The Fantastic in the Argosy: 1932

If you missed 1931…

1932 sees less short stories and many serials. Fantastic content comes in large packages, with major novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs, A. Merritt and Austin Hall. Many of these books would be reprinted by Famous Fantastic Mysteries with Virgil Finlay drawings, sometimes more than once! As in 1931, we see many sequels and continuations of series.

“The Disappearance of William Roger” by Ray Cummings (January 9, 1932) is another crime story set in the year 1981.

“The Sleep Gas” by Murray Leinster (January 16, 1932) was one of the few SF pieces Leinster did for Argosy that year. The others were of a more earthly nature. Leinster (Will F. Jenkins) wrote in most genres including SF, Western, adventure and even romance.

The Dwellers in the Mirage by A. Merritt (January 23-February 27, 1932) in six parts, is one of Merritt’s classic novels. Set in the Arctic, it is a strange Northern about a secret world hidden by a mirage. The polar people worship a Lovecraftian squid monster. One of the things that made Merritt so well-loved was you never knew if there would be a happy ending or not. Spoiler alert! This is one of the sad ones. The novel was reprinted in Fantastic Novels, April 1941 and again in September 1949. Virgil Finlay illustrated both times. Some critics think of this novel as a kind of Sword & Sorcery. Others as a quasi-Cthulhu Mythos piece.

 

“Prison Planet” by R. F. Starzl (March 5, 1932) is another surprise Starzl piece.

Tarzan and the City of Gold by Edgar Rice Burroughs (March 12-April 16, 1932) appeared in six parts. It is the sixteenth Tarzan novel. This one is part of a group of books that has Tarzan discover lost empires in the heart of Africa. The City of Gold, Cathne, has an ancient enemy in the City of Ivory, Athne. Tarzan sides with the Ivory while Nemone, the queen of Cathne wants the handsome jungle lord. We’ve seen this plot before in Tarzan and the Ant Men and elsewhere. The illustrations by Samuel Cahan are a refreshing change to Frank Hoban’s usual artwork.

For myself personally, and this is all nostalgia, Tarzan and the City of Gold is one of the first Tarzans I read, so it is remembered fondly. (I haven’t re-read it in forty years.) The great covers by Neal Adams sold me on the black Ballantine series back in 1975.

 

The Insect Invasion by Ray Cummings (April 16-May 14, 1932) in five parts. The insect invasion theme was not new in 1932. Victor Rousseau premiered the first issue of Astounding with “The Beetle Invasion” in 1930. It wasn’t new in 1930 either. More on giant insect SF here.

“Witch Oaks” by J. Alan Dunn (May 14, 1932)

Helgvor of the Blue River by J. H. Rosny, Aîné & Georges Surdez (May 28-June 18, 1932) in four parts, is a novel of primitive man. Rosny is better known as the author of Quest For Fire. Perhaps not fantastic in the usual sense, SF readers often flock to tales of the primitive even if they aren’t in Pellucidar.  George Surdez was a premiere adventure writer of Foreign legion tales. I assume he acted as translator here. For more on Rosny and prehistoric fiction, check out this site.

The Radio War by Ralph Milne Farley (July 2-30, 1932) in five parts, is another chapter in the Radio series, again, having dropped most of the Science Fictional elements.

“Death by the Clock” by Ray Cummings (August 6, 1932)

The Spot of Life by Austin Hall (August 13-September 10, 1932) in five parts, was a big deal in 1932. Homer Eon Flint and Austin Hall wrote the classic, The Blind Spot (Argosy All-Story, May 14- June 18, 1921). This novel stood as an example of good SF for many decades. Flint was mysteriously murdered in 1924 so no sequel was forthcoming until 1932 when Hall wrote it alone. The novel was reprinted in Famous Fantastic Mysteries, February 1941.

 

The Pirates of Venus by Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 17-October 22, 1932) in six parts, was the first novel in ERB’s final masterwork, the Amtor novels. Carson Napier sets out to visit Mars but ends up on Venus (That pesky Moon and its gravity!) He lands on a mist-clouded planet of gigantic trees and strange creatures. There would be several more books to follow ending with a short story run in Ray A. Palmer’s Fantastic Adventures.  This first novel was reprinted in England in The Passing Show (October 7-November 25, 1933).

 

Burn, Witch, Burn! by A. Merritt (October 22-November 26, 1932) in six parts,is another major fantastic coupe. One of the reasons A. Merritt was so influential was because he did not use a formula repeated ad nauseum. Each book could be something different and special. That is certainly true of this one. Perhaps the very first modern Horror novel, this tale of killer puppets reads like it was written in the age of Stephen King, not the Great Depression. The story was so tantalizing it was made into a film, The Devil-Doll (1936), starring Lionel Barrymore in the role of Paul Lamond/Madame Mandelip. It was reprinted in Famous Fantastic Mysteries, June 1942.

 

“Sting of the Blue Scorpion” by Loring Brent (November 19-December 17, 1932) in five parts, is a Peter the Brazen story.

“Murder on the Mike” by Arthur B. Reeve (December 3, 1932) is the last Craig Kennedy story in a long series that started in 1910.

“The Man-Hunter” by H. Bedford-Jones (December 10, 1932)

“New Worlds” by Erle Stanley Gardner (December 17, 132) This story was collected in The Human Zero: The Science Fiction of Erle Stanley Gardner in 1981. Reprinted in Fantastic, September 1962.

“Rats of the Harbor” by Ray Cummings (December 24-31, 1932) in two parts.

Conclusion

The Fantastic in the Argosy in 1932 was a year of masterpieces. Two classics by A. Merritt, along with a long-awaited sequel from Austin Hall. Edgar Rice Burroughs, Ray Cummings, Ralph Milne Farley all kept the pot boiling with more, more, more… 1932 was a great year for Fantasy fans, both in the Argosy and at Weird Tales, where Conan has hit his stride. Plenty of Science Fiction magazines are being published as well, making it a good time to be a reader of the fantastic.

Next time…1933