The following is an archived discussion of a featured article nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The article was promoted by FrB.TG via FACBot (talk) 9 February 2025 [1].

Nominator(s): Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 16:54, 12 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

This article is about an early pulp magazine. It was started as a companion to the more famous Weird Tales, but only managed 15 issues over four years. It included several stories by Robert E. Howard, including the first of his stories about Red Sonya, the inspiration for the comics character Red Sonja. The article is short but, I hope, comprehensive. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 16:54, 12 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/The All-Story Magazine/archive1 was promoted before I managed to get around to reviewing it. I'll try to do better this time. As an initial comment, the link for Edmond Hamilton in the body is—presumably unintentionally—piped to Edmund Sears (the link in the WP:LEAD is not). TompaDompa (talk) 22:05, 12 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Oops. Thanks for spotting that; fixed. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 22:58, 12 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• "any story set in an exotic location, including other planets" – is that other planets as in Mars, Venus, and so on, or ones outside the Solar System (or both)? If it's strictly outside of the Solar System, I would link extrasolar planets in fiction.

  Any planet, as far as I can tell without reading all the stories. For example, Ashley mentions that a late issue included one of Edmond Hamilton's "Kaldar" stories; these were set on Mar. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 23:46, 16 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

  I would have thought from the title "Kaldar, World of Antares" that they are set on a planet orbiting Antares? I interpreted "Edmond Hamilton's "Kaldar, World of Antares", the first in a series similar to Edgar Rice Burroughs's Barsoom stories, set on Mars." as saying that the Barsoom stories are set on Mars (which I know that they are). TompaDompa (talk) 14:15, 18 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

  You're right; I misinterpreted my own text there. Going back to the source, Ashley just says "other worlds". It would be very surprising if it were only extra-solar planets, though -- I can't think of any reason why Wright would want such a restriction, given the unrestrained fantasies already being set elsewhere in the solar system. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 22:00, 18 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

  That's fine, I just figured we should take the opportunity to WP:Build the web if and when it presents itself. TompaDompa (talk) 19:31, 21 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• "Henneberger incorporated Popular Fiction" – I would link Incorporation (business), as I think most people would read "incorporated" as "included".

  Good idea; done. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 23:46, 16 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• "Frank Owen followed his story in the first issue" – surely this should be "stories", plural, given the content earlier in the paragraph?

  Yes; fixed. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 23:46, 16 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• "Howard's "Red Sonja" story" – this should be "Red Sonya" with a Y, right?

  No -- the original character was spelled with a "y"; the comics character with a "j". I've added another link for the "Sonya" spelling; technically it's redundant because it's just a section in the story, linked earlier in the sentence, but it makes it easier for the reader to see that these are both valid spellings. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 23:46, 16 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

  Right. I think we're talking about different places in the article. I'm talking about the last paragraph of the "Publication history and contents" section. TompaDompa (talk) 06:50, 17 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

  I missed that; you're right, of course. Fixed. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 11:05, 17 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• The magazine prices should be adjusted for inflation.

  Done. I also added an inflation figure for the value of the Tarzan issue. In both cases I didn't give a second parenthesis for the later numbers because they're pretty obvious from the ones I do give. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 23:46, 16 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• New comment: "Wright would have been delighted to secure a story from him" – am I reading this correctly as "Wright was presumably delighted [...]"? TompaDompa (talk) 19:31, 21 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

  Yes -- I don't think this is ambiguous is it? Since the same sentence makes it clear Jones did sell to the magazine? Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 12:20, 26 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

  Not ambiguous, no, just something of a stumbling block for me when I read it as I tend to interpret "would have been" as referring to a counterfactual. TompaDompa (talk) 13:26, 26 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

  I could make it "was sure to have been delighted"? I think that reads a little more clumsily but if it eliminates a misparsing for a reader perhaps it's better. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 14:54, 26 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

  I'm unsure what the best course of action is here. I agree that "was sure to have been delighted" seems a bit more clumsy (and less formal, for that matter). There might be some kind of a better way to phrase this that eludes me at the moment. This is at any rate not, in my opinion, something that is necessary to resolve in order to meet the WP:Featured article criteria—just a place where there might be room for further improvement. TompaDompa (talk) 20:04, 26 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• New comment: In the table the fourth issue (1/4) should be underlined, right? The text says "the fourth issue dated Spring 1931". TompaDompa (talk) 19:31, 21 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

  This is debatable. The contents page has "April–May–June 1931" as the date; the cover doesn't give a date, but just says "Spring issue". I'm following philsp.com here, which calls it April–May–June 1931. I agree the way I have it doesn't make this clear; I was going to clarify this at the point you mention, but it's a bibliographic digression so I've just cut that clause and put the explanation in the bibliographic details section instead. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 12:20, 26 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

  That works for me. TompaDompa (talk) 13:26, 26 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the review. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 23:46, 16 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Cautious support Looks good to me, though as usual I'm not confident that I would be able to pick up on serious issues with an article on this topic. I will note for the record that I checked some of my go-to sources for science fiction articles without finding any additional material to expand the article with. TompaDompa (talk) 20:04, 26 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Images are appropriately licensed. Nikkimaria (talk) 04:29, 13 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• "It was in small pulp format" - this doesn't mean anything to me as a description, is it possible to elaborate as to what this format actually is/was?

  Added the size dimensions, and a cite for that. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 23:46, 16 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• Think that's all I got! -- ChrisTheDude (talk) 15:52, 15 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the review. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 23:46, 16 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• Support -- ChrisTheDude (talk) 08:44, 17 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Just a couple of minor drafting points for clarity:

• "Wright obtained stories from H. Bedford Jones, a popular pulp writer, and Seabury Quinn" – I'd replace the commas with parenthetic dashes to make it clear beyond doubt that we're talking about two, not three, people
• "The schedule was initially bimonthly" – both the dictionaries I generally use say that "bimonthly" can mean "every other month" or "twice a month". (Thank you, OED and Chambers!) It might be as well to say that initially the magazine was published every other month.

That's my lot. Happy to support: the article seems to me as complete as it can be, is in good readable prose, seems balanced, is well and widely sourced and strikingly illustrated. Meets all the FA criteria in my view. – Tim riley talk 13:44, 18 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! I made it "from H. Bedford Jones, who was a popular pulp writer, and Seabury Quinn" which I hope does it smoothly. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 22:00, 18 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

And I just realized I forgot to address your other comment; now clarified. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 20:42, 19 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Recusing to review.

• "Henneberger incorporated Popular Fiction". Assuming "Popular Fiction" is another magazine, it has not been introduced.

  It was the name of the company he formed -- reworded to try to make this clearer. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 20:43, 19 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• "and gave up the other titles". Gave them up to Lansinger?

  Yes; rephrased. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 20:43, 19 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• Lead: "The magazine was not successful, and in 1932 publication was paused after the Summer issue." Article, just "After the Summer 1932 issue there was a break in publication, while Wright planned to relaunch it." with no mention of any lack of success.

  Hmm. I'm quite sure it was unsuccessful, because nobody in the history of magazine publishing has ever stopped publication of a magazine that's turning a profit, but I can't cite that. I thought this would be easy to find a citation for, but the best I can find is a reference in Locke that says the magazine was "a failed experiment ultimately", referring to the entire run. I think Locke probably does mean that it was unsuccessful throughout its run, but rather than try to interpret that I've cut the phrase from the lead. As a side benefit I found a sentence in Locke I hadn't noticed before which enabled me to add a line about the origin of the magazine.

• "The second issue under the new title included Edmond Hamilton's "Kaldar, World of Antares", the first in a series similar to Edgar Rice Burroughs's Barsoom stories, set on Mars." There is room for confusion as to which series is set on Mars.

  Yes, I misinterpreted it myself in responding to Tompa Dompa's review. Now clarified, I hope. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library)

• "The next issue was dated January 1933, and the title was now The Magic Carpet Magazine." Was it still quarterly?

  Yes, clarified. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 20:43, 19 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• In the publication table the last four dates are not underlined. According to the caption this means that they were each titled as a monthly: is that correct?

  It is. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 20:43, 19 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• "there was a hiatus when the title changed". Maybe 'there was a three-month hiatus when the title changed'?

  Done. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 20:43, 19 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Gog the Mild (talk) 18:35, 19 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the review. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 20:43, 19 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

All the sources look appropriate and reliable to me (following precedent here that Phil Stephensen-Payne's bibliography site is OK). I checked sources 2, 4, 6, 9, and 14 as numbered in this diff. My only concerns are noted below.

• You could add a link to the IA copy of Ashley 1976: [2]

  Done. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 12:23, 21 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• Is there a reason for the "A" in Weinberg 1999a?

  No -- I think I copied that ref from another article where it was needed to disambiguate refs, and never noticed I could cut it. Now gone. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 12:23, 21 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• The whole sentence beginning Weird Tales soon ran into financial trouble... ought to be cited to p. 42 of Ashley 2000, not p. 41.

  I made it 41-42 since that covers all Ashley's discussion of the magazine. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 12:23, 21 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• Ditto Henneberger hired Farnsworth Wright as editor

  Same here. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 12:23, 21 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• In 1930 Henneberger and Wright decided to launch a companion magazine that specialized in oriental fiction -- this I can't find in Ashley 2000 at all. I checked chapters 1, 2, and 3. I'm sure it's true, but perhaps it came from a different Ashley source.

  Not sure what happened there, but you're quite right. Now cited to Ashley (1976), though I can't be sure that's where I originally sourced this from as it doesn't mention "Henneberger and Wright decided"; it just says the magazine came out. I think that's OK though since Henneberger and Wright were the two people who would have had to decide to start the magazine. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 12:23, 21 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• Quite a lot of this article is supported by Ashley 1985, which I cannot access. Since it looks brief, could you email me a scan or transcript so I can verify those citations?

  Sure -- send me an email and I'll reply with the pages attached. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 12:23, 21 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• Formatting-wise, I am not an expert in all the expectations at FAC, but I notice that the various citations to Stephensen-Payne do not follow the SFN format of the other cites. Should these all be made consistent?

  The style I use is to leave web citations in the footnotes and put books and journal articles into the references with a short citation to them. FAC requires internal consistency but leaves it to the article to define what the style is, so I think this is OK.

Thanks for a thorough and interesting article. Let me know about Ashley 1985. ~ L 🌸 (talk) 02:50, 21 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the review! Answers above. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 12:23, 21 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for sending Ashley 1985! Checking all the citations to that source, I just have one comment:

• The cover of the Spring 1932 issue was Margaret Brundage's first sale goes a bit beyond the source's statement that the Spring 1932 illustration was by a new artist who would soon establish herself as synonymous with Weird Tales of the 1930s -- Margaret Brundage. Brundage appears to have had a freelance career as early as 1919, so this can't have been her first overall sale.

  Interesting; I have several sources which all say this was her first sale, but I think they must all mean "within the pulp industry". I've added "to a pulp" to that sentence. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 12:33, 26 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

  That makes sense to me, thanks for looking into it.

Everything else verifies wonderfully. The article was a pleasure to read, excellent work! ~ L 🌸 (talk) 05:16, 23 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• With all my comments addressed, I am happy to support on the sources! ~ L 🌸 (talk) 16:44, 26 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Lead

• and carried stories with far eastern settings, including some fantasy. Can the "some" before "fantasy" be omitted?

  I think this is OK as it stands -- I can see it could be considered redundant, but leaving it in makes it clear that not all these stories were fantasies, which is important to convey. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 12:42, 26 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• Can Edmond Hamilton and Seabury Quinn be introduced in short (the American writer, the writer,etc.) ?

  I use introductory comments when there are other things to say about a writer, but I don't think it's worth it when "writer" is all I can say. For consistency I would have to add "writer" to every name, which would be tedious, and the reader knows they're writers anyway. "American" is more useful but in this case I don't know of any who are not American and I don't think the sources don't mention any non-American writers. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 12:42, 26 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

MSincccc (talk) 19:04, 24 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Publication history and contents

• In 1923, J. C Henneberger and J. M. Lansinger's... Can the comma after "1923" be dropped for consistency given it has been done so after "In 1930" later in the same section?

  Done. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 12:42, 26 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• Henneberger formed a new company, Popular Fiction, took Weird Tales Could a "which" be introduced before "took"? It will be finer.

  I don't think so -- that would make "Popular Fiction" the subject of the verb "gave" in the final clause. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 12:42, 26 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• described by magazine historian Mike Ashley "the" before "magazine editor" to avoid a false title. In the end it's upto you, but false titles can be avoided.

  False titles aren't a problem in American English, so I usually don't bother to avoid them when writing on American topics, but as you say they're easy to avoid, so done. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 12:42, 26 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

A fine article overall. Mike Christie Looking forward to your response to my suggestions. Regards. MSincccc (talk) 10:25, 26 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the review! Replies above. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 12:43, 26 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Mike Christie I am happy to extend my support to the article's FAC nomination. Looking forward to any future collaborations. Regards. MSincccc (talk) 14:29, 26 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• Support. Nice work, Mike. Nothing to pick at here, so happy to go straight to support. Cheers - SchroCat (talk) 20:02, 28 January 2025 (UTC) (ps. one tiny edit made - should be okay though. Cheers - SchroCat (talk) 20:05, 28 January 2025 (UTC))[reply]
• Closing note: This candidate has been promoted, but there may be a delay in bot processing of the close. Please see WP:FAC/ar, and leave the {{featured article candidates}} template in place on the talk page until the bot goes through. FrB.TG (talk) 20:51, 9 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.