1948 Fantasy Annual

A review by Donald B. Day:

Published by Forrest J Ackerman, Box 6151, Los Angeles 55, Calif. for the Fantasy Foundation. 1949. $1.00

This heir and successor to Joe Kennedy's Fantasy Reviews(1945 & 1946) fills a long-felt need for a complete summary of all the important events of the fantasy year. Within a lithoed cover of the quality we have come to expect from John Grossman, are 120 neatly mimeographed pages, to make a volume of exceptional attractiveness.

The volume leads off with a summary of the "Events of the Year" by Redd Boggs, covering virtually all happenings of fan interest.

Section II , "Fans and Fanzines" is based largely on the results of the 1948 Dreamland Opinionator poll. Leading off with a section on "Top Fan Journalists", it gives around 100 words each on the top 15 (1st - Redd Boggs, by a mile) and the voting in such categories as Fan Writers, Critics, Fictionists, Humorists, Editors, Publishers and Article Writers. The ten top "Fan Artists" are each covered by a brief sketch. (1st - John Grossman, well ahead of the field.) Redd Boggs was tops in Fan Popularity also.

The section on "Top Fanzines" describes and evaluates the top 25 zines. The Fanscient carried off top honors closely followed by Dream Quest, Fantasy Commentator and The Gorgon, with the rest of the field some distance behind. Also present is a section on "Fan Books". The "Fans and Fanzines" department is by Don Wilson and Redd Boggs.

Rick Sneary edits a section on the "Fan Organizations" with reports on most of the leading clubs.

"Fantasy Books" are covered next by Sam Moskowitz, John Newman and A. Langley Searles. The material is presented under the headings of "Commercial Publishers", "Limited Edition Presses" and "British Fantasy Books". Poll results give John W. Campbell's "Who Goes There?" top place, with "Sinister Barrier" and "World of Null-A" following closely.

The final section on "Fantasy Magazines" is ably handled by Rapp, Ackerman, Gray, Sneary and Pederson. In addition to summarizing, this section contains such excellent critical analysis that it is regrettable that the various reviews are not individually credited. In the poll, " .. and Searching Mind" and "The Players of Null-A" lead with half again the votes of their nearest contenders. Van Vogt leads the poll for top author. In the poll on "Pro Artists", Finlay is top with Ed Cartier close behind.

Any one of the several sections in this book should be well worth the modest price. This is a volume every fantasy fan will want to have and keep.

120 pages, mimeo.

The Annual was the subject of an Historical Vignette by Jon D. Swartz in the June 2009 issue (Vol. 9, Nos. 1-2) of The National Fantasy Fan.

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