i have this thing for science fiction.....

Well, i'm still slaving over a hot scanner glass with the old Skywald books - and it's takin' a wee bit longer than i thought, so... here's some stuff ya might have missed (or not) on the SF tip while you're waiting for the horror to come down the pipe. It is what it is, OK? A couple a one's that ain't been up before and a truckload of reposts - hey.... you can't read horrror comics ALL THE TIME... (or can you???).
Therefore - CQ.... CQ.... Klystron modulator vectoring on the epsilon theta band... tracking trajectory.... interocitor to maximum../..

Before the Twilight Zone or the Outer Limits there were 2 seminal radio shows that ran for quite a while doing straight adaptions of recent (now to us "classic") SF tales. You might know this already, or not - if so, just skip ahead.

They were called Dimension X and X Minus 1. They were also as good as the previously mentioned TV shows in their better moments. But hey, both TZ & OL had stinkers too!

This one, however, is a classic to be sure, a gripping, believable and totally logical account of two spaceships from different races meeting in the void between galaxies. If one turns to go, the other can follow and find its destination. If they both stay, the crews will die of starvation. Can we trust them? Can they trust us? Maybe a bit dated, but still quite good. Woulda made a good Star Trek episode.
"First Contact" by Murray Leinster - Dimension X version.
"First Contact" by Murray Leinster - X Minus 1 version.... howzat fer you completists!

Here then, from X Minus 1 is an adaption of the cover story from Galaxy magazines March 1953 edition -

- don'cha just love that photographic cover? -
"X Minus 1 - July 17th 1956 - The Old Die Rich" by H. L. Gold.


... and what about Don Martin - Science Fiction Artist!?!









Amazing but true, so here's a treat for Melvins & Madmen alike! Prior to his long stint at Mad magazine, one of my favorite humor artists tried his hand at SF illustration! During the late 50's, you could find his stuff in the pages of Galaxy magazine alongside Ed Emsh, Virgil Finlay & Wally Wood. Yow, that's pretty fast company!
First up by Don are a trio of fine illustrations from a light-hearted tale by Avram Davidson, which involves alien invaders' need for false teeth (i'm not kidding, and there's even a sequel too!). Galaxy seemed to excell in these frothy and urbane pre-Twilight Zone SF stories, and having these types of stories assigned to Martin shows the editorial care that went into the magazine at this time. The other illustrations are more of the same, including "Lulu" by Clifford D. Simak.

X Minus 1 did a very loose adaption of that story and the storyline gets kind-of compressed in the process. Here's the X Minus 1 episode of that story by Clifford D. Simak -
"X Minus 1 - Oct. 31st 1957 - "Lulu"













Hooray for Wally Wood! He'll soon be (dr)inking in your neighborhood! But seriously folks....i think Wally Wood gave more than he got back, died tragically soon and TOTALLY redefined the look of Science Fiction forever. At his peak, Wally and his apprentices in the studio (guys like Ralph Reese, Wayne Howard, Nicola Cuti...the list goes on & on of the talented folk Woody gave their initial work in the industry) ...those guys pretty much outdrew anyone at the time when it came to SF. His stuff had a hyper-realistic solidity to it that seemed almost photographic. His interior work at Galaxy in the 50's was in wash, while other publishers got mostly line art...allthough by the 60's, the Galaxy work wasn't quite up to the earlier stuff.
After the demise of EC, Wally had to look for other markets, and SF illustration for the digests was easy work for Wood. As the comics industry bounced back in the 60's Woody naturally gravitated there.
But hey, these illustrations ROCK, i love that aero-car in the "Spare the Rod" illustration....and when Woody's drawin' robots, wel... we all love that! Check out these choice items from "The Iron Chancellor" by Robert Silverberg. And we have sound for that one! Excellent!
i guess someone tried an X Minus 1 revival in the 70's. but all that remains is this pilot episode. Here 'tis then, the X Minus 1 episode "The Iron Chancellor" by Robert Silverberg -
Click here to download the "X Minus 1 - Jan. 27th 1973 - "The Iron Chancellor" as an mp3!

But WAIT - you also get.... even more episodes from X minus 1 and Dimension X with their illustrations from the original magazine publications. Too legit ta quit - dat's me......

Click here to download "Jaywalker".


Click here to download "The Haunted Corpse".


Click here to download "Double Dare".



Click here to download "Venus Is A Man's World".


Click here to download "Morniel Mathaway".


Click here to download "The Lights on Precipice Peak".

.... call me sadistic, but i put the new adds on the bottom... just to see who's all payin' attention.....


Click here to download "The Green Hills of Earth". Dimension X version.
Click here to download "The Green Hills of Earth". X minus 1 version.


Click here to download "Dr. Grimshaw's Sanitorium". Dimension X version.
Click here to download "Dr. Grimshaw's Sanitorium". X minus 1 version.



Click here to download "Lifeboat Mutiny".

and this post is still up too!

OK.... we're done....