22:
76:'s first published story, "Combat's End", appeared in May 1954. The editor was initially Alistair Paterson, but after seven issues Fearn took the helm: "Vargo Statten" was one of Fearn's aliases, and the magazine's title had been chosen because of his popularity. Neither Paterson nor Fearn had enough of a budget to attract good quality submissions, and a printing strike in 1956 brought an end to the magazine's life.
131:, whose first story, "Combat's End", had appeared in the May 1954 issue. However, sf historian Mike Ashley suggests that despite Fearn's efforts, only the E.C. Tubb stories, published under the pseudonym "George Holt", were a noticeable improvement in quality. When the circulation began to fall, Dragon Press quickly cut Fearn's budget in half, from 25
97:, a well-known fan, covered fan news. Scion's stated intention was to have at least 10% of the magazine devoted to the sf fan community, and also to publish only stories by British writers. Paterson's editorial policy for the fiction was aimed at younger readers, which led him to return a story by
317:
The first seven issues were edited by
Alistair Paterson, and the remainder by John Russell Fearn. The magazine was priced at 1/6 throughout its run. It was initially pulp-sized and 64 pages long, but changed to digest format at 128 pages with the May 1954 issue, and then to a paperback size, also
118:
with the May 1954 issue—the first from the new company. Scion
Distributors had also acquired Scion's debts when they restarted the company, and this included a large debt to the printers, Dragon Press. Scion gave Dragon Press control of the magazine with the December 1954 issue as payment for the
135:
to only 12/6 per thousand words. This was half the word rate on offer at other
British science fiction magazines of the era, and left Fearn unable to compete for the best stories. Fearn printed material of his own that he had been unable to sell elsewhere, and was also able to save some money by
92:
under the pseudonym "Vargo
Statten". These were very successful, and Scion decided to take advantage of the popularity of the name by issuing a monthly sf magazine. The first issue was dated January 1954 and was edited by Alistair Paterson. The target audience included long-time fans: Scion had
60:, with control passing to a successor company, Scion Distributors, after Scion went bankrupt in early 1954. At the end of 1954, as part payment for a debt, Scion Distributors handed control of the magazine to Dragon Press, who continued it for another twelve issues.
101:
with a request for a rewrite to make it more suitable for teenaged readers. Aldiss, then right at the start of his career, refused, and never submitted a story to the magazine again. The stories in the early issues were mostly written by Fearn,
109:
In early 1954, Scion were fined heavily for publishing a pornographic gangster novel. Key Scion staff decided to restart the company under the name Scion
Distributors, with Paterson continuing as editor. The magazine format was changed from
337:
with the June 1955 issue. The publisher was Scion, Ltd. of London for the first three issues, then Scion
Distributors, Ltd. of London for the next four issues, and finally Dragon Publications Ltd. of Luton for the remaining issues.
1059:
119:
debt, along with the novels they had rights to and their contract with Fearn. Paterson resigned and Fearn took his place, insisting when he did so that his pseudonym be removed from the magazine's title. It was renamed
536:
140:
size, and simplifying and standardizing the cover design. The magazine struggled on until early 1956, when a printers' strike caused Dragon Press to fold. The last issue appeared in
January 1956.
1084:
1033:
805:
123:
from the
September 1954 issue. In the opinion of sf historians Philip Harbottle and Stephen Holland, the quality of the magazine began to improve significantly, with stories by E.C. Tubb,
529:
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notified established science fiction fan groups before the launch, so there was a letter column in the first issue, and a column by
595:
609:
56:) was a British science fiction magazine which published nineteen issues between 1954 and 1956. It was initially published by
136:
reprinting stories of his that had originally appeared in the U.S. magazines. More money was saved by changing the format to
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The Best of John
Russell Fearn: Volume Two: Outcasts of Eternity and Other Stories
995:
567:
115:
305:
Alistair
Paterson (blue), and John Russell Fearn (yellow). Note that some of
307:
the earlier issues were not dated internally and approximate dates have been
938:
458:
Transformations:The Story of the Science-Fiction Magazines from 1950 to 1970
137:
103:
303:
showing volume and issue number, and colour-coded to indicate the editor:
132:
106:, and F. Dubrez Fawcett, who also wrote gangster fiction for Scion.
20:
1060:
Defunct science fiction magazines published in the United Kingdom
518:
1034:
History of US science fiction and fantasy magazines to 1950
431:
Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Weird Fiction Magazines
318:
at 128 pages, from the February 1955 issue onwards.
1039:
George Kelley Paperback and Pulp Fiction Collection
1026:
559:
435:. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp.
88:published dozens of science fiction (sf) novels by
1085:Science fiction magazines established in the 1950s
455:
310:assigned based on the contents of the magazines.
72:also published several stories in the magazine.
500:. Gillette NJ: Wildside Press. pp. 6–11.
427:". In Tymn, Marshall B.; Ashley, Mike (eds.).
333:with the September 1954 issue, and finally to
327:Vargo Statten British Science Fiction Magazine
41:Vargo Statten British Science Fiction Magazine
530:
8:
477:Harbottle, Philip; Holland, Stephen (1992).
537:
523:
515:
496:Harbottle, Philip (2001). "Introduction".
380:Harbottle & Holland (1992), pp. 89–90.
462:. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.
147:
722:Flash Gordon Strange Adventure Magazine
346:
989:Vargo Statten Science Fiction Magazine
425:Vargo Statten Science Fiction Magazine
323:Vargo Statten Science Fiction Magazine
299:Vargo Statten Science Fiction Magazine
84:In the early 1950s, British publisher
35:Vargo Statten Science Fiction Magazine
29:logo as it appeared on the first issue
27:Vargo Statten Science Fiction Magazine
7:
960:Two Complete Science-Adventure Books
388:
386:
376:
374:
372:
370:
368:
358:
356:
354:
352:
350:
331:The British Science Fiction Magazine
121:The British Science Fiction Magazine
47:The British Science Fiction Magazine
771:Miracle Science and Fantasy Stories
481:. San Bernardino CA: Borgo Press.
335:The British Space Fiction Magazine
53:The British Space Fiction Magazine
14:
329:with the May 1954 issue, then to
1080:Magazines disestablished in 1956
666:Dusty Ayres and His Battle Birds
80:Publication history and contents
16:British science fiction magazine
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68:were regular contributors, and
939:Terence X. O'Leary's War Birds
1:
1090:Magazines published in London
1075:Magazines established in 1954
596:A. Merritt's Fantasy Magazine
848:Scientific Detective Monthly
813:Out of This World Adventures
401:Harbottle (1992), pp. 97–99.
362:Ashley (1985), pp. 703–705.
1106:
918:Tales of Magic and Mystery
687:Famous Fantastic Mysteries
296:
1065:Fantasy fiction magazines
841:Science Fiction Quarterly
708:Fantastic Story Quarterly
589:Amazing Stories Quarterly
890:Stirring Science Stories
321:The title was initially
953:Tops in Science Fiction
736:G-8 and His Battle Aces
680:Dynamic Science Stories
673:Dynamic Science Fiction
410:Harbottle (2001), p. 9.
757:Marvel Science Stories
729:Future Science Fiction
582:Amazing Stories Annual
423:Ashley, Mike (1985). "
30:
911:Super Science Stories
454:Ashley, Mike (2005).
392:Ashley (2005), p. 90.
144:Bibliographic details
127:, Fearn himself, and
24:
834:Science-Fiction Plus
694:Fantastic Adventures
479:Vultures of the Void
1017:Wonder Story Annual
603:Astonishing Stories
610:Astounding Stories
325:; this changed to
301:from 1954 to 1956,
90:John Russell Fearn
66:John Russell Fearn
31:
1047:
1046:
1003:The Witch's Tales
883:Startling Stories
315:
314:
129:Barrington Bayley
74:Barrington Bayley
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932:10 Story Fantasy
799:Oriental Stories
701:Fantastic Novels
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532:
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967:Uncanny Stories
946:The Thrill Book
925:Tales of Wonder
897:Strange Stories
827:Science Fiction
624:Captain Hazzard
575:Amazing Stories
555:
546:Science fiction
543:
508:
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1070:Pulp magazines
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1010:Wonder Stories
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978:
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862:Secret Agent X
858:
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830:
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820:Planet Stories
816:
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750:Jungle Stories
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732:
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645:Cosmic Stories
641:
634:
627:
620:
617:Captain Future
613:
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571:
563:
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553:pulp magazines
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95:Vincent Clarke
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70:Kenneth Bulmer
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904:Strange Tales
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855:The Scorpion
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806:Other Worlds
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99:Brian Aldiss
83:
52:
51:
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40:
39:
34:
33:
32:
26:
18:
996:Weird Tales
792:Operator #5
785:The Octopus
568:Ace Mystery
58:Scion Press
1054:Categories
976:(Canadian)
876:The Spider
778:New Worlds
764:Mind Magic
652:Doc Savage
342:References
297:Issues of
62:E. C. Tubb
560:Magazines
138:paperback
133:shillings
104:E.C. Tubb
1027:Related
982:Unknown
715:Fantasy
550:fantasy
417:Sources
38:(later
504:
485:
466:
443:
439:–705.
116:digest
638:Comet
267:1956
228:1955
191:1954
86:Scion
548:and
502:ISBN
483:ISBN
464:ISBN
441:ISBN
240:1/12
237:1/11
234:1/10
223:1/8
186:Dec
112:pulp
64:and
50:and
25:The
437:703
270:2/7
260:2/6
257:2/5
254:2/4
251:2/3
248:2/2
245:2/1
231:1/9
220:1/7
215:1/6
210:1/5
205:1/4
202:1/3
197:1/2
194:1/1
183:Nov
180:Oct
177:Sep
174:Aug
171:Jul
168:Jun
165:May
162:Apr
159:Mar
156:Feb
153:Jan
114:to
1056::
385:^
367:^
349:^
44:,
538:e
531:t
524:v
510:.
491:.
472:.
449:.
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