The Airlords of Han

Philip Francis Nowlan 1929

This science fiction novella follows Anthony Rogers as he joins a future America's fight against its rulers. Its battles pit American resistance fighters against the Han empire's powerful airships.

107 pages 2h 5m reading time

A sequel to "Armageddon 2419 A.D." and one of the founding stories of American pulp science fiction (the cheap story magazines of the 1920s and 1930s).
Imagines future weapons and tools such as belts made of an antigravity material that let fighters leap huge distances, along with rocket guns and destroying rays.
Reflects the "Yellow Peril" fear of Asian peoples that was common in its time, which makes it a revealing and troubling record of racism in early science fiction.
Its hero, Anthony Rogers, became Buck Rogers, star of a long-running newspaper comic strip and later radio, film, and TV versions that brought space adventure to a mass audience.
The name "Buck Rogers" became everyday shorthand for futuristic gadgets, and the character's success led directly to rivals like Flash Gordon.

Comic strip came first

The Buck Rogers newspaper strip began in January 1929, about two months before this sequel reached readers.
Born in a magazine

It first appeared in the March 1929 issue of Amazing Stories, the magazine that had printed "Armageddon 2419 A.D."
An editor's idea

Newspaper syndicate owner John F. Dille read the first story and asked Nowlan to turn it into a comic strip.
Author kept writing Rogers

Nowlan wrote the scripts for the daily strip while Dick Calkins drew the pictures.