If you missed the last one…
Invisibility has become a familiar idea to the Pulps by 1931. It appears with some explanation (usually involving atoms) but is largely a given. Some writers like Philip Wylie and Paul Ernst build from H. G. Wells’s The Invisible Man (1897) while others glibly make their spaceships invisible before going on raiding runs. There is some innovation here though in small ways. Wells has done the heavy lifting and writers use the invisible trope to suit their narratives.
1931
The Murderer Invisible by Philip Wylie has scientist William Carpenter develop invisibility. His niece falls for his assistant, Baxter, which drives Carpenter to use the formula on himself. The scientist begins a ten day campaign against major cities, ending with a demand to the US government. It is up to the young lovers to deal with the madman. Working from Wells’s original, Wylie ups the game and really shows what an invisible madman could do.
“On the Martian Liner” (Amazing Stories, March 1931) by Miles J. Breuer has Streak Burgess on a Martian liner looking for human interest stories for his newspaper. He finds Mr. Johnson, the owner of the space liners, trying to escape an extortionist but searching finds no one. Streak figures the villain must be invisible and figures out a way to reveal him.
“Terrors Unseen” (Astounding Stories, March 1931) by Harl Vincent combines invisibility with robots. A man, Edward Vail, sees a beauty attacked by some unseen attacker. This leads to Vail rescuing her and being pulled into a battle between scientist and gangsters.
“Mad Marionettes” (Miracle Science and Fantasy Stories, April-May 1931) by Arthur J. Burks is set in an Earth where all the land and water surface is covered buildings. An unknown and invisible attacker comes at his victims through superior science. Of course, he plans to take over the world!
“Invisible Ships” (Amazing Stories Quarterly, Spring 1931) by Harl Vincent begins with an interplanetary war between Earth and Venus against Mars. The Martians have invisible ships! When a brave Earthman reveals the secret of the invisibility ray, the Martians sue for peace.
“In the Spacesphere” (Wonder Stories, June 1931) by Charles Cloukey is a complex Mystery on a space liner between Earth and Mars. The invisibility comes in the form of vibrating crystals. These are housed in a cylinder.
“The Light Bender” (Wonder Stories, June 1931) by Frank K. Kelly has two scientists invent invisibility using magnets. Their demonstration allows creatures from another dimension to invade Earth. The only solution is to blow up the invaders’ tech along with the new human equipment.
“Vandals of the Void” (Wonder Stories Quarterly, Summer 1931) by J. M. Walsh is a long novel with ships crossing between the planets. An invisible raider is attacking space liners. The space pirates are Mercurians, an unknown race.
“Between Dimensions” (Wonder Stories, October 1931) by J. E. Keith is a story about crossing dimensions but it does feature an invisible monster that attacks the protagonists as they escape home. For more on this story, go here.
“In the Orbit of Saturn” (Astounding Stories, October 1931) by R. F. Starzl has space pirates with an invisible ship under Captain Strom. A member of the I. F. P. sneaks into the evil organization and destroys the invisibility equipment, allowing the Patrol to catch Strom and save a rich man’s daughter.
“Raiders Invisible” (Astounding Stories, November 1931) by Desmond W. Hall was written by one of the editors of the magazine. Hall, along with his boss, Harry Bates, will appear frequently in 1932, but here he is writing alone. This tale is an aviation war with planes and zeppelins. The Soviets have invisibility and want to destroy the American fleet. This is twenty years before the Cold War.
1932
“The Radiant Shell” (Astounding Stories, January 1932) by Paul Ernst has a spy coated in invisible fluid who then sneaks into the Arvanian embassy. He learns secrets that save America from war. Ernst builds on Wells’s difficulties of actually being invisible, like being smelled by dogs.
“The Affair of the Brains (Astounding Stories, March 1932) by Anthony Gilmore is the sequel to “Hawk Carse”, the first Carse story. (These stories were written by Harry Bates and Desmond W. Hall as Gilmore.) Our space opera hero is back to deal with the stolen brains of scientists. The villain is recurring baddy, Ku Sui, lives on an invisible asteroid.
“The Bluff of the Hawk” (Astounding Stories, May 1932) by Anthony Gilmore has Hawk Carse try to find and attack Ku Su’s invisible asteroid base.
“The Invisible City” (Wonder Stories, June 1932) by Clark Ashton Smith has explorers in Turkestan discover an unseeable city inhabited by aliens from space. The aliens are not unkind but refuse to allow the men to leave. Grabbing a valuable orb, they fight their way to freedom.
“The Passing of Ku Sui” (Astounding Stories, November 1932) by Anthony Gilmore has the invisible asteroid become visible, leading to Ku Sui’s supposed end. He will be back many years later in “The Return of Hawk Carse”.
Conclusion
1931 and 1932 had four Science Fiction magazines: Hugo Gernsback’s Wonder Stories, T. O’Conor Sloane’s Amazing Stories, the new kid-on-the-block, Harry Bates’s Astounding Stories and the very brief, Miracle Science and Fantasy Stories, from the Dold Brothers. These editors all liked the invisibility motif but presented it with different levels of innovation. Clare Winger Harris did a survey of SF tropes in 1931 and listed invisibility as #12. Here we get plenty of space liners, invisible enemies and even one invisible city that reminds me of Edmond Hamilton. As you will see next time, the invisible idea gets used less frequently with only a story or two per year.
Next time…the rest of the 1930s.
