Tops in Science Fiction

The fiction included "Black Friar of the Flame" by Isaac Asimov, and "The Million Year Picnic", by Ray Bradbury—the first of his "Martian Chronicles" stories.

[5] The issue was only modestly successful, and on the advice of his distributor, who told Reiss that they were having trouble getting the magazine distributed, Reiss decided to switch to the digest format for the second issue: digests were starting to become more popular than the pulps, which would be almost completely gone from the market within only a couple more years.

[3][2] The second issue was dated Fall 1953; the cover, by Freas, illustrated "Lorelei of the Red Mist", by Bradbury and Leigh Brackett.

Freas also did the interior illustrations for the story, and later commented that he was delighted by the results but felt he was "never quite able to repeat it.

[5] However, this issue received only limited distribution, and Reiss decided against continuing with the magazine.

[3] Tops in Science Fiction's two issues were dated Spring and Fall 1953; the first in pulp format, and the second a digest.