci-fi to the general public. To this day, science fiction magazines continue to introduce both up-and-coming and respected writers, and define the genre as it moves forward.

So, here are five of the most influential science fiction magazines of the past century:

5. Amazing Stories  (1926-2005)-

This pulpy magazine was the first one to devote itself solely to science fiction. Founded by the publishing company of Hugo Gernsback, Amazing Stories lasted for over eighty years and helped shape the genre.  

4. New Worlds (1936-1966)-

One of the most important British sci-fi magazines, New Worlds was created in part by science fiction giant Arthur C. Clarke. It featured many of Clarke’s stories, as well as those of other important British sci-fi writers, such as Brian Aldiss.

3. Asimov’s Science Fiction (founded 1977)-

Since its inception in 1977, Asimov’s science fiction has introduced the works of many writers who went on to make science fiction history. A few notable contributors include Orson Scott Card, Ursula K. LeGuin, Harlan Ellison, Fredrick Pohl, and of course Mr. Asimov himself. Asimov’s science fiction is still in publication today.

2. Fantasy and Science Fiction (founded 1949)-

Spanning two genres and nearly seven decades, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science fiction is one of the most widely read magazines in the genre. It has published authors such as Stephen King, Daniel Keyes, and David Gerrold, and continues to publish high quality speculative fiction.

1. Analog Science Fiction and Fact (founded 1930)-

Analog Science Fiction and Fact holds the distinction of being the longest-running science fiction magazine. June of 2015 saw the publication of its 1000th issue. It has published such distinguished authors as Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Poul Anderson, and Orson Scott Card.

Are you a reader of science fiction magazines? What are your favorites? What else should I have included on this list. I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

Keep on glowing in the dark,

Elora

Visions of the Future: The 1930s- As the World Turns

Science fiction had entered its prime. After one-hundred years of history, it was now a bona fide genre with its own name, authors, and magazines. The 1930s were a time of development in the genre in all mediums. You may notice the format of these blog posts changing as we move forwards. That is because there is simply so much science fiction material to cover that I will be spending more time discussing it than I will on the history and technology of a decade.

Summary:

At the end of the 1920s, the western world experienced a devastating financial depression known as the Great Depression. In the United States, this was compounded by a massive drought known as the Dust Bowl in the Midwest. The Gilded age and the Jazz Age had given way to a struggle for survival. The time people didn’t spend on taking care of themselves, they spent trying to distract themselves from the troubles of daily life. The BBC was the first company to broadcast high definition television regularly. Their broadcasts began in 1936.

However, financial troubles weren’t the only dark cloud looming over the future. Foreshadowings of a great war began in the early 1930s, as Adolf Hitler began his rise to power in Germany, and his march across the continent of Europe. At the end of the decade, a discovery was made that would forever alter the nature of war. In 1939, nuclear fission was discovered- a process capable of producing massive amounts of power, and massive amounts of destruction.

Science Fiction:

Literature-

Several of the most acclaimed classic science fiction novels were published in the 1930s, including Olaf Stapledon’s Last and First Men. This massive tome of future history described human civilization from 1930 and onward for two billion years.Stapledon utilized Hegel’s theory of the dialectic, which describes history as a series of conflicts between the thesis (the way things are), and the antithesis (the way things aren’t), resulting in a new thesis. In his speculation, Stapledon anticipated genetic engineering, and pondered the concept of the supermind.

In 1932, Aldous Huxley described a dark and disturbing psychological dystopia  in one of the most highly acclaimed science fiction novels ever written. Brave New World often finds a place on lists of best English-language literature.

Noted theologian and author C.S. Lewis delved into science fiction in 1938 with Out of the Silent Planet, the first novel in his Space Trilogy. These three novels are considered classics both of science fiction and of Christian literature. Out of the Silent Planet is the tale of a quiet philologist named Ransom who finds himself kidnapped and taken to the planet Mars. Lewis explores themes of human nature and corruption, as well as humanity’s place in the natural and metaphysical world.

Magazines and Comics-

Astounding Stories of Science Fiction (later known as Astounding Science Fiction), began publication in 1930. At the end of the decade, in 1938 and 1939, Astounding Science Fiction and Amazing Science Fiction featured short fiction by up-and-coming science fiction author Isaac Asimov.

The superhero subgenre of science fiction gained notoriety in 1938 with the publication of Action Comics #1, the first to feature extraterrestrial friend to humanity, Superman. He was joined by his gritty, detective counterpart in 1939, when Batman made his debut in Detective Comics #37.

Film-

Mary Shelley’s groundbreaking classic was once again put to the silver screen in 1931, when James Whale directed the most iconic Frankenstein film ever. The design for the monster, played by Boris Karloff, has become the standard image of Frankenstein’s monster in popular culture. Two other classic novels were notably adapted in the 1930s- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in 1932, and The Invisible Man in 1933 (also directed by James Whale).

In 1936, William Cameron Menzies directed a film written by H.G. Wells called Things to Come. The movie was a fictional discussion on the great and terrible possibilities of the future.

An iconic space hero made his film debut in 1936, when Flash Gordon serials first began to be aired in theatres. Flash was originally a comic strip competitor of Buck Rogers in 1934, and took on a whole new dimension when portrayed on the big screen by Buster Crabbe.

Radio-

Perhaps one of the most infamous incidents in radio history occurred on Halloween night of 1938, when Orson Welles startled some uninformed members of the listening audience with his rendition of The War of the Worlds. Welles’ adaptation of Wells’ classic relied heavily on realistic news broadcasts- causing those who tuned in late to wonder whether Martians really were invading the planet.

Keep on glowing in the dark,

Elora

Top-5 Tuesday- Four Eras of Sci-fi History We've Been Through and One We're about to Enter

There are very many opinions- scholarly, and not-so-scholarly- on how to divide the history of science fiction. Since we are about to enter a period of science fiction history considered by many to be the “Golden Age”, I thought it was about time to add my not-so-scholarly opinion to the pile.

So, here is a list of what I consider to be the four eras of science fiction we’ve explored so far, and the one era we are about to explore.  It is, of course, in chronological order.

1. Romantic Dread

For the first fifty or so years of science fiction, the genre was dominated by romanticist authors such as Mary Shelley and Edgar Allan Poe. The romanticists watched as man tried to conquer nature, and envisioned the future this could lead to. Stories such as Frankenstien, and “Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar”, as well as satirical,political stories, such as A Voyage to the Moon by George Tucker defined this era.

2. The Gilded Future

When Jules Verne burst onto the scene in the 1860s, he placed a more positive spin on the industrialist future. His machines allowed for adventure and exploration. The speculation of H.G. Wells normalized many of the quintessential elements of science fiction, including time travel and alien invasions. This era lasted approximately until the Great War.

3. Escapist Artists

The bulk of the science fiction produced from the 1910s to the early 1920s was pulp-style action adventure, such as the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and the serialized Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.  It appealed to a war-torn populous looking for bright, hopeful futures, and pristine heroes.

4. Popular Mechanics

The first science fiction magazines began to be published in the mid-1920s, bringing science fiction as a genre into the mainstream. Short stories like “124C41+”, and movies such as Metropolis, were the contributions of this era to the body of work that is science fiction.

5. The Golden Age

Who am I to argue with the experts? Many place the golden age of science fiction between 1937 and 1950- and with good reason. This era boasts some of the biggest names in science fiction literature, such as Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, and even C.S. Lewis.

I can’t wait to dive into the history and ideas of science fiction in the golden age with you all. I’ll be back tomorrow, as we begin in the 1930s.

Keep on glowing in the dark,

Elora

Visions of the Future: The 1920s- An Unexpected Future

The Roaring Twenties. The Jazz Age. The Golden Age. The Crazy Years.

The 1920s was a decade of many names and great transformation. Much of the western world experienced an economic and cultural boom after the Great War that changed daily life and worldview forever- whether for better or for worse.

History:

Much of the technology and thought developed in the previous decades was realized in the mainstream during the 1920s.

Automobiles, motion pictures, telephones, and electricity were accepted by the general public. Media began to be a focal point of popular culture, and celebrities such as actors, musicians, and sports stars became public icons.

In the western world,there was a general migration from rural areas into urban areas. Also, women were given the right to vote in many nations.

The ideas of the past decades were also tested in the real world during the 1920s. The Communist state, The Soviet Union, was created in 1922. In 1925, a schoolteacher was declared guilty of teaching evolutionism in a public school, fueling controversy over the debate between creationism and evolutionism.

The prosperous times of the 1920s could not last, however. In 1929, the economic boom ended, and the stock market crashed, leading to the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Science:

In 1922, the BBC started broadcasting on the radio.

The first mechanical television was created by John Logie Baird in 1925. He also worked on the first color television in 1926.

Film technology developed rapidly in the 1920s. Warner Brothers released the first movie with a soundtrack, Don Juan in 1926,and the first all-talking, all-color movie, The Lights of New York, in 1929

The first liquid-fuelled rocket was launched by Robert Goddard in 1926.

Stories:

In 1920, Czech playwright Karel Capek wrote the play R.U.R.: A Fantastic Melodrama. R.U.R. stands for Rossum’s Universal Robots, and this play was the first work ever to use the word “Robot”.

The same year, David Lindsay published A Voyage to Arcturus, a philosophical science-fantasy that inspired both C.S. Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkien.

In 1923, Hugo Gernsback released an entire issue of Science and Invention based around science fiction. This led to the creation of the magazine Astounding Stories, which changed its name to Analog Science Fiction and Fact, and continues as the longest running science fiction magazine to this day.

A very early science fiction film was released in Russia in 1924. Yakov Protazanov directed the silent space adventure, Aelita: Queen of Mars, based on a novel by Alexei Tolstoy.

In 1926, the first solely science fiction magazine, Amazing Stories, began publication.

One of the most cinematic and iconic science fiction science films ever, Metropolis, directed by Fritz Lang, was released. The German film portrayed a dystopian society where workers were oppressed by the upper class. It also had a really cool robot.

Pulp writer Edgar Rice Burroughs published another science fiction novel, The Moon Maid in 1926. It was originally intended as a commentary on Soviet Russia, but had to be changed from its original version, because editors viewed it as too controversial.

Influential comic strip, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century- the story of a Great War veteran put in suspended animation until the 25th century- began publication in 1929.

Strangely enough, the name “science fiction” was not used to define the genre for the first hundred years of its existence. Short story author, and magazine founder Hugo Gernsback  coined the term in 1929.

Keep on glowing in the dark,

Elora