Early Fan Art

Here you’ll find our favorites from the rich and varied art that appeared in fanzines throughout the 1930s and 1940s. As with authors, editors and publishers, several noted professional science fiction illustrators began their careers as fans. Sadly, the vast majority of the original work has been lost, but we can still mine the ‘zines for the rich trove of sublime and/or ridiculous images that lie therein.

Stay tuned to this page as we hope to update it frequently.

To give a sense of the vast range of subject matter, quality and form that we’ve encountered in our research to date, we hope you enjoy this very brief sampling:

  • Joseph Shuster, Science Fiction, January 1933
  • Clay Ferguson, Jr., 1934, unpublished
  • John V. Baltadonis, 1937
  • John V. Baltadonis, Science Fiction Collector, August 1938
  • John V. Baltadonis, 1937
  • John V. Baltadonis, February 2 1938. From the collection of Steve Baltadonis
  • Morris Scott Dollens, 1937. From the collection of Steve Baltadonis
  • Morris Scott Dollens, c1937. From the collection of Steve Baltadonis
  • Milton A. Rothman, Science Adventure Stories, v1n1, July 1938
  • James M. Rogers, The Science Fiction Fan, v2n6, February 1938
  • The Comet, May 1930
  • Morris Scott Dollens, 1937
  • Francis J. Litz, 1939
  • John V. Baltadonis, Fantasy Fiction Telegram, January 1937
  • Hannes Bok, 1928, unpublished
  • Hannes Bok, Cover art for the serial novel Cosmos, Fantasy Magazine, January 1935
  • Hannes Bok, Futuria Fantasia, Summer 1939
  • Hannes Bok, postcard to Ackerman, March 25 1940
  • Clay Ferguson, Science Fiction Digest, October 1933
  • Morris Scott Dollens, Helios, July 1937
  • James M. Rogers, The Science Fiction Fan, December 1939
  • Joseph Jackson, New Tesseract, March 1938
  • Larry Farsaci, FAPA #7, March 1939
  • Lee Gregor, Fantasy Fiction Pictorial, Winter 1940
  • Nils Frome – October 1936
  • Nils Frome – June 1937
  • Nils Frome – c1937
  • Nils Frome, Scienci-Snaps, February 1939
  • Jack Cadrell, Van Houten Says, v2n1, January 25 1939
  • John Michel, Futurart, January 1939
  • John Michel, Futurart, January 1939
  • John Michel, Le Vombitaire Literaire, n2, March 1939
  • Walter E. Marconette – c1939
  • Walter Earl Marconette, Horizons, March 1942
  • Walter E. Marconette, illustrating “The Thing in the Moonlight” by H.P. Lovecraft, Bizarre, January 1941
  • Ronald Clyne, The Fantasite, v2n6, February 1944
  • Alva Rogers – Voice of the Imagination n36, October 1944
  • Roy Hunt, Starlight, Spring 1941
  • Roy Hunt, Pacificon Combozine, July 1946
    Roy Hunt, Pacificon Combozine, July 1946
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