GALAXY SCIENCE FICTION

   US DIGEST-size magazine, Oct 1950 to a single undated issue in 1980. Published by World Editions (Oct 1950-Sep 1951), Galaxy Publishing Corp. (Oct 1951-May 1969), Universal Publishing and Distributing Corp. (July 1969-Sep/Oct 1979), Avenue Victor Hugo (1980); ed H.L. GOLD (Oct 1950-Oct 1961), Frederik POHL (Dec 1961-May 1969), Ejler JAKOBSSON (July 1969-May 1974), James BAEN (June 1974-Oct 1977), John J. PIERCE (Nov 1977-Mar/Apr 1979), Hank STINE (June/July-Sep/Oct 1979), Floyd Kemske (1980). The monthly schedule from the beginning to Dec 1958 was broken only by the omission of Dec 1955. It was bimonthly Feb 1959-Apr 1968. June 1968-Apr 1971 the schedule was monthly, except that June 1969 and Jan 1970 wereomitted, and Aug/Sep 1970 and Oct/Nov 1970 were single issues. May/June 1971-July/Aug 1973 the schedule was bimonthly, returning to a shakymonthly schedule Sep 1973-June 1978, the issues for May, Nov and Dec 1975 being omitted, as were those for Apr, June, Aug 1976; Dec 1977-Jan 1978 was a single issue. After June 1978, the final issues were Sep 1978, Nov/Dec 1978, Mar/Apr 1979, June/July 1979, Sep/Oct 1979 and one 1980issue released in summer. Curiously, the title was revived in 1994 by E.J. Gold, son of the original editor. The new Galaxy, ed Gold, published bythe Institute for the Development of the Harmonious Being, Inc., Nevada City, California, published six bimonthly issues in 1994 in small-bedsheet(A4) format, and two more to Mar/Apr 1995. Volume numeration started again at the beginning.The first publisher of Gal was an Italian company which, having incurred heavy losses trying to launch another magazine in the USA, approached H.L. Gold for alternative suggestions. He proposed an sf magazine, and Gal came into existence. From the outset, Gal's payment rates equalled the best in the field - a minimum of three cents a word - and it adopted the digest format already taken by its most successful contemporaries, ASTOUNDING SCIENCE-FICTION and The MAGAZINE OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION . These two with Gal were the most important sf magazinesof the 1950s through to the mid-1970s.The new magazine was an immediate success. ASF was at this time following John W. CAMPBELL Jr's new-found obsession with DIANETICS and was otherwise more oriented towards TECHNOLOGY. Gold's editorial policy was comparatively free-ranging: he wasinterested in PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIOLOGY and SATIRE and other HUMOUR, and the magazine reflected this. Like Campbell, he worked closely with his writers (mostly by telephone, as he was confined to his apartment by acuteagoraphobia) and is said to have had a hand in the conception of many of the famous stories he published, notably Alfred BESTER's THE DEMOLISHED MAN (Jan-Mar 1952; 1953). In its first year Gal included such stories as:Clifford D. SIMAK's "Time Quarry" (Oct-Dec 1950), in book form Time and Again (1951); Fritz LEIBER's "Coming Attraction" (Nov 1950); Damon KNIGHT's "To Serve Man" (Nov 1950); Isaac ASIMOV's "Tyrann" (Jan-Mar 1951), in book form The Stars Like Dust (1951); Ray BRADBURY's "The Fireman" (Feb 1951), in book form FAHRENHEIT 451 (exp 1953); C.M. KORNBLUTH's "The Marching Morons" (Apr 1951); Edgar PANGBORN's "Angel's Egg" (June 1951); Wyman GUIN's "Beyond Bedlam" (Aug 1951); and Robert A. HEINLEIN's The Puppet Masters (Sep-Nov 1951; 1951).The magazine maintained a comparable quality through its early years, and in 1953 shared the first HUGO for Best Magazine with ASF, while Bester's THE DEMOLISHED MAN, in itsGal version, won the first Hugo for Best Novel. Although the magazine's fiction encompassed a considerable variety of styles and preoccupations, the approach most identified with Gold's magazine is the irony and social satire of such authors as Knight, Leiber, Pohl and Robert SHECKLEY. With the Mar 1952 issue, Willy LEY began his science column, For Your Information, which he continued until his death in 1969. Groff CONKLIN wasbook reviewer from the beginning to Oct 1955.A weakness of the early Gal was that the cover art was mainly crude and undistinguished. The June 1951 issue, however, featured the first cover by Emsh (Ed EMSHWILLER), whose humorous approach was well suited to the magazine's contents and became identified with it. Further stories which appeared in Gold's Gal included: Pohl and Kornbluth's "Gravy Planet" (June-Aug 1952), in book form THESPACE MERCHANTS (1953); Theodore STURGEON's "Baby is Three" (Oct 1952), part of MORE THAN HUMAN (fixup 1953); Asimov's The Caves of Steel (Oct-Dec 1953; 1954); Pohl and Kornbluth's Gladiator-at-Law (June-Aug 1954; 1955);Bester's The Stars My Destination (Oct 1956-Jan 1957; 1956; vt Tiger! Tiger! UK); Pohl and Kornbluth's Wolfbane (Oct-Nov 1957; 1959); Leiber's Hugo-winning THE BIG TIME (Mar-Apr 1958; 1961); Avram DAVIDSON's Hugo-winning "Or All the Sea with Oysters" (May 1958); and Sheckley's "Time-Killer" (Oct 1958-Feb 1959), in book form Immortality Delivered (1958; exp vt Immortality, Inc. 1959). A prize contest sponsored by Gal drew no worthwhile entries, so Frederik Pohl and Lester DEL REY were prevailed upon to collaborate on a "prize-winning" novel, which appeared as Preferred Risk (June-Sep 1955; 1955:) by Edson MCCANN. Gal had a short-lived fantasy companion, BEYOND FANTASY FICTION, in 1953-5, and in 1959 its publishers acquired IF, which Gold also edited. In Sep 1958 thetitle changed to Galaxy Magazine, after which it varied between the two (with a period when it was called simply Galaxy). Beginning with the Feb1959 issue it changed to bimonthly publication, with more pages per issue. In 1961 Gold was forced to retire following a car accident. He was succeeded as editor of Gal and If by Frederik Pohl. Pohl widened the magazine's policy still further, to include more fantasy-oriented material. Jack VANCE and Cordwainer SMITH became regular contributors, Vance with such stories as THE DRAGON MASTERS (Aug 1962; 1963), which wona Hugo, The Star King (Dec 1963-Feb 1964; 1964) and THE LAST CASTLE (Apr 1966; 1966), which also won a Hugo, and Smith with "The Boy who Bought OldEarth" (Apr 1964; exp vt The Planet Buyer 1964), "The Dead Lady of Clown Town" (Aug 1964) and many others. Larry NIVEN was one of Pohl's discoveries, and Frank HERBERT and Robert SILVERBERG became further regular contributors. Other notable stories from his editorship include: Simak's "Here Gather the Stars" (June-Aug 1963), in book form Way Station(1963); Gordon R. DICKSON's "Soldier, Ask Not" (Oct 1964), which won a Hugo; Harlan ELLISON's "'Repent, Harlequin,' Said the Ticktockman" (Dec 1965) and "The Beast that Shouted Love at the Heart of the World" (June 1968), both of which won Hugos and the former also a NEBULA; Poul ANDERSON's "To Outlive Eternity" (June-Aug 1967), in book form Tau Zero (1970); and Silverberg's "Hawksbill Station" (Aug 1967) and "Nightwings" (Sep 1968), which won a Hugo. As Gold was notorious for unnecessary editorial tampering with the stories he published, so was Pohl famed for indiscriminately altering their titles. Algis BUDRYS began a notable book-review column in 1965.Pohl's Gal was consistently an interesting magazine, but it was less successful, with sf fans at least, than his If, which under Pohl won three consecutive Hugos. Pohl also commenced three companion magazines: WORLDS OF FANTASY and INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE FICTION came and went swiftly; WORLDS OF TOMORROW was more durable.In June 1968 Gal resumed monthly publication. The following year it changed ownershipand editorship again. Ejler Jakobsson gave Gal the subtitle "The Best in Pertinent Science Fiction", and the appearance was revamped in a seemingattempt to give the magazine more contemporary appeal; for a time it included a comic strip, Sunpot, by Vaughn BODE. One notable occurrence during Jakobsson's editorship was the featuring of two consecutive serials by Robert Silverberg: Downward to the Earth (Nov 1969-Mar 1970; 1970) and Tower of Glass (Apr-June 1970; 1970). Theodore Sturgeon took over as bookreviewer (Jan 1972-July 1975), his column proving less lively than might have been expected. On the whole, the magazine failed to develop under Jakobsson's editorship, and it reverted to a bimonthly schedule with theMay/June 1971 issue, though a patchy monthly schedule began again Sep 1973. In June 1974 he was succeeded by James Baen.In Jan 1975, Gal absorbed If. After a period in the doldrums, 1976 saw a revival in the magazine's fortunes. Contributors included Niven, John VARLEY and Roger ZELAZNY. Pohl's Gateway (Nov 1976-Mar 1977; 1977) was a notable serialwhich won both Hugo and Nebula. The magazine featured book reviews by Spider ROBINSON (from Aug 1975) and a science column by Jerry POURNELLE.However, despite the strength of the fiction, distribution faltered, and the monthly schedule was adhered to only patchily in 1975, 1976 and 1977.Baen left in 1977 to become sf editor of ACE BOOKS, and was succeededby John J. Pierce, who sadly presided over Gal's slow collapse - payment rate dropping, good authors hard to find except for the ever-loyal Pohl - to be followed briefly by Hank Stine (2 issues). Then Gal was sold to the publishers of GALILEO; ed Floyd Kemske, it lasted for only 1 more issue (in large format). The mess is witnessed by the fact that Pohl'sserialized novel Jem (Nov-Dec 1978-1980; 1979) took two years to serialize, under three editors, finishing long after the book had been published.The new Galaxy Magazine founded in 1994 by E.J. Gold, son of the original editor, and published by a SMALL PRESS, publishes New Age non-fiction material, reprint sf stories and new sf stories in what may be a commercial mix. There is reprint artwork, and most of the fiction is very short; much of the new fiction by little-known writers.There have been numerous anthologies of stories from Gal, for details of which see the entries for its first four editors. Galaxy Magazine: The Dark and the Light Years (1986) by David L. Rosheim is good on hard facts about themagazine but very restricted on interpretation and context.A UK edition, from Strato Publications, began in Jan 1953 (reprinting the Oct 1952 US edition). It was labelled vol 3 \#1. \#2 reprinted the preceding US issue (Sep 1952). The UK edition continued to follow the original, erraticallyat first, and from \#7 began to shorten the US edition. It continued to be numbered continuously (dropping the "vol 3" after \#12) until \#94 (Feb 1961). From \#72 (Feb 1959) it was an exact reprint of the US edition witha different title page. From Dec 1961 only the cover was different, and from Dec 1962 the US edition was imported. A second UK edition, published by Gold Star Publications, ran for 5 issues in 1967, reprinting six months after the US original (Jan/Feb 1967 UK was June 1966 US), printing US editions complete apart from the changed date. Then, again, the US edition was distributed. In 1972 a third UK edition began, from Universal-Tandem Publishing Co., who overprinted the US edition with price and issuenumber: the May/Jun 1972 issue was \#1, and a total of 25 numbered issues were published, ending with \#25, Jan 1975. However, the numbering was not continuous; it ran \#1-\#10, \#11, \#11, \#12, \#12, \#12, \#14, \#17-\#25. Thereafter the US edition was distributed.

   MJE/PN

   See also: GOLDEN AGE OF SF.