text: space science fiction magazine space science fiction magazine was a us science fiction magazine published by republic features syndicate , inc. as part of a package of radio shows and related genre magazines . two issues appeared , both in 1957 . it published short stories by well - known writers , including arthur c. clarke and jack vance , but it was not successful , and the magazine ceased publication late in 1957 . publication history and bibliographic data science fiction was one of the staple genres of american pulp magazine publishing , beginning in 1926 with amazing stories . a brief boom in the late 1930s was cut short by world war ii , but the field expanded again in the late 1940s . by 1957 the boom had reached its height ; 24 science fiction magazines published at least one issue that year . one of the most prominent of these magazines , galaxy science fiction , had a successful association with two radio shows , dimension x and x minus one . this sparked imitators , and during 1956 lyle kenyon engel of republic features syndicate put together a package of two radio shows and four magazines . the shows were american agent , a spy drama , and the frightened , to be narrated by boris karloff . the magazine package included a spy magazine and a horror magazine to tie in with the radio shows , and two additional titles : private investigator detective magazine and space science fiction magazine . private investigator 's first issue was published in 1956 , but problems with the radio schedules delayed the launch of the other magazines until 1957 . space sf 's first issue was dated spring 1957 , although its masthead indicated that it would be a bimonthly . it was published by republic features syndicate , inc . , of new york , and edited by michael avallone , who was not credited on the masthead . the second issue was dated august 1957 ; this proved to be the final issue , as shortly thereafter republic features syndicate went out of business . the liquidation of american news company earlier that year , a major distributor , had led to the extinction of many magazines , as they had to scramble to find new distributors , but it is not known if space sf was one of the victims . both issues were digest - sized , with 132 pages , and were priced at 35 cents . the issues were numbered as a single volume with two issues . contents engel obtained stories from moderately well - known science fiction names for both issues , including john jakes , mack reynolds , jack vance , and raymond f. jones , but many of the stories were " barrel - scrapings " from the scott meredith literary agency , in the words of one historian ; most had already been rejected at the other active science fiction markets . space sf also published arthur c. clarke 's " critical mass " , one of the popular " white hart " stories . it had already appeared in a 1949 edition of a british magazine , lilliput , but clarke revised it for this publication . overall , in the words of mike ashley , " ... [ it ] carried stories by noted sf writers , [ but ] they read like rejects from better magazines , and there was nothing of lasting value " . ashley comments that the best story was jakes 's " the devil spins a sun - dream " , which was atmospheric if poorly plotted ; the protagonist , a human prospector on mars , finds a fabulous city , but an ancient booby - trap destroys it before his eyes . almost every story was illustrated , with bruce as artist . both issues ' covers were by tom ryan . there were no editorials , review columns , or any other contents other than fiction , and advertisements , all of which were for radio shows , including american agent and the frightened .