Exclusive for Reliquary members, and this year's informal Members' Holiday Gathering.

Not a member? Sign up at checkout for $10/month to gain access.

Planet Stories, published from 1939 to 1954 by Fiction House, was an iconic pulp science fiction magazine. Over its 71-issue run, it catered to a younger audience providing escapist tales of space exploration and alien encounters rather than those of scientific prophecy. Priced at 20 cents, the magazine was mostly released quarterly and featured fast-paced narratives that emphasized action and romance in exotic, often primative, cosmic settings.

The magazine’s cover art was bold and provocative depicting scantily clad women in perilous space scenarios. These full-color illustrations caputred the climatic moments of the battle between good and evil. Many of the covers revolve around a triangular composition of figures: the aliens, the male hero, and the female love interest. These figures are placed in other-worldly locales. Critic Harry Harrison noted the stark differences in attire between the men and women in this art work, calling it “dimorphism in space,” noting the contrast between men’s functional suits and women’s impractical revealing outfits. (see for example vol. 1 iss.1). Later covers featured more active and powerful women, although still scantily dressed. The black and white art work inside the magazine combined with the cover art to help set the foundation for science fiction illustration.

The magazine attracted a wide range of writers including Ray Cummings, Ross Rocklynne, and Nelson Bond. Leigh Brackett, with 17 contributions, championed the genre’s mythic qualities, calling the space opera “the folk-tale, the hero tale of our particular niche in history.” Planet Stories also featured early work by Isaac Asimov, Clifford D. Simak, Ray Bradbury and Philip K. Dick. Writers were typically paid one to two cents per word, a modest rate for authors at that time.