Operation Burroughs #1 - August 1952
By Paul Allen

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This issue is interesting to read from a 70-year perspective.  Like most first issues, it was a little rough around the edges.  And it was Joe’s first attempt at operating a mimeograph.  That’s something young people today have never experienced.  Joe was also a pretty good amateur artist -– I was very pleased to use an etching he gave me as the back cover of my first issue in 1964.  Drawing illustrations on mimeograph stencils was not an easy task, but his art came out pretty well in this issue and got better with later issues.

I was surprised by the detail Joe offered in “News of the Month” regarding the unpublished Burroughs novels and stories.  I was not aware that all this information was available at that early date.  Unfortunately, most of this material didn’t begin seeing the light of day until the mid ‘60s.  And look at the prices quoted on used books –- so many books at 50¢ or $1 each plus 15¢ for postage.  But, then, I can remember buying G&D editions in dust jacket for $3 or less in the early ‘60s.  The names of some of the people selling books were well-known fans when I started publishing, for example: John F. Cooke, Bernard Weldt, and Alfred Guillory Jr. (co-founder of ERB-dom).

The new cover by Dave Cockrum is one of my favorites and I thought it very appropriate for “The” Barsoomian.  At the time, Dave was a fellow Burroughs fan and a fellow Navy man.  He was stationed at Guam and I was stationed at Subic Bay in the Philippines.  We only corresponded for a couple of years or less, then we left the Navy and lost track of each other.  He later became one of the most celebrated comic book artists at DC and Marvel.