Venture Science Fiction
The publisher, Joseph Ferman (father of Edward Ferman), declared that he wanted well-told stories of action and adventure; the resulting fiction contained more sex and violence than was usual for the science fiction (SF) genre in the late 1950s, and SF historian Mike Ashley has suggested that the magazine was ahead of its time.
"[4] Ferman hoped to take advantage of a gap in the science fiction magazine market opened up by the demise of Planet Stories, one of the last sf pulps, which had ceased publication in late 1955.
[3] Venture's bias towards action-oriented adventure led to stories with relatively more sex and violence than those in competing magazines, and sf historian Mike Ashley has commented that it was perhaps five or ten years ahead of its time.
One story, "The Girl Had Guts", by Theodore Sturgeon, involved an alien virus that caused its victims to vomit up their intestines; Ashley records a reviewer saying that the story made him physically ill.[6][7] Ed Emshwiller supplied eight of the ten covers; he had sold several covers to F&SF by this time, so his work reinforced the sense of connection between the two magazines.
[3][8] Some well-known writers appeared during this incarnation of Venture, including Isaac Asimov, Clifford Simak, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Robert Silverberg, and Damon Knight.
For example, Sturgeon's story "The Comedian's Children" tells of a telethon host and his relationship with his sponsors, and Leigh Brackett's "All the Colors of the Rainbow" deals with racism after aliens have contacted humanity.
These and other examples can be regarded as stories of character with strong themes, in keeping with Ferman's stated goals in his inaugural editorial.
The large number of competing magazines probably hurt sales, though since many of the competitors lasted for only one or two issues, Venture can be thought of as at least a partial success.
[3] An anthology drawn from the magazine's fiction, No Limits, was published in 1964 by Ballantine Books, attributed to Joseph Ferman as editor.
The new Venture Science Fiction drew many of its stories from the US version, but it also reprinted from the late 1950s F&SF, since there had been no British edition of that magazine until the end of 1959.
[7] The condensed novels that appeared in this version of Venture included Hour of the Horde, by Gordon R. Dickson; Plague Ship, by Harry Harrison; Star Treasure, by Keith Laumer; and Beastchild, by Dean R.
[3] This version of Venture did not credit the artists, but most of the covers were signed by Bert Tanner, who was listed on the masthead as the art director.
According to Nicholas De Larber, a historian of science fiction, Tanner's cover art was much less distinguished than Emshwiller's work for the first run of the magazine, and it is likely that this had a negative effect on sales: De Larbert likened Tanner's work to "pencil sketches overlaid by a single color".
[3] Tanner also contributed much, but not all, of the interior art; other artists who can by identified by their signatures include Emshwiller, Derek Carter, and Bhob Stewart, who illustrated Tiptree's story in the November 1969 issue.
[8] For the first incarnation, Venture was priced at 35 cents throughout, and maintained a 128-page count along with a regular bimonthly schedule, starting with January 1957 and ending with the July 1958 issue.
[3][8][11] After the first US edition ceased publication, F&SF added the line "including Venture Science Fiction" to the masthead, in order to ensure that the publisher retained the rights to the title.
