Month: November 2024

Fantastic Fiction: Pathfinders (1960-1961): The Path to Doctor Who

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The text Fantastic Fiction against a retrofuturistic design of a rounded triangle shape with a gold swirl pattern.

In 1960 we were still three years away from Doctor Who’s premiere—however, producer Sydney Newman was already hard at work creating family-oriented science fiction television at the independent network Associated British Corporation (ABC Television). Between 1960–1961, U.K.’s ABC ran four serials, Target Luna, Pathfinders in Space, Pathfinders to Mars, and Pathfinders to Venus, and the U.K. was enchanted with journeys to Earth’s nearest neighbors.

Local Flavor: Local Product Roundup

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The text Local Flavor against a retrofuturistic design of a rounded triangle shape with an orangey swirl pattern.

The Pacific Northwest is home to a lot of great food products, some of which you may have seen elsewhere. In addition to the vibrant wine, cider, beer, and spirit makers in the region, we’re home base for some fun foods—Jones Soda, Brown & Haley candy, Oh Boy! Oberto, Almond Roca, a bunch of chocolatiers, and Tim’s Cascade Chips, to name just a tiny fraction. Find many of these in local shops, including the Bartell Drugs store at 5th and Olive, while you’re at the convention.

Fantastic Fiction: SF in Central/Eastern Europe

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The text Fantastic Fiction against a retrofuturistic design of a rounded triangle shape with a gold swirl pattern.

The year 1961 brought Anglophonic readers three fascinating works of speculative fiction in translation, two of which were by Jewish authors. Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis and Other Stories, Isaac Bashevis Singer’s The Spinoza of Market Street, and Witold Gombrowicz’s Ferdydurke are concerned with the world lurking beneath what we see as reality. Dark fantasy, the occult, magic, and the grotesque come together to make these texts unsettling forays into an alternate way of seeing the world.

Newsletter November 2024: Gentlefolk, start your sewing machines!

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The text Dispatches From Yesterday's Tomorrow against a retrofuturistic design of a rounded triangle shape with a blue swirl pattern.

Announcing our custom fabric patterns; our hotel blocks are open and filling fast; we will not be awarding Retro Hugo Awards; fan table, dealers’ room, and art show applications will open soon; the academic track is soliciting proposals; find us at GeekGirlCon and GeekCraft Expo; and we’re looking for more volunteers!

Fantastic Fiction: Star Stellar Starlight

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The text Fantastic Fiction against a retrofuturistic design of a rounded triangle shape with a gold swirl pattern.

Frederik Pohl’s 1953 Star Science Fiction anthology was not just the first of a string of noteworthy anthologies. His series inspired other editors to assemble similar series. The latest such work was released close to half a century after Pohl’s first anthology was published.

Fantastic Fiction: Fantastic Four Premieres and the Marvel Age Kicks Off

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The text Fantastic Fiction against a retrofuturistic design of a rounded triangle shape with a gold swirl pattern.

With Seattle Worldcon 2025 coming up and Marvel films still in fashion, let’s look back on the premiere of one of the most important comics ever published. Fantastic Four #1 was released to newsstands just weeks before Seattle’s last Worldcon in 1961. This comic heralded Marvel’s emergence as the most popular line of comics in the world.