Talk:Strange Tales (pulp magazine)/GA1

GA Review

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Reviewer: J Milburn (talk · contribs) 21:38, 24 November 2014 (UTC)

I enjoyed reviewing the last one, so I'm happy to take this on. (For what it's worth, I've never read much in this genre, but I've done some pulp-inspired roleplaying.) J Milburn (talk) 21:38, 24 November 2014 (UTC)

• It'd be good if you could specify the country in the lead. I'm assuming this was US-based?
• Perhaps the lead should say that it was first published from 1931 to 1933?
• "the "Conan the Barbarian" stories" If you're referring to a series, I think it should be italicised; if you're referring to the character, it probably shouldn't be; either way, I don't think the speech-marks are needed.
• "June 1932 issue'.[5] Howard" Rogue apostrophe? Or were you meaning to do something else with the sentence?
• Perhaps you could, in some way, provide an indication of what the payment/prices are in more recent money?
• Perhaps facsimile is worth linking? Possibly not a word familiar to some readers?
• Odyssey Press worth redlinking?
• Price worth redlinking?

  All the above points done; sharp eyes on that apostrophe! I was hesitating about redlinking Price so I googled him and discovered he already has a substantial WP article, so I linked him. That'll teach me to be sceptical. Odyssey Press is probably borderline but I would guess Locus has enough coverage to justify an article. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 01:49, 25 November 2014 (UTC)

• I feel a little more about the recent issues would be valuable. Any work by anyone of note, for instance?

  Not much. L. Sprague de Camp has a very short story in issue 9; it appears to have been his last published story but my only source for saying that is the ISFDB which is not an RS, unfortunately. It's a very minor story. The best-known other author with a new story in it is probably Richard Lupoff, who is not that well-known. I think the reason that the contents have not been remarked on much is probably just that they're unremarkable. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 01:49, 25 November 2014 (UTC)

• Category:Defunct American literary magazines?

  Does it qualify as literary? I think of that term as referring to the more high-brow magazines, targeted at people who are up on the most modern fiction. This was certainly a fiction magazine, but I don't think it really fits under "literary". Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 01:49, 25 November 2014 (UTC)

• A subcategory of Category:American magazines by state?

  Done; Wildside Press moved from Pennsylvania to Maryland between issues 9 and 10, so I added three separate categories for this. I didn't know about these categories and will use them in future. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 01:49, 25 November 2014 (UTC)

• Page 253 of this book picks out Ashton Smith's "The Nameless Offering" as worth mentioning.

  Unfortunately Google Books won't show me this -- can you clip an image for me if it seems worth it? Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 01:49, 25 November 2014 (UTC)

Sources look good. Happy to take your word on the cover image- the PD claim seems plausible. Generally very good. J Milburn (talk) 22:12, 24 November 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for the review! Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 01:49, 25 November 2014 (UTC)

Interesting new discovery: Page 17 of this book suggests that Lovecraft did submit to Strange Tales; see this pic. The Ashton Smith thing isn't really worth mentioning- there are actually loads of references to this one on Google Books (I was surprised!), but they're mostly just little anecdotes about well-loved authors. J Milburn (talk) 19:54, 25 November 2014 (UTC)

A good find! Price's comments are a direct quote from Lovecraft: "You may recall that I wouldn't contribute to Strange Tales because Bates couldn't guarantee me immunity from the copy-slasher's shears and blue pencil". I think the only sensible way to interpret this is that he submitted the stories, and Bates expressed interest, but Lovecraft turned down the sale because Bates couldn't promise the stories would be left untouched. I've edited that sentence to try to reflect this; see what you think. I've also just ordered the issue of Crypt of Chthulhu that Joshi and Schultz cite, in case it has more information. Thanks for finding this! Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 01:56, 26 November 2014 (UTC)

Ok, I am going to go ahead and promote, on the understanding that further improvements may be made in the future. I think there is potentially a little more material out there about this one which might give you enough material to push FAC-wards, and I do think a little more about the new issues (even if they're mostly unremarkable) would be a nice addition, but I am happy that this is worthy of the green plus. Great work, as ever. These kinds of articles are one of the best things about Wikipedia. J Milburn (talk) 20:22, 27 November 2014 (UTC)

I've plonked it in Wikipedia:Good articles/Social sciences and society#Magazines and journals- if you think it belongs somewhere else, I have no objection to you moving it. J Milburn (talk) 20:26, 27 November 2014 (UTC)

That seems the right place to me. After thinking about it I think you're right that some mention is appropriate; I also realized that I wasn't giving the Wildside Press issues proper coverage with regard to details like length and format. I've made the relevant changes, and when the source arrives I'll add what I can from that. Thanks! Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 20:50, 27 November 2014 (UTC)