Venture Science Fiction Magazine
Encyclopedia
Digest size
Digest size is a magazine size, smaller than a conventional or "journal size" magazine but larger than a standard paperback book, approximately 5½ x 8¼ inches, but can also be 5⅜ x 8⅜ inches and 5½ x 7½ inches. These sizes have evolved from the printing press operation end...
science fiction magazine
Science fiction magazine
A science fiction magazine is a publication that offers primarily science fiction, either in a hard copy periodical format or on the Internet....
, first published from 1957 to 1958, and revived for a brief run in 1969 and 1970. Ten issues were published of the 1950s version, with another six in the second run. It was founded in both instances as a companion to The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction is a digest-size American fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House and then by Fantasy House. Both were subsidiaries of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Publications, which took over as publisher in 1958. Spilogale, Inc...
; Robert P. Mills
Robert P. Mills
Robert Park Mills was an American crime- and science fiction magazine editor and literary agent.Mills was the managing editor of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine beginning in 1948 and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction from its inception in 1949; he took over as editor upon the resignation...
edited the 1950s version, and Edward L. Ferman
Edward L. Ferman
Edward Lewis Ferman was an American science fiction and fantasy fiction editor and magazine publisher.Ferman is the son of Joseph W...
was editor during the second run. A British edition appeared for 28 issues between 1963 and 1965; it reprinted material from The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction as well as from the US edition of Venture. There was also an Australian edition, which was identical to the British version but dated two months later.
The original version was only moderately successful, although it is remembered for the first publication of Sturgeon's Law
Sturgeon's Law
Sturgeon's revelation, commonly referred to as Sturgeon's law, is an adage derived from quotations by Theodore Sturgeon, an American science fiction author. While Sturgeon coined another adage that he termed "Sturgeon's law", it is his "revelation" that is usually referred to by that term...
. The publisher, Joseph Ferman (father of Edward Ferman), declared that he wanted well-told stories of action and adventure; the resulting fiction contained more sex and violence than was usual for the science fiction (sf) genre in the late 1950s, and sf historian Mike Ashley has suggested that the magazine was ahead of its time. It succumbed to poor sales within less than two years. The second US version was no more successful, with less attractive cover art and little in the way of notable fiction, though it did publish Vonda McIntyre
Vonda McIntyre
Vonda Neel McIntyre is an American science fiction author.-Biography:Vonda N. McIntyre, daughter of H. Neel and Vonda B. Keith McIntyre, earned a degree in biology from the University of Washington in 1970. That same year, she attended the Clarion Writers Workshop, founded at the Clarion...
's first story. By the end of 1970, Venture had ceased publication permanently.
First US run
In late 1949, publisher Lawrence E. SpivakLawrence E. Spivak
Lawrence Edmund Spivak was an American publisher and journalist who was best known as the co-founder, producer and host of the prestigious public affairs program Meet the Press...
launched The Magazine of Fantasy, one of many new titles in a crowded field of genre magazines. The title was changed to The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction is a digest-size American fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House and then by Fantasy House. Both were subsidiaries of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Publications, which took over as publisher in 1958. Spilogale, Inc...
(usually abbreviated to F&SF) with the second issue, and the new magazine rapidly became successful and influential within the science fiction field. The editors were Anthony Boucher
Anthony Boucher
Anthony Boucher was an American science fiction editor and author of mystery novels and short stories. He was particularly influential as an editor. Between 1942 and 1947 he acted as reviewer of mostly mystery fiction for the San Francisco Chronicle...
and J. Francis McComas
J. Francis McComas
Jesse Francis McComas was an American science fiction editor. McComas wrote several stories on his own in the 1950s using both his own name and the pseudonym Webb Marlowe....
, and the managing editor was Robert P. Mills
Robert P. Mills
Robert Park Mills was an American crime- and science fiction magazine editor and literary agent.Mills was the managing editor of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine beginning in 1948 and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction from its inception in 1949; he took over as editor upon the resignation...
. In 1954, Joseph Ferman
Joseph W. Ferman
Joseph Wolfe Ferman was a Lithuanian-American science fiction publisher.Ferman moved to the United States of America and began working on the magazine American Mercury, the primary publication of the Mercury Press, which added Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine in 1941...
, a partner of Spivak's, bought the magazine from him. Ferman subsequently decided to launch a companion magazine, and gave it to Mills to edit.
The new magazine was titled Venture Science Fiction, and the first issue was dated January 1957. Mills was managing editor of F&SF throughout Ventures first run; he became editor of F&SF shortly after Venture ceased publishing in July 1958. The editorial philosophy was laid out by Ferman in the inaugural issue: "strong stories of action and adventure ... There will be two prime requisites for Venture stories: In the first place, each must be a well told story, with a beginning, middle and end; in the second place, each must be a strong story—a story with pace, power and excitement." Ferman hoped to take advantage of a gap in the science fiction magazine market opened up by the demise of Planet Stories
Planet Stories
Planet Stories was an American pulp science fiction magazine, published by Fiction House between 1939 and 1955. It featured interplanetary adventures, both in space and on other planets, and was initially focused on a young readership. Malcolm Reiss was editor or editor-in-chief for all of its 71...
, one of the last sf pulps, which had ceased publication in late 1955. Planet Stories had focused on adventure stories, as opposed to the realistic style becoming more popular in science fiction in the 1950s, and Ferman hoped to combine the virtues of the melodramatic pulp fiction style with the literary values that were key to F&SF
Mike Ashley (writer)
Michael Ashley is a British bibliographer, author and editor of science fiction, mystery, and fantasy.He edits the long-running Mammoth Book series of short story anthologies, each arranged around a particular theme in mystery, fantasy, or science fiction...
has commented that it was perhaps five or ten years ahead of its time. One story, "The Girl Had Guts", by Theodore Sturgeon
Theodore Sturgeon
Theodore Sturgeon was an American science fiction author.His most famous novel is More Than Human .-Biography:...
, involved an alien virus that caused its victims to vomit up their intestines; Ashley records a reviewer saying that the story made him physically ill.
Ed Emshwiller
Ed Emshwiller
Ed Emshwiller was a visual artist notable for illustrations of many science fiction magazine covers and for his pioneering experimental films...
supplied eight of the ten covers; he had sold several covers to F&SF by this time, so his work reinforced the sense of connection between the two magazines. Emshwiller also contributed interior illustrations in the first issue, but the main interior artist was John Giunta, with John Schoenherr
John Schoenherr
John Schoenherr was an American illustrator.Schoenherr may be best known as the original illustrator for Dune by Frank Herbert, creating the canonical images for elements such as sandworms. However, he is also very well known as a wildlife artist and children's book illustrator, with over forty...
contributing some of his earliest work to several of the later issues.
Some well-known writers appeared during this incarnation of Venture, including Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
, Clifford Simak
Clifford D. Simak
Clifford Donald Simak was an American science fiction writer. He was honored by fans with three Hugo awards and by colleagues with one Nebula award and was named the third Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 1977.-Biography:Clifford Donald Simak was born in...
, Marion Zimmer Bradley
Marion Zimmer Bradley
Marion Eleanor Zimmer Bradley was an American author of fantasy novels such as The Mists of Avalon and the Darkover series. Many critics have noted a feminist perspective in her writing. Her first child, David R...
, Robert Silverberg
Robert Silverberg
Robert Silverberg is an American author, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple nominee of the Hugo Award and a winner of the Nebula Award.-Early years:...
, and Damon Knight
Damon Knight
Damon Francis Knight was an American science fiction author, editor, critic and fan. His forte was short stories and he is widely acknowledged as having been a master of the genre.-Biography:...
. Not all the fiction was adventure oriented. For example, Sturgeon's story "The Comedian's Children" tells of a telethon host and his relationship with his sponsors, and Leigh Brackett
Leigh Brackett
Leigh Douglass Brackett was an American author, particularly of science fiction. She was also a screenwriter, known for her work on famous films such as The Big Sleep , Rio Bravo , The Long Goodbye and The Empire Strikes Back .-Life:Leigh Brackett was born and grew up in Los Angeles, California...
's "All the Colors of the Rainbow" deals with racism after aliens have contacted humanity. These and other examples can be regarded as stories of character with strong themes, in keeping with Ferman's stated goals in his inaugural editorial. Venture was also the place that "Sturgeon's Law
Sturgeon's Law
Sturgeon's revelation, commonly referred to as Sturgeon's law, is an adage derived from quotations by Theodore Sturgeon, an American science fiction author. While Sturgeon coined another adage that he termed "Sturgeon's law", it is his "revelation" that is usually referred to by that term...
" first saw print. This adage is now usually seen in the form "90% of everything is crap". It was formulated by Sturgeon in about 1951, and a version of it appeared in the March 1958 issue of Venture, under the name "Sturgeon's Revelation".
An editorial, "Venturings," appeared in each issue of the first series; after Ferman used the first one as a platform for editorial policy, it was usually written by Mills, who occasionally turned the column over to letters from SF figures. The very last editorial, in July 1958, featured a eulogy of C.M. Kornbluth
Cyril M. Kornbluth
Cyril M. Kornbluth was an American science fiction author and a notable member of the Futurians. He used a variety of pen-names, including Cecil Corwin, S. D. Gottesman, Edward J. Bellin, Kenneth Falconer, Walter C. Davies, Simon Eisner and Jordan Park...
by Frederik Pohl
Frederik Pohl
Frederik George Pohl, Jr. is an American science fiction writer, editor and fan, with a career spanning over seventy years — from his first published work, "Elegy to a Dead Planet: Luna" , to his most recent novel, All the Lives He Led .He won the National Book Award in 1980 for his novel Jem...
, and one of Henry Kuttner
Henry Kuttner
Henry Kuttner was an American author of science fiction, fantasy and horror.-Early life:Henry Kuttner was born in Los Angeles, California in 1915...
by Sturgeon. Kornbluth and Kuttner had died within two months of each other earlier that year.
Sturgeon began a book review column, "On Hand . . . Offhand", in the July 1957 issue that continued for the rest of the magazine's run. This was Sturgeon's first review column; more than a decade later he wrote a similar column for Galaxy Science Fiction
Galaxy Science Fiction
Galaxy Science Fiction was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by an Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break in to the American market. World Editions hired as editor H. L...
. The January 1958 issue saw the first in a series of four science articles by Asimov that also continued until Venture folded. The series was transferred to F&SF, beginning with the November 1958 issue, and eventually ran to 399 consecutive articles; it is not often remembered that it began in F&SFs short-lived companion magazine.
Venture kept to a steady bimonthly schedule for ten issues, but its circulation never reached a sustainable level, and it was canceled in mid-1958. The large number of competing magazines probably hurt sales, though since many of the competitors lasted for only one or two issues, Venture can be thought of as at least a partial success.
British and Australian editions
In December 1959, a British edition of F&SF appeared from Atlas Publishing and Distributing Limited, a London-based publisher. Atlas had published a British edition of AnalogAnalog Science Fiction and Fact
Analog Science Fiction and Fact is an American science fiction magazine. As of 2011, it is the longest running continuously published magazine of that genre...
(formerly Astounding Science Fiction) since 1939. In 1963 the abolition of import restrictions meant that Analog could be directly imported, and since there was no longer a need for a British edition, Atlas decided to start a new sf magazine to replace it. The new Venture Science Fiction drew many of its stories from the US version, but it also reprinted from the late 1950s F&SF, since there had been no British edition of that magazine until the end of 1959. Within a year Atlas decided to abandon their edition of F&SF as well; the last issue appeared in June 1964.
The British version of Venture began in September 1963, and ran for 28 numbered issues, through December 1965; the editor was Ronald R. Wickers. The stories selected from F&SF for the UK edition of Venture did not overlap with material already reprinted in the UK edition of F&SF. The first five issues had pictorial covers, but thereafter the cover simply listed the names of the contributing authors. This unattractive presentation, and the lack of much in the way of interior artwork, probably hurt sales. Atlas's stated reason for ending the magazine was that it was "due to the expiration of available material", but there were in fact many stories available to reprint. It is more likely that the real reason was that the US edition of F&SF was by then easily available in the UK, and that circulation was falling.
Atlas also published an Australian edition, which was identical to the British edition except that it was dated two months later; the issues ran from November 1963 to February 1966.
Second US run
Edward L. Ferman
Edward Lewis Ferman was an American science fiction and fantasy fiction editor and magazine publisher.Ferman is the son of Joseph W...
—son of Joseph Ferman—who was also the editor of F&SF. There was no statement of editorial intent for this version, but the policy was straightforward: a novel was presented in each issue. Although these were substantially cut, they still took up most of the magazine, with the result that the other stories tended to be very short. As in the first incarnation, the contents were of fairly good quality, with contributions from well-known writers. However, the magazine was no more successful than before, and lasted for only six quarterly issues; the last issue was August 1970.
The condensed novels that appeared in this version of Venture included Hour of the Horde, by Gordon R. Dickson
Gordon R. Dickson
Gordon Rupert Dickson was an American science fiction author.- Biography :Dickson was born in Edmonton, Alberta, in 1923. After the death of his father, he moved with his mother to Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1937...
; Plague Ship, by Harry Harrison
Harry Harrison
Harry Harrison is an American science fiction author best known for his character the Stainless Steel Rat and the novel Make Room! Make Room! , the basis for the film Soylent Green...
; Star Treasure, by Keith Laumer
Keith Laumer
John Keith Laumer was an American science fiction author. Prior to becoming a full-time writer, he was an officer in the United States Air Force and a U.S. diplomat...
; and Beastchild, by Dean R. Koontz. The short fiction included little of note, though "The Snows Are Melted, the Snows Are Gone", an early story by James Tiptree, Jr., appeared in 1969, and "Breaking Point", by Vonda McIntyre
Vonda McIntyre
Vonda Neel McIntyre is an American science fiction author.-Biography:Vonda N. McIntyre, daughter of H. Neel and Vonda B. Keith McIntyre, earned a degree in biology from the University of Washington in 1970. That same year, she attended the Clarion Writers Workshop, founded at the Clarion...
, was published in February 1970. "Breaking Point" was McIntyre's first published fiction, but, perhaps because it was published as by "V. N. McIntyre", it has been missed by several bibliographers. There was also a Reginald Bretnor
Reginald Bretnor
Reginald Bretnor was a science fiction author who flourished between the 1950s and 1980s. Most of his fiction was in short story form, and usually featured a whimsical story line or ironic plot twist...
Feghoot
Feghoot
A story pun is a humorous short story or vignette ending in an atrocious pun where the story contains sufficient context to recognize the punning humor...
story in each issue: these were a series of very short stories, based on bad puns, that had begun in F&SF the previous year.
Ron Goulart
Ron Goulart
Ron Goulart is an American popular culture historian and mystery, fantasy and science fiction author.The prolific Goulart wrote many novelizations and other routine work under various pseudonyms: Kenneth Robeson , Con Steffanson , Chad Calhoun, R.T...
contributed a book review column to each issue of the second incarnation, and there was an occasional film review. This version of Venture did not credit the artists, but most of the covers were signed by Bert Tanner, who was listed on the masthead as the art director. Tanner's cover art was much less distinguished than Emshwiller's work for the first run of the magazine, and it is likely that this had a negative effect on sales: Tanner's work has been likened to "pencil sketches overlaid by a single color". Tanner also contributed much, but not all, of the interior art; other artists who can by identified by their signatures include Emshwiller, Derek Carter, and Bhob Stewart
Bhob Stewart
Bhob Stewart is an American writer, editor, artist and film maker who has written for a variety of publications over a span of five decades. His articles and reviews have appeared in TV Guide, Publishers Weekly and other publications, along with online contributions to Allmovie, the Collecting...
, who illustrated Tiptree's story in the November 1969 issue.
Bibliographic details
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 | 1/1 | 1/2 | 1/3 | 1/4 | 1/5 | 1/6 | ||||||
| 1958 | 2/1 | 2/2 | 2/3 | 2/4 | ||||||||
| 1963 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||||||||
| 1964 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
| 1965 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 1969 | 3/1 | 3/2 | 3/3 | |||||||||
| 1970 | 4/1 | 4/2 | 4/3 | |||||||||
| Issues of Venture, showing volume/issue number, and color-coded to show who was editor for each issue: Robert P. Mills for the first US version, Ronald R. Wickers for the UK edition, and Edward L. Ferman for the second US version. |
||||||||||||
After the first US edition ceased publication, F&SF added the line "including Venture Science Fiction" to the masthead, in order to ensure that the publisher retained the rights to the title. The line reappeared in February 1971, several months after the failure of the second US edition, and was finally dropped in February 1990.