Perry Rhodan

"Perry Rhodan" is the name of science fiction series published since 1961 in Germany, as well as the name of the main character.

"Perry Rhodan" is a space opera, dealing with several themes of science fiction. Having sold over one billion copies (in pulp booklet format) world-wide, it is the most successful science fiction book series ever written. [ [http://www.perry-rhodan-usa.com/web1998/rdnpres.htm Perry Rhodan 35th anniversary Press Release] (July 1996)] The series and its spin-offs have captured a substantial fraction of the original German science fiction output and exert influence on many German writers in the fieldFact|date=September 2008.

History

Written by an ever-changing team of authors, "Perry Rhodan" is issued in weekly novella-size installments in the traditional German "Heftroman" (pulp booklet) format. The series was created in 1961 by K. H. Scheer and Clark Darlton. Initially conceived for thirty volumes [http://presse.perry-rhodan.net/intern/pressetexte/muenchen.html Press-release by the publisher for the 45th anniversary (in German)] , it endured and passed 2450 installments in August 2008 [http://perry-rhodan.net/aktuell/index.html Current issue of the first edition as of 2008-09-02 is #2454] . There have been several reissues (5 printings and a 6th ebook version), and a revised, edited version in hardcover format. Significant spin-offs include the "Atlan" series and the "Planetenromane" ("Planet Novels") paperbacks that provide additional playgrounds for stories set in the "Perry Rhodan" universe but are usually not considered canonicalFact|date=September 2008.

Over the decades there have also been comic strips, numerous collectibles, several encyclopedias, audio plays, inspired music, etc. The series has seen partial translations into several languages. It also spawned the movie "Mission Stardust" (1967), which is considered so appallingly bad that fans of the series playfully deny its very existenceFact|date=September 2008.

tory

The story line starts in 1971 with the first manned moon landing by U.S. Space Force Major Perry Rhodan and his crew, who discover a marooned extraterrestrial space ship. Appropriating the alien technology, they proceed to unify Terra and carve out a place for humanity in the galaxy and the cosmos. As the series progresses major characters, including the title character, are granted virtual immortality and the story continues over the course of millennia, including flashbacks several thousands and even millions of years into the past, and the scope widens to encompass other galaxies, extremely remote parts of space, parallel universes, and weirder cosmic structures.

The series is told in an arc storyline structure — called a "cycle" — similar to that later used by "Wiseguy", "Hill Street Blues", and "Babylon 5"Fact|date=September 2008. A cycle would have anywhere from 25 to 100 issues devoted to it, some subsequent cycles are referred to as a "grand-cycle", e.g. issues 1800 – 2199 consist of 6 cycles and form the grand-cycle "THOREGON".

Translations

English series

In the 1960s, science-fiction fan Forrest J. Ackerman organized the publication in the U.S. of an English translation of the series, with his wife Wendayne ("Wendy") doing most of the translationFact|date=September 2008. Other translators on the series included Sig Wahrmann, Stuart J. Byrne, and Dwight Decker) #1, containing German issues 1 and 2, was published by Ace Books starting in 1969. The series was a commercial successFact|date=September 2008, eventually being published three times per month. Forrest also incorporated elements from the SF pulp magazines, such as short stories, serialized novels and a film review section.

Ace ended their run of Perry Rhodan — double issue #117/118 was their last of the regular series — by publishing three "lost" episodes that had been skipped for not having enough actionFact|date=September 2008. They also published five of the "Atlan" "side series" stories (Atlan is a major character in the Rhodanverse) and one story from the 415-volume "Planetenromane" spin-off.

The Ackermans created Master Publications and released #119 through #137 before having to cease their subscription-only edition of the series. That was the end of an English version until the 1990s, when John Foyt founded Vector Enterprises and restarted an American version. It would be published in magazine format, against the advice of some of his employeesFact|date=September 2008, instead of book format. This version only lasted for four printed issues and one electronic issue — #1800 to #1804.

The German publishers, Pabel-Moewig Verlag (VPM), have currently licensed FanPro to publish a translation of their recent Lemuria mini-series in the summer of 2006. As of January 2007, the first volume of the Lemuria story is available for purchase from Amazon.com and the second can be reservedFact|date=September 2008. FanPro's American site has only recently released information on the novels and has yet to provide book artwork to Amazon.com for the second volume of Lemuria (however, the first volume has the same artwork as the German original [http://www.amazon.de/Perry-Rhodan-Lemuria-01-Sternenarche/dp/3453530039/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220399389&sr=1-7 Perry Rhodan Lemuria 01. Die Sternenarche at Amazon.de] [http://www.amazon.com/Perry-Rhodan-Lemuria-Vol-FPR75001/dp/1932564888/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220399375&sr=1-18 Perry Rhodan Lemuria Vol. 1: Star Ark at Amazon.com] ). Some additional material present in the German version, such as a history of generation spaceships in SF history, were dropped from the American version.

FanPro seems to have recently shut down its American operations and website. The six books are still being translated and provided to the German publishers.

English publication history

* Ace Books
** #1 to #5 — Double issues. Each volume contains two episodes, but edited to be a single novel.
** #6 to #108 — Single issues. "Maga-book" format, or the format of a magazine in the style of a book. Letter and film review in #6. Would later include short stories — old and new — and reprints of classic serialized novels such as "Edison's Conquest of Mars" by Garrett P. Serviss (reprinted as "Pursuit to Mars"). Of special note is a lost chapter of the H.G. Wells novel "The Time Machine" that was published in this manner.
** #109 to #118 — double issues again, but each one set apart.
** Perry Rhodan Specials #1 to #5 — Double issues. #1 to #3 are lost episodes published with an "Atlan" episode. #4 are two "Atlan" episodes and #5 (unnumbered) is a "Planetenroman".
* Master Publications
** #119 to #136 — Magazine size and format.
** #137 — Book format. To fill out remaining subscription orders, the book format also printed Stuart J. Byrne's "Star Man" series. #137 was published with the first five episodes of "Star Man" in one volume. The remaining "Star Man" episodes were published as a separate volume.
* Vector Enterprises
** #1800 to #1803 — Magazine format. #1800 is published in a manner similar to the German series. 1801 to 1803 are large-sized magazine format.
** #1804 — Electronic format only.
* FanPro Games (American operation of German company FanPro)
** Lemuria #1 "The Star Ark"

Copies of the Ace books and the rarer magazine versions can be found in online auction sites such as eBay and fixed-price online stores like Amazon.com. Used bookstores often have some of the Ace books, but rarely the magazine versionsFact|date=September 2008.

In other countries

Translations of Perry Rhodan are currently available in Brazil (#1 to #536 and #650 to #833 as of August 2006), Russia, China, Japan（#1 to #704 (9,2008)） France, the Czech Republic, and the Netherlands. Apart from the US version, there were also editions in Canada, Great Britain, Italy and Finland. However, the latter have been discontinued.

Rhodan was so popular in the Spanish-speaking world that the Flash Gordon comic strip was called "Roldán el Temerario" (Rhodan the Fearless) in a somewhat misleading attempt to identify Flash with PerryFact|date=September 2008.

The first language to which PR was translated was Hebrew. In 1965, the first four episodes appeared in Tel-Aviv in a pirated translation, and which for unknown reasons ceased before publication of the fifth (it was not because it was detected by the German publishers, who only heard about it many years later). The few surviving copies of this 1965 translation are highly valued by Israeli collectors. [ [http://www.notes.co.il/eshed/9520.asp Eli Eshed on Perry Rhodan in Israel] ]

Cultural impact

In space

Dutch ESA astronaut André Kuipers was inspired to become an astronaut from an early age by the Perry Rhodan albums his grandmother bought for himFact|date=September 2008 (and that he eventually started buying himself from his allowance). When he finally launched into space on April 18, 2004, he brought his very first booklet along with him. It was number ten in the red series, "Ruimteoorlog in de Wegasector" ("Space War in the Vega Sector" or "Raumschlacht im Wega-Sektor")Fact|date=September 2008

In music

Christopher Franke, former member of German electronica group Tangerine Dream and soundtrack composer for U.S. science-fiction TV series "Babylon 5", released "Perry Rhodan Pax Terra" in 1996, composed of music inspired by the "Perry Rhodan" epic.

In science fiction fandom

Bubonicon, an annual science fiction convention in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, adopted as its mascot Perry Rhodent, a rat wearing only one shoe (or boot). Perry's image is reinvented each year for the convention's program and t-shirts, often by the convention's Artist Guest of Honor.Fact|date=September 2008

References

External links

* [http://www.perry-rhodan.net/ Perry Rhodan Official Homepage] (German)
* [http://www.perrypedia.proc.org/Hauptseite Perrypedia] (German)
* [http://www.perry-rhodan-usa.com/web1998/sersumm.htm Series summary (1-1799)] (English)
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063859/ "Mission Stardust" (aka "…4…3…2…1…morte")] at the Internet Movie Database
* [http://www.perry-rhodan.us/ VPM's English-language Perry Rhodan site]
* [http://www.perry-rhodan-game.com/ Perry Rhodan - The Adventure, Computer Game site]
* [http://www.perry-rhodan-usa.com/web1998/STechno.htm Technology of the Perry Rhodan Universe]
* [http://www.beust.com/cedric/perry/php/allCycles.php/ Cedric Beust's Issue Summaries] (English)
* [http://www.Stellarque.com Official French Homepage]
* [http://www.atlantistime.de Der Einsame Der Zeit] German fanfilm