Amazing Stories and Buck Rogers

August 1928

In case you don't know, that's Buck Rogers first appearance. I like to think he is a active 83 year old somewhere out there on Mars keeping evil in check in his opera style tights

And for you youngsters you probably don't remember him buzzing through space on a Saturday morning at your local theater while the threatened Earth called "Earth to Buck! Earth to Buck! Come in, Buck!"

The special effects were so bad that even we of the great unwashed in '46 were not impressed but we still hung on as he thwarted evil on a weekly basis and always escaped from the previous week's episode ending threat.

Buck represented all that was good and maybe growing up believing that we were on the side of truth and justice gave the country the moral fiber to ultimately win the Cold War.

This copy is not in great shape, but not bad for an 83 year old pulp magazine. One similar sold for around $700. so it may be it will be worth more than my old NTI shares.

Also in this issue was the first installment of "Skylark of Space," by E.E. Smith, PhD. This was probably the first "space opera" novel using dark villains, daring heroes set among the vast reaches of space and time. Smith would expand the theme in his later novels. I have always felt that Asimov's "Foundation" series was inspired by Smith.

BTW - Smith was paid $70. for his ground breaking novel. Old authors and old pro athletes must both silently groan over being too early.

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