Updates
December 8, 2007: Stephen Lucchetti dropped me a line the other day with some potentially exciting news. He's been in touch with the folks at the Smith Estate, and has passed along the following press release:
"E. E. 'Doc' Smith's estate is over-joyed to let the public know that substantive talks about having a movie based on Doc Smith's Lensman series become a reality. Negotiations with Imagine Entertainment (Ron Howard and Brian Grazer) have moved from mere interest and on to more meaty discussions of terms and conditions.
November 23, 2007: A rather big update today. I added new pictures and information to the Wargame page. I added a Fan Art and Animation page, including three of my Lensman-related Flash movies. I found a beautiful new scan of the October 1939 Astounding cover, which I added to the Gray Lensman page. I got rid of the Technical Manual page, as that project seems to be going nowhere for the time being. I also movied the link to Gharlane's FAQ lower down the page, so people aren't as likely to click to a completely different site as soon as they get here. I had a few more updates planned, but I just plain ran out of steam!
April 20, 2007: I designed some Lensman-specific avatars for the new forum. Drop by the forum and check 'em out!
April 6, 2007: I've moved the site to this, the new server. I've also set up a new forum, which is far superior to the old one. Enjoy!
February 10, 2005: The newest edition of the Lensman series was inaugerated a f ew days ago with iBooks' release of Triplanetary. This is the first of a series of mass-market paperbacks which should be considerably cheaper than the previous, Old Earth Books editions. If you want new copies of OEB's lovely facsimiles, I suggest you buy them soon, as they won't be making any more. If you want a new copy at a more affordable price, buying the iBooks edition is the way to go. I've heard a rumor that iBooks may be contracting people to write additional Lensman stories, a la Ellern and Kyle.As far as the Z9M9Z site goes, I've added a cover scan for the December 1939 issue of Astounding to the Gray Lensman gallery (I don't know how I missed that one!) put a cover picture from the new Triplanetary in the appropriate gallery, and added a bunch of new pictures to the Smith Exhibit page, courtesy of Peter A. Young. Thank you, Pete!
October 10, 2004: There have been rumblings about new Lensman movies right around the threshold of perception for months now. According to Cathy Dunkley at Variety.com, "Producer Sam Okun has signed a first-look deal with Peter Sahagen's newly launched Beverly Hills-based indie production, financing and distribution shingle Ardustry Entertainment. First under the deal will be a series of pics based on "The Lensman Series," a book collection penned by the late sci-fi author E.E. Doc Smith. " Thanks to Stephen Lucchetti for bringing this to my attention.
I snagged a scan from Collectors Press's Art of the Imagination, replacing my old, crappy picture of Amazing January 1934 with a nice crisp new one! See it in the Triplanetary gallery.
Also, I've added an email link to the Smith Exhibit page for people interested in conacting Stephen Lucchetti with information about Doc Smith for his upcoming book.
I was getting a bit tired of the look of the front page, so I made all of the dates on the updates section red, and cropped a bit from the front page image to make it look less like a magazine cover and integrate it with the site a bit more. Thanks to my lovely wife, Rachel, for her assistance.
October 6, 2004: Stephen Lucchetti was kind enough to donate some pictures of the Smith exhibit at Noreascon 4. I've set up a gallery for them, in the Edward E. Smith, Ph.D section. Thank you, Stephen. If anyone else has more pictures, there's plenty of room left. Drop me an email.
Stephen's new book, Doc - First Galactic Roamer , is now available from NESFA Press. Actually, it's been available for a month now. I haven't seen it yet, but it sounds terrific, surely the most comprehensive bibliography yet (including, I venture to guess, my own humble effort) along with biographical information and other goodies.
What I have seen are Red Jacket Press's new editions of David A. Kyle's Lensmen series (see below). They're very nicely put together, with quality paper and striking cover art. While the covers include some modern computer generated techniques, the designs are pure 1930's. Z-Lensman in particular features the best depiction yet of Nadreck of Palain VII. Currently the books are only available direct from the publisher, but look for them in your favorite bookseller (and Powell's, if I have anything to say about it!) soon. Thanks to Brian Pearce of Red Jacket Press for sending me the books and to David A. Kyle for signing them for me:"To Ethan Fleischer - a true Galactic Roamer." That's just about the highest compliment a Lensman author could have paid to me!
And, I'm still thinking about how best to implement a guestbook on the site. It would be tempting to take the easy way out and just use a hosting service run by someone else, but the greater challenge would be to integrate the guestbook into the site on the same server. Stay tuned to find out if laziness or industry will win out.
September 8, 2004: David A. Kyle's Lensmen trilogy is back in print and available for order from Red Jacket Press! This series details the period after Second Stage Lensmen, and each book features one of the L2s as they uncover a conspiracy that is not only intergalactic in scope, but defies the very natures of cosmology and sentience as the denizines of the Lensman universe know them! These trade paperbacks should look good next you your Old Earth Books editions of the original series, and the new cover art is great.
In other news, NESFA Press has put up a new page about Stephen Lucchetti's upcoming book, "Doc" - First Galactic Roamer.
July 18, 2004: A new edition of Philip Pritchard's Lensman wargame is scheduled for release in November, 2004! Also, I've added a new fanfic / filk to the links page.
July 3, 2004: Red Jacket Press is planning to reprint David A. Kyle's trilogy about the non-human Second Stage Lensmen, with all new illustrations! I've updated the Kyle gallery with the new covers, and I've also added some new links under the headings of "websites" and "publishers."
May 20, 2004: BIG UPDATE! I have added a message forum called "Wide-Open N-Way" to the site. Drop by and get involved in a conversation. Form a community of Lensmen! Also, Stephen Lucchetti has an upcoming book called "Doc"—First Galactic Roamer, which will be released soon from NESFA Press. Information has been added to the links page.
April 29, 2004: I added an entry to the Smith bibliography under the 1948 entry for a two-page autobiography and a one-page bibliography appearing in Fancient.
February 12, 2004: I added a picture to the Smith biography of Sam Moskowitz giving the First Fandom award to Smith, and moved "What Does This Convention Mean?" in the bibliography from 1953 to 1941.
February 2, 2004: I made a logo for Z9M9Z and put it on the top of each page, and put an email link on the bottom of each page.
January 27, 2004: I added an entry for "What does this Convention mean?" to the bibliography under the year 1953.
January 26, 2004: I added to the links page a new fanfic (or a bunch of little fanfics), "The History of Snivelization" by Paul Di Filippo. I also added entries in the bibliography for PITFCS under 1960 and 1993. I have some questions regarding their accuracy, so I welcome help from any fan familiar with PITFCS . I also threw in an entry for 1965: The Proceedings; Discon .
January 24, 2004: I added an entry for CM--40 (60) to the bibliography under the year 1964.
January 22, 2004: I've updated the bibliography by adding an entry for 1935 ("The Challenge from Beyond") and for 1932 (Response to questionnaire).
December 5, 2003: I added a neither complete nor conclusive biography, and posted my primary source bibliography, of Edward E. Smith, Ph.D.
November 11, 2003: I've completely reorganized the site. The fonts and colors are still the same, and the content is largely unchanged, but everything has been moved around. I think the site is much less sloppy now. I added some new fanfic and filk to the new links page.
November 7, 2003: I finally got a copy of William B. Ellern's New Lensman , and scanned the cover (I read the damned thing, too). I added the scan and a few dates to the Ellern Gallery.
October 25, 2003: Just a minor update. I found out who did the cover art for David A. Kyle's trilogy, and updated the Kyle Gallery to include that information.
October 10, 2003: I replaced the crappy digital camera shot of Kim and Van Buskirk burying the lifeboat with a nice new scanned version. I managed to find a scan of the english-language version of New Lensman . There's a link to a filk song down at the bottom of the main page. I anticipate another update within a month, so stay tuned.
June 17, 2003: I got a couple of issues of Astounding from work, and scanned the covers and a couple of interior illustrations and put them up in the Children of the Lens gallery.
June 16, 2003: I upgraded my computer, bought a scanner, and received a run of Perry Rhodans from an eBay auction, so i figured it was time to put up the William B. Ellern gallery. Enjoy. There will be more scans in the future, and a redesign of the site when I get the details planned.
May 3, 2003: I added a tad of information on Lensman - Power of the Lens to the Anime page, and also fixed the spelling of Noshabkeming. I also added a new fanfic, "What if E . E . "Doc" Smith wrote pornography?" to the Main page.
April 7, 2003: I added information about Ellik and Evans's The Universes of E . E . Smith to both the Main and Buy pages. I also put thumbnails up on the Buy page.
April 1, 2003: No foolin', I posted the first Work In Progress draft of my Dauntless blueprints. Let me know what you think.
March 18, 2003: The ISFDB is back online, so I updated the link to Smith's bibliography. I also was able to find the names of the cover artists for each of the magazines that the Lensman series appeared in, so I updated the various gallery pages to reflect that information.
March 11, 2003: I replaced the scan on the main page and one of the covers in the Galactic Patrol and Gray Lensman galleries with better scans. I also added information about the History of Civilization's gift box to the appropriate page.
February 23, 2003: Finally, the Children of the Lens gallery has arrived, finishing off the most important of the galleries, those representing the Doc Smith books. I still have a few cover scans to aquire here and there, but the basic infrastructure and majority of the content has been installed.
February 22, 2003: I added the Second Stage Lensmen gallery, and a cover scan from the March 1933 issue of Astounding to the Triplanetary gallery.
February 19,2003: I added a page linking to Powells.com for easy purchase of the various books which are in print or available there in used condition.
February 18, 2003: I slogged through the Lensman anime movie, took some screen captures, and did a write up. Read on. . . if you dare! The link to Space Shake is now over on that page.
February 16, 2003: Who's watching out for you? Who's constantly pawing through the shelves to find stuff for YOUR enjoyment? I am! I found an illustration from the 9/37 issue of Astounding in a book, shot it repeatedly with my digital camera, selected the least crappy shot and uploaded it here for you. It's in the Galactic Patrol gallery. You're welcome.
February 14, 2003: I created a page on The History of Civilization limited edition boxed set, and moved the eBay auction record over to that page.
February 13, 2003: I created a page about the Lensman wargame, and the video game adaptation of it.
February 11, 2003: Added First Lensman and GURPS Lensman gallery pages.
February 9, 2009: I replaced the link to the now defunct ISFDB's E. E. Smith Bibliography with a Web Archive version. Unfortunately, the archive is incomplete. It will have to do until I can find something better. I may attempt to download the ISFDB at some point and get the data I need from it and put it up on this site, but that is certainly a project for another day, considering it's a 50 MB download, and I use a modem for my usual internet access.
February 8, 2003: Added Triplanetary - A Tale of Cosmic Adventure gallery.
February 7, 2003: Rounded out the collection of Astounding cover scans for the Galactic Patrol gallery.
February 1, 2003: Added Galactic Patrol and The Vortex Blaster galleries.
January 25, 2003: Added galleries page, and the Gray Lensman and David Kyle galleries.
January 4, 2003: Z9M9Z went online today as a collection of links, a couple of pictures, and the History of Civilization auction record.
Text copyright (C) 2003-2007 Ethan Fleischer