Every Week we’ll be Spotlighting one of Mr. Fox’s stories.
This week’s Spotlight is:
10 Planet stories collected & illustrated
An Illustrated Novel
This edition’s cover was recreated in colored pencils by the book illustrator Kurt Brugel.
Mr. Fox started writing professionally for National Comics (now known as DC Comics) in March 1937. The first character he wrote for was Speed Saunders. Mr. Fox wrote prolifically and soon found himself writing more lengthier stories that he could sell to the Pulp publishers. Since the Pulps and Comic Book Publishers were all in NYC, in the late 1930’s, it was pretty common to have Writers and Artists create for both outlets.
In September 1944, Mr. Fox sold Weirds of the Woodcarver to Weird Tales magazine. This got the ball rolling and he soon sold his next short story to Planet Stories: The Last Monster.
The Last Monster was only the first of ten short stories he would write for Planet Stories.
The Last Monster (1944) is about a crew of four searching for a rare mineral to save the last of the human race from extinction.
Man nth (1945) puts a modern scientist from Earth on the front-lines of battle with the threatening black flames of the universe.
Engines of the Gods (1946) The planet Mars lays on the brink of destruction, when two wizards battle over their control of the great machine called the engine.
The Man the Sun-Gods Made (1946) They called him a god and worshiped him. He neither ate nor drank, nor breathed the wild free air, yet he was mighty beyond belief. But grief bowed those superbly-muscled shoulders, for he knew he was human.
Sword of the Seven Suns (1947) Their world was dark. Their Machine-God was dead. Savage hordes threatened to overrun them, smash them. What, then, was Flane doing out in the desert, alone with the wreck of a space-ship—and a strangely-wrought sword?
Vassals of the Lode-Star (1947) Caught up in a mad space-time snarl, making their last grim stand against a surging android horde, the outlawed man-beasts of the Settlements could not see why mighty-thewed Thor Masterson of Terra chose instead to battle a strange green flame!
Werwile of the Crystal Crypt (1948) His black science threatened the whole cosmos. Against him frail Princess Nuala thrust her ancient knowledge—but he sneeringly smashed that. And space-toughened Clark Travis stood by helplessly. Of what use here was a pair of ready fists?
When Kohonnes Screamed (1948) A strange planet that is ruled by a god-like being who has the ability to change the surface of his world at will.
Tonight the Stars Revolt! (1952) A lone space-pirate wages a rebellion against the rulers of his world. With the aid of a beautiful priestess and strange arsenal of weapons, he and his men fight to the end.
The Warlock of Sharrador (1953) For unremembered eons the Thing had slept. For a million years it had quested through the star worlds of its dreams, until it lived only as a faint legend in the race memories of mankind. But now the time had come for man to recall its name, and to worship it once again. Noorlythin arose and went out into the world of men and robots.
Each of these short stories were accompanied with illustrations. Here’s a list of some of the pulp book Illustrators. Unfortunately, some of the illustrations were uncredited.
Graham Ingels
Joseph Doolin [as by Doolin]
Rube Moore
Vincent Napoli [as by Napoli]
Meilink
Herman Vestal [as by Vestal]
Here’s a sample of some of the illustrations in both the eBook and printed book.
If you are a fan of the old pulp fiction stories from the 1940’s and 1950’s this collection is perfect for you.
eBook and Printed copies are available for purchase.
