Associated General Associated General i(A52164 works by) (Organisation) assertion (a.k.a. Associated General Publications; Associated General Publishers; APG)
Born: Established: Sydney, New South Wales, ;
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1 y separately published work icon Battle! 1950 Sydney : Associated General , Z1742511 1950 periodical (2 issues)
1 y separately published work icon Texas Kid Associated General (publisher), Sydney : Associated General , Z1680273 series - publisher novella western
1 y separately published work icon A Rhonda Gale Romance Associated General (publisher), Sydney : Associated General , Z1680255 series - publisher novel romance
1 y separately published work icon Bullseye Western Monthly Magazine Associated General (publisher), Sydney : Associated General , Z1680242 periodical novella short story western (21 issues)
Sporting Weekly Novel Associated General (publisher), series - publisher
2 y separately published work icon Murder is My Mistress Peter Carter-Brown , Sydney : Associated General , 1955 Z801520 1955 single work
2 1 y separately published work icon Long John Silver Kylie Tennant , Sydney : Associated General , 1954 Z1284918 1954 single work children's fiction children's adventure
1 y separately published work icon Born to Love G. C. Bleeck , Sydney : Associated General , 1952 Z1680258 1952 single work novella romance
1 5 form y separately published work icon Tether a Dragon Kylie Tennant , Sydney : Associated General , 1952 Z250620 1950 single work radio play
1 7 y separately published work icon Thrills Incorporated 1950 Sydney : Associated General , 1950-1951 Z979532 1950 periodical short story science fiction fantasy horror (23 issues)

Australia's first pulp science fiction magazine, Thrills Incorporated published stories of low literary quality. Many were written to order and the stories were accompanied by advertisements for sex-education books, suggesting a target audience of teenage boys. In his introduction to Australian Science Fiction Index 1925-1967, Graham Stone (q.v.) makes the following assessment of the collection of books and magazines of which Thrills Incorporated was a part: 'At their worst, publishers neither knew nor cared what Science Fiction was all about or what readers expected, and yet they somehow expected the suffering public to support their miserable apologies for magazines.'

Some overseas writers such as Clifford Simak and Ray Bradbury appeared; however, Thrills Incorporated was forced to apologise for pirated versions of overseas stories published under other names. Australian contributors included G. Clive Bleek, Alan Yates, Norma Hemming, D. K. Garton, and Russell Hausfeld (qq.v.).

Hemming, Australia's first serious female science-fiction writer, found Thrills a particularly fertile ground: barring a single short story in Vertical Horizons (April 1952) the magazine was almost the sole output for her fiction between October 1951 and its final issue in June, 1952, in what Sean McMullen calls 'a very strange and murky interlude' in her career.

In McMullen's analysis, Hemming was 'the only "serious" SF writer' to contribute to Thrills, which put her in an awkward position:

Their house writers--including Hemming after issue 16, October 1951--had to write to formula, but she must have done her work well as her stories appeared in every subsequent issue. Hemming trod a fine line between being too intellectual for the publishers and too facile for the reader.

Hemming's stories included three of the 'cover stories' that dominated the magazine after the change in publishers with issue 13: 'Amazons of the Asteroids' (issue 17, Nov. 1951), 'Peril of the Sea Planet' (issue 22, May 1952), and 'Rocketeers at Bay' (issue 23, June 1952).

The last issue of Thrills Incorporated appeared in June 1952.


Further Reference

McMullen, Sean. 'Sean McMullen's Australian Content: From Science Fantasy to Galileo'. Eidolon 10 (October 1992), pp.34-39.

http://www.eidolon.net/old_site/issue_10/10_sean.htm (Sighted: 22/7/2011)

1 y separately published work icon Gun Fury Garry Whalen , Sydney : Associated General , 1948 Z1685017 1948 single work novella western
1 y separately published work icon Puffing Billy : The Fifth Tale of Billy Bluegum and his Australian Forest Friends Alistair Doig Innes , Sydney : Associated General , 1948 Z1051598 1948 single work picture book children's
1 y separately published work icon The Jaws of Doom 'Boris Ludwig' , Sydney : Associated General , 1948 Z979800 1948 single work novella horror thriller science fiction
1 y separately published work icon Atomic Death 'Hans Karlson' , Sydney : Associated General , 1948 Z961493 1948 single work novella science fiction thriller crime

From the novel's introduction:

'The invention of the "Kay-ray" had opened up unlimited fields by which to benefit humanity; but this was not to be. The inventor's gruesome murder and the capture of the Kay-ray by a ruthless and diabolically clever gang gives rise to a reign of terror which catches millionaires, bankers and ordinary people in its grip. To combat these unprecedented crimes, private detective Clinton Forder and the young scientist Bayne Mandeville need cunning equal to that of their enemies and escape a horrible death by a hair's breadth.'

2 Scientific Thriller Transport Publishing (publisher), Associated General (publisher), 1948-1952 1948-1952 series - publisher novella science fiction horror fantasy
1 y separately published work icon Steamboat : The Fourth Tale of Billy Bluegum and his Australian Forest Friends Alistair Doig Innes , Sydney : Associated General , 1947 Z1051595 1947 single work picture book children's
1 y separately published work icon Billy Bluegum Series Tale of Billy Bluegum and his Australian Forest Friends Alistair Doig Innes , 1946 Sydney : Associated General , 1946-1948 Z1570958 1946 series - author picture book children's
1 y separately published work icon The Twins' Dream i "Mopsy and Topsy are sisters two", Sydney : Associated General , 1946 Z1569516 1946 single work poetry children's Long illustrated poem telling the story of twins, Topsy and Mopsy, and a shared dream brought to them by Wizard of Dreams, in which they learn to share and play with their toys who have all come to life, as well as help a sad little boy. Their goodness is rewarded when on waking they find the toys waiting for them under the Christmas tree.
1 y separately published work icon Flower of the Frozen North Ross Julien , Sydney : Associated General , 1946 Z1069618 1946 single work novella romance adventure
1 y separately published work icon Piggy the Road Hog : The Third Tale of Billy Bluegum and his Australian Forest Friends Alistair Doig Innes , Sydney : Associated General , 1946 Z1051592 1946 single work picture book children's
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