Super Science Stories

Super Science Stories was an American pulp science fiction magazine published by Popular Publications from 1940 to 1943, and again from 1949 to 1951. Popular launched it under their Fictioneers imprint. Frederik Pohl was hired in late 1939 at 19 years old to edit the magazine, but left in mid-1941, then returned as an assistant a few months later. The magazine had a very low budget, so most manuscripts submitted to Super Science Stories had already been rejected by the higher-paying magazines. This made it difficult to acquire good fiction, but Pohl was able to acquire stories for the early issues from the Futurians, a group of young science fiction fans and aspiring writers.

Super Science Stories was an initial success, and within a year its budget increased, allowing them to pay a bonus rate on occasion. Pohl wrote many stories himself, to fill the magazine and to augment his salary. He managed to obtain stories by writers who subsequently became very well known, such as Isaac Asimov and Robert Heinlein. After Pohl entered the army in early 1943, wartime paper shortages led to the publication's cancellation. The final issue of the first run was dated May of 1943. In 1949 the title was revived with Ejler Jakobsson as editor. This version, which included many reprinted stories, lasted almost three years, with the last issue dated August 1951.

The magazine was never regarded as one of the leading titles of the genre, but has received qualified praise from science fiction critics and historians.