Tag Archives: John Russell Fearn

(August 16, 1970) It All Comes Tumbling Down [Vision of Tomorrow #12]

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Black & White Photo of writer of piece Kris Vyas-Mall
By Mx Kris Vyas-Myall

Last month, I was so optimistic. Plans were afoot to expand the Graham Publishing SF magazines into three. First, as I touched on previously was to be Sword and Sorcery.

Cover for unpublished Sword & Sorcery #1 showing a Conan-esque barbarian leading a woman in a state of undress (ala Deja Thoris in Princess of Mars). Behind them is a dark gothic tower on a high mountain and skull like demon face watches over them from the sky.

This was to be a fantasy-oriented magazine edited by Ken Bulmer, which already had a bunch of great names attached to its first issue, including Michael Moorcock, John Brunner and Brian W. Aldiss. This project went as far as to have proofs printed, some of which have been making their way around fan circles (if someone has one, I would appreciate a copy).

The other was a Walter Gillings-edited venture called Vanguard. This would have been a reprint magazine akin to Famous Science Fiction but with more focus on British and Australian authors, John Russell Fearn in particular.

However, Graham has decided to instead cut his losses and has pulled the entire venture. Therefore, not only are the other two projects stillborn, this is going to be the final ever issue of Vision of Tomorrow.

Just as with the various New Worlds problems, this untimely demise seems to owe more to behind-the-scenes issues than to the actual quality of the magazine. Firstly, the distribution problem. I buy direct in order to avoid any such difficulties, but most people rely on shops stocking the magazine. New English Library are supposed to be the distributor but I know that even determined fans have struggled to see a copy out in the wild.

There has also been the global paper cost rise. As economies have expanded throughout the prior decade, paper demand has skyrocketed. Unfortunately, you cannot easily just harvest more trees into wood pulp and expand the number of saws in a mill. The whole cycle of expanding the forest areas to be harvested can take decades. There have been experiments with faster growing materials and moving to storing of more records on microfiche, but these are in the early stages and unlikely to be instituted in newly industrializing countries around the world. This all means that the average cost of printing a magazine has gone through the roof, which has made new ventures very difficult.

Finally, there seems to have been some commotions behind the scenes. The associate editor was removed from his post a few months back and there are reports of disagreements over content and format between Graham and Harbottle. How much this impacted the overall fortunes of the magazine I cannot confidently to say, but it is hard to imagine it has made anything easier.

So let us all raise our glasses and toast to the final issue of Vision of Tomorrow, an underappreciated venture, and mourn for what could have been:

Vision of Tomorrow #12

Vision of Tomorrow #12 Cover Illustrating Cassandra's Castle, showing Cassandra flying up into the sky on a jetpack as a large red hand extends from her abstract castle, an alien landscape in the background.
Cover by Stanley Pitt, and, to my eyes, the best they have done

Continue reading (August 16, 1970) It All Comes Tumbling Down [Vision of Tomorrow #12]

[July 14, 1970] Hit For Six (Vision of Tomorrow #11)

Black & White Photo of writer of piece Kris Vyas-Mall
By Mx Kris Vyas-Myall

So, Britain has a new Prime Minister. Edward “Ted” Heath (not the conductor). He couldn’t be more different from the last Conservative Prime Minister, Sir Alec Douglas-Hume. Heath is the son of a carpenter and a chambermaid. He worked in banking, is unmarried and has a passion for sailing yachts and playing the organ.

Black & White Photo of Prime Minister Edward Heath outside the door of 10 Downing Street, waving to the crowd Two microphones can be seen off the left hand side of the picture
Edward Heath moves into his new house

One of the first orders of business for him, as it would have been for Wilson, is a meeting with The Six, AKA the leaders of the six members of the European Economic Community, in order to discuss the possibility of Britain’s entry into the Common Market. This is a particular passion project for Heath, who is a known Francophile and whose previous negotiations in this era led to the press declaring him “Lord Heath of Brussels”.

In fact, Britain is not the only country trying to join. Ireland, Denmark and Sweden have all made applications to join and these have been going on for some time. There is however a reason this year will be different. That is the absence of Charles de Gaulle. Central to French politics over the last decade, he used his power to oppose any enlargement of the EEC.

Black and White Photo of the December Hague Summit 1969 showing people around a long table in The Hall of Knights in the Hague
The December Hague Summit

With his retirement and replacement by Pompidou, who has switched his approach to appeal to more liberal voters, the calculus has changed. Following the Hague Summit in December negotiations have officially begun again in Luxembourg. There are a number of points that are still subject to negotiation, but things appear to be moving forward.


In the pages of Vision of Tomorrow, Europhilia is on display and it is time for me to negotiate my way through six stories: some about major nations, some involving small grand duchies, but all will be covered with sufficient weight:

Vision of Tomorrow #11

Cover of Vision of Tomorrow #11 illustrating Last Vigil by Michael Moorcock with an advanced city with thin towering structures on a mountainous cliff edges above a stormy sea.
Cover by Eddie Jones

Continue reading [July 14, 1970] Hit For Six (Vision of Tomorrow #11)

[April 28, 1970] A Strange Case of Vulgarity & Violence (Vision of Tomorrow #8)

Black & White Photo of writer of piece Kris Vyas-Mall
By Mx Kris Vyas-Myall

There has been a steady rise in complaints about the state of current TV in the liberal society. It is commonly held up as the cause of declining moral standards and a crude form of entertainment. The Times decided to look into this and had a team watch through and analyse the 284 hours of television in the first week of April. Of these almost 60% of them contained no hint of violence, vulgarity or sexual content.

Looking at the violent content 19 of the hours are from the news, documentary or sport. And others include such broad definitions as children’s fairy tale containing a threat of “losing your head”. Among the remaining violent content, it is predominantly American films and television, in particular Westerns. If the Western was the cause of growing societal violence, it would be declining from its domination of large and small screens.

Jackanory Title Card
Jackanory, source of violence?

On the other-hand vulgarity tends to come from British comedies in later evening and these are on the milder side of expletives. It tries to make headlines out of 47 uses of the word “bloody” in one week, but this is skewed by the fact that Braden’s Week ran an episode discussing if the word was still offensive.

Braden's Week Title Card
Braden’s Week: Too vulgar for TV?

Finally, nudity and sexual content is barely present. There are a couple of bedroom scenes and double-entendres, but full nudity or sexual acts are absent. The closest is in a cigar commercial where a woman emerges from the sea in a wet t-shirt.

Mannkin Cigars TV ad still a woman in a wet top comes out of the ocean cupping her breasts
Are Manikin’s Cigars causing a breakdown of Britain’s morals?

If that is the case, then where should we look for the riding tide of sex and violence? One MP has a theory, witchcraft! Gwilym Roberts MP has been calling on the Home Secretary to introduce legislation against anyone who claims to practice witchcraft as it leads to drugs and blackmail. This will certainly be news to most of the witches I know.

Poster for Legend of the Witches documentary film with black and white images of women in shadow
Malcolm Leigh’s recent “documentary”

Whatever the cause, the panic over the current changes in society continues apace. It also seems highly present in the short SF of Britain, as its sole surviving magazine is certainly not limiting their bloodshed:

Vision of Tomorrow #8

Vision of Tomorrow May-70 illustrating the inside of a human spaceship where an astronaut has degraded to a skeleton in a suit whilst writing a note. Through the door behind the skeleton, 2 multi-armed aliens enter
Cover illustration by Kevin Cullen

Continue reading [April 28, 1970] A Strange Case of Vulgarity & Violence (Vision of Tomorrow #8)

[March 18, 1970] Future Cities and Past Visions (Vision of Tomorrow #7)

Black & White Photo of writer of piece Kris Vyas-Mall
By Mx Kris Vyas-Myall

My area of the UK (considered either the Northern Home Counties or Southern Midlands depending on who you speak to) is not a particularly densely populated region. Even with commuter growth since the War, there are only two towns within 50 miles that contain over 100,000 people. This is all set to change with a new government plan.

Milton Keynes Roadmap Plan with an indication of key travel routes and red dot in Bedford
Plan for new town (red dot is where I live)

The £700m plan for a new town has been approved. Called Milton Keynes (from a small village on part of the site) it is set to house 250,000 people before the end of the century and to be one of the biggest experiments in urban planning in British history.

Milton Keynes Housing Estate Plan showing square blocks on a grid system with large areas of green space
Example housing estate plan

First off, the city is designed to appeal to both ends of the social spectrum. For the upwardly mobile it is designed with the car-driving homeowner in mind. As many as half of properties are to be for sale rather than rented and with a density of 10 people per acre, to ensure that the managerial class don’t feel squeezed in. Also, the road system is designed on a grid to ease congestion with places of employment spread throughout the city, to stop rush hour traffic.

Colour coded plan of Milton Keynes
Zoning masterplan. Yellow is residential, purple employment, red commercial, blue education, green is for parks

For those less well off, there will be wide walkways for the handicapped to travel on easily and the development of a “dial-a-bus” service, ensuring that a bus will pick you up only a short walk from your house in a short period of time.

I could spend an entire article and not get close to all the experimentation to take place in Milton Keynes. The city of the future is coming soon!

Back in the magazines though, things seem to be heading in the opposite direction, as Vision of Tomorrow takes a turn towards the past:

Vision of Tomorrow #7

Vision of Tomorrow #7 Cover showing Jupiter as viewed from one of its moon's with two small astronuts in shaddow. In Bottom Left corner is listed Into The Unknown by John Russell Fearn
Cover Illustration: Jupiter as seen from Callisto by David A. Hardy

Continue reading [March 18, 1970] Future Cities and Past Visions (Vision of Tomorrow #7)