Recap / Analog 1939

Astounding Stories issues published in 1939.

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January issue

• "The Analytical Laboratory", by editor
• "In Times to Come", by editor
• "A Variety of Things", by editor
• "The Blue Men Of Yrano", by Warner Van Lorne
• "Saurian Valedictory", by Norman L Knight
• "Maiden Voyage", by Vic Phillips
• "The Incorrigible", by L. Sprague de Camp
• "Telescopes vs. Cameras", by HA Lower
• Nuisance Value, by Manly Wade Wellman
• "Mill Of The Gods", by Malcolm Jameson
• "The First Shall Be Last", by Arthur J Burks
• "Science Discussions and Brass Tacks", by editor

July issue

• "Addenda", by editor
• "Black Destroyer", by A.E. van Vogt
• "In Times to Come", by editor
• "The Analytical Laboratory", by editor
• "Trends", by Isaac Asimov
• "Numbers Without Meaning", by Arthur McCann
• "City Of The Cosmic Rays", by Nat Schachner
• "Lightship, Ho!", by Nelson S Bond
• "Tools For Brains", by Leo Vernon
• "The Moth", by Ross Rocklynne
• "Brass Tacks and Science Discussions", by editor
• "When the Half Gods Go—", by Amelia R Long
• "Geography For Time Travelers", by Willy Ley
• "Greater Than Gods", by C. L. Moore

August issue

• "Invention and Imagination", by editor
• "The Luck Of Ignatz", by Lester del Rey
• "The Analytical Laboratory", by editor
• "In Times to Come", by editor
• "Heavy Planet", by Lee Gregor
• General Swamp, C.I.C., by Frederick Engelhardt
• "Isotope 235", by Arthur McCann
• "Space War", by Willy Ley
• "Life Line", by Robert A. Heinlein
• "Brass Tacks and Science Discussions", by editor
• "Stowaway", by Nelson S Bond
• "There's Just as Good Fish—", by L. Sprague de Camp
• "The Blue Giraffe", by L. Sprague de Camp
• "An Ultimatum From Mars", by Ray Cummings
• "Pleasure Trove", by P Schuyler Miller

September issue

• "Ending Year Six", by editor
• "Forces Must Balance!", by Manly Wade Wellman
• "In Times to Come", by editor
• "The Analytical Laboratory", by editor
• "Atmospherics", by Victor Valding (Pen Name of Allan Ingvald Benson and John Victor Peterson)
• "The Last Hope", by Don Evans
• "The Other Side Of Astronomy", by RS Richardson
• "Brass Tacks and Science Discussions", by editor
• "Massons Secret", by Raymond Z. Gallun
• "Ether Breather", by Theodore Sturgeon
• General Swamp, C.I.C., by Frederick Engelhardt

October issue

• "Invitation", by editor
• Gray Lensman, by E. E. "Doc" Smith
• "Space Rating", by John Berryman
• "A Question Of Salvage", by Malcolm Jameson
• "Episode On Dhee Minor", by Harry Walton
• "Shawns Sword", by Lee Gregor
• "Hunting Big Game", by Harold A Lower
• "Rust", by Joseph E Kelleam
• "Earths Second Moon", by Willy Ley
• "Brass Tacks", by editor
• "In Times to Come", by editor
• "The Analytical Laboratory", by editor

November issue

• "Robots", by editor
• Gray Lensman, by E. E. "Doc" Smith
• "Rotten-Egg Gas", by editor
• "Misfit", by Robert A. Heinlein
• "Deadly Metal", by editor
• "Space War Tactics", by Malcolm Jameson
• "In Times to Come", by editor
• "The Analytical Laboratory", by editor
• "Spacewreck", by Oscar A Boch
• There Ain't No Such!, by L. Sprague de Camp
• "This Ship Kills!", by Frederick Engelhardt
• "Habit", by Lester del Rey
• "Power Plant", by Harl Vincent
• "Brass Tacks", by editor
• "Science Discussions", by editor

December issue

• "Ad Astra, Et Cetera—", by editor
• "Discord In Scarlet", by A.E. van Vogt
• "Thundering Peace", by Kent Casey
• "City Of The Corporate Mind", by Nat Schachner
• "Sculptors Of Life", by Wallace West
• "The Nova", by Edwin K Sloat
• "In Times to Come", by editor
• "The Analytical Laboratory", by editor
• There Ain't No Such!, by L. Sprague de Camp
• "Brass Tacks", by editor
• "Science Discussions", by editor
• Gray Lensman, by E. E. "Doc" Smith

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Examples from Astounding Stories issues published in the year 1939:

• Alien Sky: The April 1939 cover has a mountainous foreground with Saturn in the sky, suggesting a moon or asteroid.
• Fishbowl Helmet: On the December 1939 cover, there are four people in the foreground with bubble-shaped clear helmets with a tube in the back, like a deep-sea diving suit.
• Forced Perspective: The July 1939 cover (inspired by A.E. van Vogt's "Black Destroyer") has a black cat-like creature in the foreground on a rock with a rocketship and crew in the distant background. It initially looks like the cat-like creature is larger than the ship, but more careful examination of the rocks and people show it to be a forced perspective trick. In the story, "Pussy" is around the size of a human instead of bigger than the ship.
• Intro-Only Point of View: In the July 1931 issue, Willy Ley's "Geography For Time Travelers" begins with a fiction of space explorers whose "space-warp" sometimes has a "time-warp" effect. This is a premise to show how different Earth looks compared to three hundred fifty million years ago. The fiction stops and Ley begins explaining how the geography of the Earth has changed from the Devonian Period to the map of today.
• Latex Spacesuit: The October 1939 issue has a Lensman wearing a silver suit tight enough to show off their muscles, with knee-high boots. Despite being tight around most of the body, the thighs are loose like a pair of jockey pants.
• Multi-Armed and Dangerous: On the December 1939 cover, the central figure has four arms (each of which has eight fingers and no thumbs).
• The Namesake: In the October 1939 issue, Harold A Lower's nonfiction article, "Hunting Big Game", refers to the efforts taken to identify supernovae, the biggest explosions in the cosmos.
• Novelette:
  • L. Sprague de Camp's "The Blue Giraffe"
  • Lester del Rey's "The Luck Of Ignatz"
  • Robert A. Heinlein's "Misfit"
  • Malcolm Jameson's "A Question Of Salvage"
  • Norman L Knight's "Saurian Valedictory"
  • Warner Van Lorne's "The Blue Men Of Yrano"
  • P Schuyler Miller's "Pleasure Trove"
  • C. L. Moore's "Greater Than Gods"
  • Vic Phillips's "Maiden Voyage"
  • Nat Schachner's
    • "City Of The Corporate Mind"
    • "City Of The Cosmic Rays"
  • A.E. van Vogt's
    • "Black Destroyer"
    • "Discord In Scarlet"
  • Harl Vincent's "Power Plant"
  • Manly Wade Wellman's "Forces Must Balance!"
• Novella: Don Evans's "The Last Hope"
• One-Word Title:
  • Oscar A Boch's "Spacewreck"
  • Lester del Rey's "Habit"
  • Joseph E Kelleam's "Rust"
• On the Next: From "In Times to Come":
  • The July 1939 issue advertises the upcoming Lester del Rey's "Literature The Luck Of Ignatz", which will be represented on the magazine's cover with art by Virgil Finlay. Next issue will also contain EE Smith's "Gray Lensman", P Schuyler Miller's "Pleasure Trove", and new writers, Frederick Engelhardt and Lee Gregor.
  • The October 1939 issue advertises the continuation of E. E. "Doc" Smith's Gray Lensman, the appearance of Lester del Rey's story "Habit", Robert A. Heinlein's story "Misfit", and a Non-Fiction article by L. Sprague de Camp; There Ain't No Such!.
• Our Doors Are Different: The October 1939 issue has a door that is shaped like a movie set's bank vault door, with small levers set into the centre instead of a wheel.
• Pen Name:
  • John W. Campbell used the pseudonym Arthur McCann several times this year for short columns, such as "Isotope 235" and "Numbers Without Meaning".
  • L. Ron Hubbard used the pseudonym Frederick Engelhardt for several stories for Astounding Stories, such as when he published General Swamp, C.I.C. in the August and September 1939 issues, and "This Ship Kills!" in the November 1939 issue.
  • Milton A Rothman used the pseudonym Lee Gregor when publishing "Heavy Planet" in the August 1939 issue and when publishing "Shawns Sword" in the October 1939 issue.
• Raygun Gothic: The October 1939 issue has a Lensman standing outside of a big circular door. They're wearing a silver suit tight enough to show off their muscles, with knee-high boots, a helmet in their hand, and silver goggles with blue shades. The steps they're standing on have round holes in the sides.
• Serial Novel:
  • Frederick Engelhardt's General Swamp, C.I.C., was published in two parts, starting with the August 1939 issue.
  • E. E. "Doc" Smith's Gray Lensman was published in four parts, starting with the October 1939 issue.
  • Manly Wade Wellman's The Dark Destroyers (1959) was originally published in the December 1938 and January 1939 issues of Astounding Stories, under the name Nuisance Value.
• Shiny-Looking Spaceships:
  • The February 1939 cover has a sleek silvery spaceship that had crashed into a desert. You can tell it crashed based on the white smoke from holes, including one tear along the side and a slightly malformed front.
  • The September 1939 cover has a pair of shiny, smooth, cigar-shaped rockets (but without fins). The foreground is the inside of a similar-looking ship, with curved windows and glasses, rounded edges everywhere (including the lever handles).
• Short Story:
  • Isaac Asimov's "Trends"
  • John Berryman's "Space Rating"
  • Oscar A Boch's "Spacewreck"
  • Nelson S Bond's
    • "Stowaway"
    • "Lightship, Ho!"
  • Arthur J Burks's "The First Shall Be Last"
  • Kent Casey's "Thundering Peace"
  • Ray Cummings's "An Ultimatum From Mars"
  • L. Sprague de Camp's "The Incorrigible"
  • Lester del Rey's "Habit"
  • Frederick Engelhardt's "This Ship Kills!"
  • Raymond Z. Gallun's "Massons Secret"
  • Lee Gregor's
    • "Heavy Planet"
    • "Shawns Sword"
  • Robert A. Heinlein's "Life Line"
  • Malcolm Jameson's "Mill Of The Gods"
  • Joseph E Kelleam's "Rust"
  • Amelia R Long's "When the Half Gods Go—"
  • Ross Rocklynne's "The Moth"
  • Edwin K Sloat's "The Nova"
  • Theodore Sturgeon's "Ether Breather"
  • Victor Valding's "Atmospherics"
  • Harry Walton's "Episode On Dhee Minor"
  • Wallace West's "Sculptors Of Life"
• Shout-Out:
  • In Lee Gregor's "Shawns Sword", the titular sword is compared to Arthur's Excalibur and Siegfried's Nothung.
  • In the October 1939 issue, Harold A Lower begins his nonfiction article "Hunting Big Game" by thanking Dr Zwicky for allowing them to use information on supernovae data published in Astrophysical Journal
  • In the October 1939 issue, Willy Ley's nonfiction article "Earth's Second Moon" references Jules Verne's Round The Moon (and From the Earth to the Moon), even quoting part of it, because it Verne was inspired by Frederic Petit's calculations of a captured satellite around the Earth.
  • In the October 1939 issue, Willy Ley's nonfiction article "Earth's Second Moon" references Gulliver's Travels, which predicted that Mars would have two moons.
• Tagline:
  • "Maiden Voyage by Vic Phillips" — January 1939 cover
  • "Crucible Of Power by Jack Williamson" — February 1939 cover
  • "Cloak Of Aesir by Don A. Stuart" — March 1939 cover
  • "Worlds Dont Care by Nat Schachner" — April 1939 cover
  • "Coils Of Time by P Schuyler Miller" — May 1939 cover
  • "Hermit Of Mars by Clifford Simak" — June 1939 cover
  • "Black Destroyer by A.E. van Vogt" — July 1939 cover
  • "The Luck Of Ignatz by Lester del Rey" — August 1939 cover
  • "Forces Must Balance by Manly Wade Wellman" — September 1939 cover
  • ""Skylark" Smith" and "Gray Lensman" by E. E. Smith, Ph.D." — October 1939 cover
  • ""Skylark" Smith's greatest story Gray Lensman" — November 1939 cover
  • "Discord In Scarlet by A.E. van Vogt" — December 1939 cover
• To Be Continued: When E. E. "Doc" Smith's Gray Lensman was serialized in the October 1939 issue of Astounding Stories, Part One ends with Kinnison watching as Madam Desplaines dies, with "END PART ONE".

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