Editing Captain Future (section)

==Stories and art==
The stories were published in American [[pulp magazines]] from 1940 to 1951, featuring bright-colored cover illustrations by [[Earle K. Bergey]] and two fellow pulp artists. Captain Future's originating adventures appeared in [[Captain Future (magazine)|his namesake magazine]], which ran from 1940 to 1944, coinciding with World War II. Bergey painted twelve of the seventeen ''Captain Future'' covers, and all ten subsequent ''Startling Stories'' covers under which additional Captain Future novels and novelettes were published. Of note, Bergey's art for ''Captain Future'', beginning with the third issue, marks the start of his groundbreaking work in the fields of science fiction and fantasy illustration.

While the first four issues of the ''Captain Future'' pulp are subtitled "Wizard of Science", the remaining thirteen issues bear the header, "Man of Tomorrow", shifting focus to the humanity of the titular hero, whose given name is '''Curtis Newton'''. A brilliant scientist and adventurer, Newton roams the solar system as Captain Future—solving problems, righting wrongs, and vanquishing futuristic [[supervillain]]s. Published by Better Publications, an imprint of the expansive Thrilling Group of pulps, ''Captain Future'' gave readers the only explicitly science fiction and fantasy pulp hero in the history of American pulps.

[[File:Aar, world of Deneb (Captain Future) (map).jpg|thumb|right|250px|Map of the Denebian Aar, from the 1943 ''Captain Future'' story "Star of Dread".]]
The series makes assumptions about the [[Solar System]] which are outlandish by modern standards but which still seemed plausible, at least to most readers, when the stories were written. Every one of the planets of the Solar System, and many of the moons and asteroids, are suitable for life; most are occupied by [[humanoid]] [[Extraterrestrial life in popular culture|extraterrestrial]]s. The initial adventures take place in the planets of the Solar System. Later installments (after Captain Future invents the "vibration drive") take the hero to other stars, other dimensions and even the distant past and almost to the end of the Universe. As an example, they visit the planet Aar in the Deneb system, which is the origin planet for Earth humans, as well as many other humanoids across the Solar System and beyond.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=[[The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction]] |last1=Clute |first1=John |authorlink1=John Clute |last2=Nicholls |first2=Peter |authorlink2=Peter Nicholls (writer) |year=1993 |publisher=[[St. Martin's Press|St Martin’s Griffin]] |location=New York |page=538 |isbn=0-312-13486-X |title=Hamilton, Edmond M }} Hamilton spent much of the early 1940s creating the juvenile ''Captain Future'' series complete with a future history of various human species originating in the Deneb system, a collection at the same time better written and less lively than his groundbreaking trademark space operas.</ref>

[[File:Startling Stories 1950 Jan cover.jpg|thumb|left|A Captain Future cover from ''Startling Stories'' January 1950, painted by [[Earle K. Bergey]].]]