The series was to be published in the Hefte format. This format, popular in Europe, is a small magazine with about a novelette's worth of story. At the time, the authors thought that the series might run for 30 or possibly 50 issues. They did not imagine that it would be running strong 35 years later!
Walter Ernsting and K.H. Scheer toast the start of Perry Rhodan
Now fast forward the late 1960s. American Science Fiction luminary Forrest J. Ackerman and his German-speaking wife Wendayne were vacationing in Austria with their friend Walter Ernsting. Over dinner one night he mentioned that the time was ripe for Perry Rhodan to be introduced to the United States. Wendayne agreed to translate (with some help from Sig Wahrman and Stuart Byrne), and Forrest became the editor.
Soon issue #1 of Perry Rhodan, Enterprise Stardust, was published in the US by Ace Books, using a paperback format. This and the next four paperbacks were double issues, and along the way Ace skipped three of the early issues, although they published them later as special editions. Over the next ten years 137 issues (corresponding to #145 in German) were published in the US. The frequency got as high as 3 a month, and readership reached 50,000 per issue. There were also several Atlan issues published (Atlan is a popular character in the Perry Rhodan series) as well as a self-contained pocket novel. However, despite the best efforts of Forrest J. and Wendayne Ackerman, in 1979 Ace Books decided not to renew the series despite its popularity in the US.
In 1997, Vector Enterprises picked up the rights to the Perry Rhodan series. Perry Rhodan debuted during the Fall of 1997 with issue #1800, Time Lapse. Time Lapse is the start of a new storyline (Cycle) referred to as the Bridge to Eternity.
Older material will be made available as well, once the market is established.
Webmasters John Foyt (rhodanenglish@netscape.net)
and Steve Taylor (steve-taylor@fsmail.net)