Although science fiction ( sf ) had been published before the 1920s , it did not begin to coalesce into a separately marketed genre until the appearance in 1926 of Amazing Stories , a pulp magazine published by Hugo Gernsback . After 1931 , when Miracle Science and Fantasy Stories was launched , no new science fiction magazines appeared for several years . In 1934 a science fiction comic strip following the adventures of superhero Flash Gordon appeared in newspapers and quickly became popular . In 1936 the strip spawned a movie serial in thirteen parts , also titled Flash Gordon . Late that year Harold Hersey , an experienced pulp magazine editor and publisher , decided to launch three new magazines based on comics . The first two was titled Dan Dunn Detective Magazine and Tailspin Tommy Air Adventure Magazine ; these was launched in September and October 1936 respectively . The third was Flash Gordon Strange Adventures Magazine , which saw a single issue , dated December 1936 ; it was copyrighted by both Hersey and King Features , the syndicate that owned the copyright to Flash Gordon . Dan Dunn and Tailspin Tommy produced one more issue each before Hersey closed down the venture . It is not known why only one issue of Flash Gordon Strange Adventure Magazine appeared ; poor sales figures from the other magazines may have been responsible , or Hersey may simply have run out of money , or possibly King Features , the owner of the copyright to Flash Gordon , only granted rights to Hersey for one issue , and withdrew from the venture after the first issue appeared . Sf historian Everett Bleiler note that Hersey did not mention the venture in his autobiographical Pulpwood Editor , published a year later , and add that " given Hersey 's usual attempts to glorify himself and to gild his failures , this silence suggest a fiasco larger than usual " .