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Perry Rhodan |
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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.1 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 fieldcitation needed.
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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 volumes2, it endured and passed 2450 installments in August 20083. 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 canonicalcitation needed.
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 existencecitation needed.
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 5citation needed. 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.
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 translationcitation needed. 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 successcitation needed, 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 actioncitation needed. 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 employeescitation needed, 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 reservedcitation needed. 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 original45). 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.
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 versionscitation needed.
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 Perrycitation needed.
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.6
Dutch ESA astronaut André Kuipers was inspired to become an astronaut from an early age by the Perry Rhodan albums his grandmother bought for himcitation needed (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")citation needed
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.
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.citation needed
Although described as a "Peacelord", the main character Perry Rhodan regularly reacts both unilaterally and with force, never negotiating with adversaries and rarely letting others participate in decisions. He kills enemies without remorse, though always in self-defense.
The series was considered by many as "juveniles" (i.e. for a younger readership): "At one point a major publisher (name now forgotten by me) expressed an interest, only to fling Perry back in my face crying, "We didn't know this was a juvenile!" (Forrest J. Ackerman).7
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