Good morning everyone,
Before the Size Riot contest began in January 2017, before the initial SizeCon took place in 2016, before ZZZ sold his first comic in 2012, before Giantess Fan came online in 2011 and Giantess Club in 2009, before the Coiled Fist web site (focused on male giants) appeared in 2005, before the Giantess City forum emerged in 2004, before Japanese studios GEN’s LABO and Sangouki began making giantess videos (NOTE: I need to research them further), before the “Shrinking of Miss China” was published as a “Spirit of Wonder” Original Video Animation (OVA) in 2001, before now-defunct sites like Giantess Magic and Giantess Shrine became active, before Gary Pranzo’s Media Impact LLC was founded in 1995 and before “Black Giantess” was published by Ron H. in 1995, before Acotto’s FTP site first shared files in 1994, before the dial-up Utgard Bulletin Board System (BBS) came online in the early 1990s, before E. L. Publications started publishing Giantess magazine in 1988, before Hustler’s “Attack of the 50-Foot Honey” was released in 1983, before Warren Publishing’s “Eerie” issue 81 came out in 1977, before 1965’s “Village of the Giants,” before 1962’s “Boccaccio ’70,” before 1959’s “The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock,” before 1958’s “Attack of the 50 Foot Woman,” and even before 1957’s “The Amazing Colossal Man” and “The Incredible Shrinking Man,” there were size themes in written science fiction.
Today’s review will cover one of those science fiction short stories. Specifically, this article will examine “The Nude in the Microscope.” That story was included in the number one issue of “Fantastic Science Fiction” from August 1952.
The Nude in the Microscope was written by George Moffat, a pseudonym used by Edwin Vernon Burkholder. Edwin was originally from Marion County, Kansas, and was born in 1895. He joined the United States Army in May 1917 and deployed to Europe as a 1st Lieutenant in the American Expeditionary Forces (A.E.F. or AEF) during World War I. During the conflict, he served as a battalion supply officer.
Returning to the U.S. in August 1919, Edwin went on to write “Whispering Silk” for “Dragnet” magazine in 1928, “Cross and Double Cross” and “The Mystery of Sarah’s Ghost” for “Amazing Detective Stories” magazine, as well as a number of short stories such as “Company Property,” “The Death Idol,” and “Three Pearls of Death” for the “Doc Savage” pulp magazine in the 1930s. Along with The Nude in the Microscope, he also wrote “He Wouldn’t Die” for Fantastic Science Fiction in the early 1950s. Edwin passed away in 1965 and was buried in Marion County.
Edwin’s story The Nude in the Microscope is a brief tale centered on a young scientist called Professor Carl Thorton working at the fictitious University of Dale in Texas. Professor Thorton is examining a bit of mud taken from 3,000 feet below the surface. With the help of a revolutionary microscope, called a “Butcher’s Refrigerator,” Thorton sees very small humanoid figures within the mud. Most prominently, he spots a tall, trim woman with “long and flowing” golden hair and “large and well-formed” breasts surrounded by small men who serve as her protectors. However, and unfortunately, the mere act of Thorton observing the nude Amazon carried unforeseen consequences.
That said, I won’t reveal every detail as the entire story can be read for free at the following link: https://archive.org/details/Fantastic_Science_Fiction_v01n01_1952-08
Of note, based on his body of work, it does not appear that Edwin regularly focused on size themes. Instead, this was a one-off, a brief opportunity to explore something interesting in a world previously unseen by human eyes. Nonetheless, I do recommend that folks check out The Nude in the Microscope.
Also, this may go without saying, but just to be clear, there was no visual or written depiction of sex acts. Instead, the focus throughout the magazine was was more teasing than explicit and accordingly this featured “Good Girl” art. Keeping with that approach, an ad for French lingerie was displayed on the first page and scores of pretty ladies were drawn for the several short stories. Like the following:
Oh, and there’s a few other science fiction magazines worth looking into by giantess fans. Check these out!
I’ll analyze those issues above in a separate article on a later date 🙂
That’s it for today folks. The next review will return to Hiroya Oku’s “GIGANT” manga. (NOTE: I believe this series is set to end later this year.) The latest compilation, Volume 8, was just released a few weeks ago on March 30th. Thus, Thursday’s post will examine GIGANT Volume 8. Until then dear readers, keep growing!
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There She Grows 