Weird Tales at Fifty

I don't know what changed between the early sixties and the early seventies, but in 1973, publisher Leo Margulies put out four pulp-sized issues of Weird Tales edited by Sam Moskowitz. The first of those issues, dated Summer 1973, has cover art by Virgil Finlay. Also on the cover is a blurb inside a purple circle that reads:

50th

Anniversary

Issue,

1923-1973

Among the contents of the fiftieth-anniversary issue is an essay called "Fifty Years Young," written by Moskowitz and printed inside the front cover. The next two issues, from Fall 1973 and Winter 1973, have cover blurbs reading: "Fiftieth Anniversary Year." One more issue came along in Summer 1974, and then the fiftieth-anniversary issues of Weird Tales came to an end. In the early 1960s, Moskowitz is supposed to have warned Margulies against restarting Weird Tales as a magazine for fear he would lose his shirt. Maybe he did anyway in the 1970s.

On August 14, 2013, I wrote about the four issues of Weird Tales published in 1973-1974. You can read what I wrote by clicking here.

Born in 1900 in Brooklyn, New York, Leo Margulies died on the opposite end of the country, on the day after Christmas 1975 in Los Angeles, California. Either before he died or with the disposition of his estate, the Weird Tales property was transferred to Robert E. Weinberg (1946-2016). The late Mr. Weinberg proceeded to issue his own publication on the fiftieth anniversary of Weird Tales. That one comes next in this series.

Weird Tales, Summer 1973, with never-before-published art by Virgil Finlay, at least in full-color form and in this composition. But Finlay's illustration was a swipe, or a swipe of a swipe, or maybe some other kind of thing. You can read more about it in my article from April 28, 2017, here. 

Text copyright 2024 Terence E. Hanley