• Editorial:
  SF and the Purpose
  of a Webzine
  P. R. Stabile
• The saga of
  The Brick
  (Part 58 by
  H. Backstein)
• Serialized Short Story:
  New Star Part 2, P. R. Stabile
• Archives
  Where to look for back-issues of Portal

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Robert Heinlein died almost ten years ago. It's not news and the only reason I mention it is because, as I was paging through Clute's Science Fiction: The Illustrated Encyclopedia, I noticed that Heinlein's early career overlapped H. G. Wells' late career. There is a bit more than a decade between Wells' death (1946) and the first publication of Starship Troopers(1959), and a bit less than a decade separating the production of the movie based on the novel and Heinlein's death.

In less than three generations, then, SF has exploded from a backwater genre to the mainstream, almost respectable, genre it is today. I say "almost respectable" because, at least in the U.S., many who haven't read or seen much good SF sneer and thumb their nose at what they denigratingly call "sci-fi" and all the bad connotations that term has among the ignorant.

Magazines, public libraries, and a skyrocketing literacy rate over the past century have contributed to this explosion, but a few key individuals played pivotal roles in the growth of SF. The genre would have no place without writers and fans, but people like Hugo Gernsback and John Campbell, who act as facilitators, have supplied the catalyst that made SF grow.

For example, would Murray Leinster, among others, have reached the audience he did if not for Gernsback's evangelizing on what he called "Scientifiction?" Or would Campbell's stable of authors, which included Isaac Asimov, have produced as fine work as they did without the guidance of a mentor who almost collaborated with them? I remember first reading Varley, Gibson, and Brin in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine in the late seventies and early eighties, and I would attribute their success partly to George Scithers.

So, it is with a sense of history and a love for SF that I have taken on the task of editing Portal. As editor, I plan to be the authors' collaborator in the same sense that Campbell was. You cannot underestimate the power of a second opinion.

The SF magazine has always attracted a small but discerning audience --- SF readers' optimism, vision, and wisdom (gained from their readings), has helped guide humanity through one of the most interesting and dangerous centuries in the species' history. The Web-based magazine ("webzine") will attract an even smaller audience, at least in these early days. It's exciting and important to be involved in a medium that will endure, should a "papyralysis epidemic" (wherein all the world's paper turns to dust) befall us.

Barring such an unlikely disaster, Portal's mission is to provide thought-provoking SF entertainment as it capitalizes on the strengths of the web-format. Our concentration will be on short-shorts and serials, and our format is becoming more dynamic every day. Right now, for example, you can easily catch up on a serial by looking it up in our archive. That's a far-cry from the pulp serials where you had to order back-issues (often no longer available) to find out what's going on. We also have an SF site classification and rating system in the works.

Magazines are a cheap way to disseminate short stories and serials. Even cheaper, though, is the webzine. There are no printing or start-up costs. All you need is a good staff (often one person) to do the editing and layout. We can expect another SF explosion from the webzine, and we're here to anticipate it. We will be here to experience it and to look back on it.

-- P. R. Stabile, editor

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