User:Mike Christie/Sandbox8

British magazines

Some US magazines were imported into the UK, but there was no attempt at a domestic magazine until 1934, when a British publisher, Pearsons, launched a tabloid science fiction magazine titled Scoops. It failed within a year and left the impression that the UK could not support a domestic fantasy or science fiction title. However, in 1937 a British fan, Walter Gillings, persuaded publisher The World's Work to test the market with a single issue of Tales of Wonder; it was sold well enough that it became a regular quarterly magazine. Another publisher, Newnes, launched their own pulp title, Fantasy, once they saw the success of Tales of Wonder. Both these ventures were cut short by the Second World War: Fantasy's editor, T. Stanhope Sprigg, went into the RAF after only three issues, and although Gillings edited Tales of Wonder from his army camp after he signed up, eventually he was unable to continue, and the last issue appeared in early 1942.

The two magazines included a mixture of American reprints and new work by British authors. Domestic contributors included John Wyndham, Eric Frank Russell, and William F. Temple; and reprints by Murray Leinster and Jack Williamson appeared. The most significant new author introduced in either magazine was undoubtedly Arthur C. Clarke, who sold non-fiction articles to Tales of Wonder in 1938 and 1939. Ashley comments that the fiction in both magazines was of reasonably good quality, and describes Tales of Wonder as "a lively, entertaining and enjoyable magazine".

The first two magazines launched after World War II both appeared in Britain. Fantasy was published and edited by Walter Gillings; who had previously edited Tales of Wonder. It launched in 1946, and lasted for a year, publishing three issues. The other new title, New Worlds, was longer-lasting: John Carnell, the editor, had been trying to interest a publisher in it since before the war, but a deal in 1940 fell through. Eventually Pendulum Publications agreed to launch the new magazine, but after only three issues Pendulum went bankrupt. Carnell and a group of sf fans formed a company, Nova Publications, and restarted the magazine; a fourth and fifth issue appeared in 1949, and three more the following year. New Worlds eventually became the most influential of all British science fiction magazines. A companion magazine, Science Fantasy, was launched in 1950, edited by Gillings, who had a large backfile of stories acquired for Fantasy.