Authentic Science Fiction, December 1951 — page 6: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

4 high The tide of Science fiction is coming in again. Somehow or other—maybe it’s something to do with the moon!—people are getting space-conscious. They do that every now and again, you know. Then the majority of them turn over and go to sleep again. ~ But here’s the point: at each swing of the pendulum, that majority gets less and less. So that devotees of SF are joined at intervals by a kind of flotsam that comes to stay. = We get the repercussion here by increased demand that goes on demanding. It’s interesting to find people popping up all over the country and asking for ASF. Sometimes they ask only once and we never hear of them again. But just lately there has been a concerted uprush of people who are still with us—many of them having taken out two and three year subscriptions. Now, we are not so conceited as to think that ASF does this all by itself! There are many factors that make people turn to SF. But it is good tidings, because the more subscriptions we get, the solider is our work- ing foundation. If things go on like this, there’ll be a numter of improvements coming up. By the way have you taken out a sub? * Many SFans are walking around with black bands on tide their arms. We almost feel like doing the same. GALAXY is dead. That was a fine magazine with fine stories and a fine future. We know the circum- stances under which it died and we can assure all fans who do not already know it, that GALAXY did not die because of lack of sales. Even now it may be resurrected. * It is nice to see national magazines with large circula- tions running space fcatures— even if some of them are rather inaccurate! Things like this and the recent SF serial in the News Chronicle by. well-known science writer Ritchie Calder help to raise the prestige and public awareness of science fiction. Of course, we have to put up with things like the film ‘* Man from Planet-X” but even that might not do so much harm as some people thick. In the early Stages of a new literary form, we must keep a level head and be tolerant with those to whose head the subject goes! But by all means let us-not keep silent. ASF is firmly behind everyone who voices a demand for better and more accurate science fiction. comicbooks.com