Also known as The Ol' World Wrecker, for the frequency in which planets bite the big one in his works. Edmond Moore Hamilton (October 21, 1904 – February 1, 1977) was the husband and sometime co-author of Leigh Brackett, and creator, with E. E. "Doc" Smith, of the Space Opera. Hamilton's works overflow with mighty Star Kings, fiery princesses, heroes who are in over their heads, assorted faithful sidekicks and galaxy-destroying super weapons.
From the mid 1940s to the mid 1960s, Hamilton was a regular writer for DC Comics, working on the Batman, Superman, and Legion of Super-Heroes stories. He is credited as co-creator of the Legion of Substitute Heroes, the original Kathy Kane Batwoman, and the Batmen of All Nations.
Works by this author with their own pages include:
- Captain Future series
- Legion of Super-Heroes
- "The Man Who Evolved", a 1931 short story.
- The Star Kings series
- Superman:
- Fugitive Alien is based on his Starwolf books
Other works by this author provides examples of:
- Bait-and-Switch: "The Man Who Returned" is the story of a guy who was Buried Alive and managed to get out of his sarcophagus. Logically, one would think the title refers to him returning from the dead. In reality, it means that once he learns what his family and so-called-friends really think of him, he returns back into the sarcophagus.
- Came from the Sky: "The Accursed Galaxy" (1935) has the force field prison of an immortal Energy Being land on Earth.
- Caused the Big Bang: The Ur-Example seems to be The Accursed Galaxy (1935), where it turns out the reason the universe expands is that a race of Energy Beings once faced the disease of life spreading among the planets of the original supergalaxy, and had no choice but to spin it apart. Not quite a bang, but then, the term wasn't coined until over a decade later.
- Congruent Memory: In the third Starwolf book, the heroes ask an alien about the city they are going to, and he claims he had always been there drunk, and might have trouble remembering details while sober. Dilullo knows this is nothing more than an attempt to get some free drinks out of him, but plays along.
- Death Notification: The 1952 What's It Like Out There was a deconstruction of the heroic Space Opera Hamilton helped create. The Sole Survivor of a Mars expedition goes around to the families of his crew but ends up whitewashing the truth about how they died.
- Giant Spiders: The Vulkars of Smashing Suns have intelligent, psychic Giant Spiders as their most loyal servants.
- Green-Skinned Space Babe: Starwolf features Vreya, a pale-gold skinned Amazonian Beauty.
- Hopeless Suitor: The Empress Tharanya's chief scientist is an unusually mature example of this trope. He's clearly accepted that Tharanya will never love him and decided that her friendship will be enough. He's prepared to work with the protagonist, her successful suitor, once he's convinced that he genuinely loves her.
- Human Aliens / Rubber-Forehead Aliens: Everywhere. In Hamilton's works the entire universe seems to be filled with humans or humanlike creatures, only differing from Earth's humans in skin tone, build, and sometimes other features.
- Humanity Came from Space: The Haunted Stars revolves around the discovery that humanity is descended from the vast interstellar empire. A true homeworld of humanity was Ryn, the third planet of Altair. That empire was destroyed by unknown powerful alien enemies.
- Inn Between the Worlds: "The Inn Outside The World": Events in this story takes place in an inn where famous historical figures regularly meet. Figures from different eras of history.
- Law of Alien Names: Hamilton kinda invented his own one - his aliens' names tend to consist of two monosyllabic parts.
- Mutants: "He That Hath Wings" features a mutant born after his mother was hit with electricity (there is a long explanation fitting firmly into the Science Marches On area). The child is born a Winged Humanoid.
- Planet Spaceship: In "Thundering Worlds", every planet in the solar system is outfitted with nuclear rockets and flown to another solar system to escape our dying sun. Along the way, they pass by some hostile aliens and give them the same idea...
- Pulp Magazine: Hamilton's first story appeared in a 1929 issue of Weird Tales, and he was regularly published in Amazing Stories, Astounding Stories, and other pulp magazines during the Golden Age of Science Fiction.
- Raised by Wolves: One story has a girl who was raised by sapient winds.
- Self-Deprecation: The short story "Wacky World" is essentially this - Hamilton mercilessly deconstructed and parodied many tropes he had used in his SF works.
- Shoe Phone: In the Starwolf books, all mercenaries have equipment that includes a radio disguised as a button, another button that can be used as a blowtorch (enough to cut a prison bar or two), and a detachable rope running along all the seams of a shirt.
- Space Sector: In his novella Battle for the Stars (written as Alexander Blade; later expanded to novel length) the five sectors of Earth's former interstellar empire—the Orion Sector, Cepheus Sector, Leo Sector, Perseus Sector, and Lyra Sector—are now interstellar empires in their own right, jockeying for power among themselves while barely paying lip-service allegiance to the central government on Earth, but still called "sectors" and still ruled by "Sector governors".
- Title: Requiem: A story called "Requiem" about Earth's death being made into a TV show.
- Tomato in the Mirror: In the short story "Smashing Suns", The Hero, a publishing house salesman, has trouble believing he's actually the long-lost heir of ancient Galactic Emperors.
- Ultraterrestrials: "The Abysmal Invaders" revolves around a race of Lizard Folk who live inside the Hollow World with their Domesticated Dinosaurs, and have been hiding out down there since the Cretaceous Period. Then one day they decide they want the surface world back.
- Unbuilt Trope: "He That Hath Wings" (1938) is one of the first stories to feature mutants. The protagonist is a Winged Humanoid. He never uses his power to help people or to hurt them, he has his wings amputated once his fiancee demands it, and once they grow back, he flies himself to death.
- Waking Up at the Morgue: A short story about a man who woke up in his family crypt, after being considered dead. He walked around the city, listened to what people really thought of him — and decided to go back into his coffin.
