Arthur J. Burks - Part 7: 1933 - Dark Worlds Quarterly

*Astounding Stories* disappeared in April to reappear in October of 1933. Art by Howard V. Brown

1933 saw Arthur J. Burks’ markets improve, averaging four sales a month. As Peter Ruber mentions in his excellent article for Pulp Rack on Anthony M. Rud, (2002):

It was particularly tight during 1930-1932, Tony Rud remembers. Magazine markets began to rebound in 1933. Publishing groups like Street &Smith, Frank A. Munsey & Co., Columbia Publications, Fiction House and Popular Publications began to buy out faltering rivals and launch new magazines. But even top-tier writers like H. Bedford-Jones and Max Brand, who had previously been paid five cents to ten cents a word, were cut to two and three cents a word, and glad to get it. Most of the fiction writers, however, slaved for a penny a word and sometimes less.

This better year of sales allowed AJB a few luxuries such as taking a Spring holiday (I assume this because he had no magazine appearances in July.) Also he contributed to several issues of Science Fiction Digest, a fanzine for which he would nt have been paid, with one of these being part of the gigantic writing round robin called Cosmos. Burks supplied the third chapter. His interest in SF continues, with his final appearance in the Clayton Astounding and his first in the Tremaine Astounding, a lower paying magazine. This was probably a leftover from Harry Bates’ catalogue since Burks doesn’t show up in later issues. His next SF pieces will be in Thrilling Adventures. He also had a lone sale to Weird Tales, perhaps because Clayton’s Strange Tales was ending. If so, Farnsworth Wright accepted Burks (and all the Strange Tales defectors) back without issue.

January

“Automatic Alibi” (Thrilling Detective, January 1933)

“Chinese Processional” (Weird Tales, January 1933)

“The Crimson Blight” (Thrilling Adventures, January February March 1933) The three segment nature of this Science Fiction novel suggest to me that Burks had wanted to sell it to Argosy. Oddly, it appeared in Thrilling Adventures instead of Astounding. Cavemen & Dinosaurs in the modern world!

February

“Fists for a Copper” (The Shadow, February 1, 1933)

March

“Death on Schedule” (Thrilling Detective, March 1933)

“Derby Derringer” (Nick Carter Magazine, March 1933)

“Lords of the Stratosphere” (Astounding Stories, March 1933) Final issue of the Clayton Astounding

“Penny Arcade” (The Shadow, March 15, 1933)

April

“Death of the Flute” (All-Detective Magazine, April 1933)

“Peter Finn—Imaginizer” (Real Detective, April 1933)

May

“Arthur J. Burks Interview” by Julius Schwartz & Mortimer Weisinger (Science Fiction Digest, May 1933)

“Bandits in Ermine” (Thrilling Adventures, May 1933)

“Double Jeopardy” (Doc Savage Magazine, May 1933) His first appearance in Doc Savage!

“Ricocheting Bullets” (The Phantom Detective, May 1933)

“Too Tough to Fly” (War Birds, May 1933)

“The White Wasp” (All-Detective Magazine, May 1933)

June

“The Bells of Pell Street” (All-Detective Magazine, June 1933)

“Martinet” (Sky Fighters, June 1933)

“Trail of the Wooden Dolls” (Top-Notch Magazine, June 1933)

“While Chapei Burned” (Thrilling Adventures, June 1933)

August

“Dance of the Drowned” (Thrilling Adventures, August 1933)

“Fangs of the Lily” (Nickel Detective, August 1933)

“The Gun” (Thrilling Detective, August 1933)

” The Scourge” (George Bruce’s Squadron, August 1933)

September

“Central Park Murder” (The Shadow, September 1, 1933)

“Cities for Ransom” (The Phantom Detective, September 1933) as G. Wayman Jones. Burks supplied the lead novel for this magazine but all the authors appeared under the House name “G. Wayman Jones”, later “Robert Wallace”. The Phantom Detective was the third hero magazine from Street & Smith after The Shadow and Doc Savage.