JOHNS, Captain W(illiam) E(arle)

(1893-1968)

   UK writer who began producing boys' action adventures in 1930; his total output exceeded 200 volumes. He became famous in particular for the 80 or more Biggles novels, of which two - Biggles Hits the Trail (1935) and Biggles - Charter Pilot: The Adventures of Biggles \& Co on a World-Wide Cruise of Scientific Investigation (1943) - have somesf content. Of WEJ's other works, of particular sf interest is the "Tiger" Clinton sequence: Kings of Space (1954), Return to Mars (1955), Now to theStars (1956), To Outer Space (1957), The Edge of Beyond (1958), The Death Rays of Ardilla (1959), To Worlds Unknown (1960), The Quest for the Perfect Planet (1961), Worlds of Wonder (coll 1962) and The Man who Vanished into Space (1963). These novels feature "Tiger" Clinton, his son Rex and Professor Brane, the first humans in space, who meet strange new races and become caught up in interplanetary war.

   AC/JC