Space Science Fiction Magazine - Publication History and Bibliographic Data

Publication History and Bibliographic Data

Science fiction was one of the staple genres of American pulp magazine publishing, beginning in 1926 with Amazing Stories. A brief boom in the late 1930s was cut short by World War II, but the field expanded again in the late 1940s. By 1957 the boom had reached its height; 24 science fiction magazines published at least one issue that year. One of the most prominent of these magazines, Galaxy Science Fiction, had a successful association with two radio shows, Dimension X and X Minus One. This sparked imitators, and during 1956 Lyle Kenyon Engel of Republic Features Syndicate put together a package of two radio shows and four magazines. The shows were American Agent, a spy drama, and The Frightened, to be narrated by Boris Karloff. The magazine package included a spy magazine and a horror magazine to tie in with the radio shows, and two additional titles: Private Investigator Detective Magazine and Space Science Fiction Magazine. Private Investigator's first issue was published in 1956, but problems with the radio schedules delayed the launch of the other magazines until 1957.

Space SF's first issue was dated Spring 1957, although its masthead indicated that it would be a bimonthly. It was published by Republic Features Syndicate, Inc., of New York, and edited by Michael Avallone, who was not credited on the masthead. The second issue was dated August 1957; this proved to be the final issue, as shortly thereafter Republic Features Syndicate went out of business. The liquidation of American News Company earlier that year, a major distributor, had led to the extinction of many magazines, as they had to scramble to find new distributors, but it is not known if Space SF was one of the victims.

Both issues were digest-sized, with 132 pages, and were priced at 35 cents. The issues were numbered as a single volume with two issues.