Eando Binder was a great Science Fiction pseudonym, being odd and perhaps just a little futuristic. The truth is it simply meant E. and O. Binder, the two brothers, Earl and Otto. Along with their brother, Jack, the three men would all make contributions to the history of Science Fiction. Jack, the eldest, was an artist who ran his own comics art studio before going to Fawcett Comics to draw Otto’s stories of Mary Marvel.
The two younger brothers were fans of the early Science Fiction magazine, Amazing Stories, and would eventually begin their career selling to T. O’Conor Sloane after Hugo Gernsback was forced out. Their second story when to Gernsback at his Wonder Stories. These two editors along with amateur publications would split Eando Binder’s production until Farnsworth Wright and Weird Tales joined the list in 1935. At the end of their collaboration they would write for Thrilling Wonder Stories and Mort Weisinger, their old pal from amateur days and future editor at DC Comics.
“The First Martian” (Amazing Stories, October 1932)
“The Moon Mines” (Wonder Stories, April 1933)
“Murder on the Asteroid” (Wonder Stories, June 1933)
“The Spore Doom” (Wonder Stories, February 1934)
“The Ancient Voice” (The Fantasy Fan, April 1934)
“The Green Cloud of Space” (Wonder Stories, May 1934)
“Enslaved Brains” (Wonder Stories, July August September 1934)
“Cigarette Characterization #2” (Fantasy Magazine, September 1934)
“Eighty-Five and Eighty-Seven” (Amazing Stories, October 1934)
“The Thieves of Isot” (Wonder Stories, October 1934)
“Cosmos: Chapter 16: Lost in Alien Dimensions” (Fantasy Magazine, October-November 1934)
“Dawn to Dusk” (Wonder Stories, November December 1934 January 1935)
“The Robot Aliens” (Wonder Stories, February 1935) was the story that gave us the definition of “alien” to mean an extraterrestrial. Before this story, the word usually meant a foreigner.
“In a Graveyard” (Weird Tales, October 1935) was pretty standard horror stuff. Later Otto would write “From the Beginning”, the best of all the robot stories to appear in Weird Tales.
“Shadows of Blood” (Weird Tales, April 1935) was the second tale for Weird Tales, and the first to receive an illustration. The artist for this one and the next was Earl and Otto’s older brother, Jack.
“Set Your Course by the Stars” (Astounding Stories, May 1935) was the first story written entirely by Otto. The younger brother would publish five stories on his own for every one the two did together. Otto would write the Adam Link stories for Ray Palmer when he took over Amazing as well as the “Via stories” under the pseudonym of Gordon A. Giles.
“The Crystal Curse” (Weird Tales, March 1936)
“The Great Illusion” (Fantasy Magazine, September 1936) was a fan writing jam with many other famous SF writers.
“The Chemical Murder” (Amazing Stories, April 1937)
“Strange Vision” (Astounding Stories, May 1937) was an Otto story based on a rejected tale by both brothers.
“The Mysterious Stranger” (Amateur Correspondence v2#2, September-October 1937)
“A Comet Passes” (Thrilling Wonder Stories, October 1937) was another Otto story based on a rejected tale by both brothers.
“Blue Beam of Pestilence” (Amazing Stories, December 1937)
“The Space Pirate” (Amazing Stories, June 1938)
As 1939 approached and SF magazines were sprouting up all over, the Binder name in new magazines like Science Fiction, Future and Super Science Stories. Eando Binder even sold a novel to Argosy. Otto was now doing the writing while Earl acted as literary agent. The early stories composed by both men were over. Otto would go on to accomplish some amazing things, like the first sympathetic robot character, Adam Link, the Via stories, Captain Marvel and Superman comics at Fawcett then DC, the Jon Jarl text stories and many others.
According to Otto Binder: The Life and Work of a Comic Book and Science Fiction Visionary (2003) by Bill Schelly:
Despite the breakup of their partnership, Earl and Otto remained very close. In Earl, Otto was able to see what might have been his fate if he’d gotten married young, stayed in Chicago, and been forced to find employment in a noncreative job.
