Merry Christmas, downthetubers! Here’s the cover for Galaxy Magazine, cover dated January 1956, featuring a four-armed Santa Claus – the work of Ed Emshwiller, an American visual artist notable for his science fiction illustrations and his pioneering experimental films. He usually signed his illustrations as Emsh but sometimes used Ed Emsh, Ed Emsler, Willer and others.
There’s a biography here on the “Potrzebie” blog written in 2008 by Bhob Stewart, editor of Against the Grain: Mad Artist Wallace Wood (available here on AmazonUK).
Galaxy Science Fiction was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published between 1950 to 1980, founded by a French-Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break into the American market.
World Editions hired as editor H. L. Gold, who rapidly made Galaxy the leading science fiction magazine of its time, focusing on stories about social issues rather than technology.
By the late 1950s, SF author Frederik Pohl was helping Gold with most aspects of the magazine’s production. When Gold’s health worsened, Pohl took over as editor, starting officially at the end of 1961, though he had been doing the majority of the production work for some time.
Under Pohl, Galaxy had continued success, regularly publishing fiction by writers such as Cordwainer Smith, Jack Vance, Harlan Ellison, and Robert Silverberg.
• Archive.org is home to a collection of Galaxy Science Fiction, which published some of the genre’s best works, such as an early version of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and Alfred Bester’s The Demolished Man. The collection contains 355 separate issues, ranging from 1950 through 1976 – not quite the magazine’s entire run, but enough material to keep you occupied!
• Comics and Graphic Novels on AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
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