''Ray Gun Revival'' (RGR) was a

webzine An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to an online only magazine was the computer ...

space opera Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes Space warfare in science fiction, space warfare, with use of melodramatic, risk-taking space adventures, relationships, and chivalric romance. Set mainly or entirely in outer space, i ...

and golden age

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

. The first issue was published in July 2006. Founded by Johne Cook, L. S. King, and Paul Christian Glenn, who call themselves "Overlords", ''RGR'' was inspired in part by the (now defunct) ''Deep Magic'' PDF e-zine. Some of the same contributors who worked with Deep Magic now work with RGR. It features

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

and serials, and is known for its lavish, science-fiction-themed

cover art Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product, such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper ( tabloid), comic book, video game ( box art), music album ( album ar ...

. In 2009, Bill Snodgrass of Double Edged Publishing decided to take a step back from publishing fiction and the Overlords announced that the magazine's future was uncertain. This announcement was seen by Jordan Ellinger, RGR contributing author and managing editor of '' Every Day Fiction''. Long a fan of the magazine, Ellinger volunteered to take over publication in a new format under the Every Day Publishing label, subject to the condition that the magazine not publish any work by any member of its staff. He envisioned a new semi-pro magazine that would publish in a weekly format, anchored by at least one pro-author per month. Early in the magazine's new format, ''RGR'' was approached by

Mike Resnick Michael Diamond Resnick (; March 5, 1942 – January 9, 2020) was an American science fiction writer and editor. He won five Hugo awards and a Nebula award, and was the guest of honor at Chicon 7. He was the executive editor of the defunct mag ...

as a potential home for his Catastrophe Baker series. To-date, the magazine has published eight Catastrophe Baker stories RayGunRevival.com was featured on SciFi.com as "Site of the Week" on June 13, 2007.

Controversy

In August 2007, the magazine found itself caught up in the controversy surrounding SFWA's issuance of overly broad

DMCA The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a 1998 United States copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or ...

takedown notices. It had been a policy of Overlord Johne Cook to upload back issues of the magazine to

Scribd Scribd Inc. (pronounced ) operates three primary platforms: Scribd, Everand, and SlideShare. Scribd is a digital document library that hosts over 195 million documents. Everand is a digital content subscription service offering a wide selectio ...

, an online repository for the exchange of documents, as a way of attracting traffic to the site, and SFWA ordered these issues removed against his wishes. Cook contacted

Cory Doctorow Cory Efram Doctorow (; born 17 July 1971) is a Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who served as co-editor of the blog ''Boing Boing''. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent of th ...

John Scalzi John Michael Scalzi II (born May 10, 1969) is an American science fiction author and former president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He is best known for his ''Old Man's War'' series, three novels of which have been n ...

, and

Jason Bentley Jason Bentley (born July 27, 1970) is an American DJ, Producer, and music executive who has played an influential role in the evolution of dance and electronic music in the US. Having hosted music programmes on a variety of commercial and public r ...

about the notices, and Doctorow quickly published an article on the notices in his webzine

Boing Boing ''Boing Boing'' is a website, first established as a zine in 1988, later becoming a group blog. Common topics and themes include technology, futurism, science fiction, gadgets, intellectual property, Disney, and left-wing politics. It twice wo ...

. News quickly spread from there. This incident was one of the issues that caused the future President of SFWA,

, to endorse winning candidate Russell Davis over

Andrew Burt Andrew Thomas Hutchison Burt (23 May 1945 – 16 November 2018) was a British actor, voiceover artist, and counsellor. Early life and education Andrew Burt was born on 23 May 1945 in Wakefield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, to Hutchison B ...

, head of the ePiracy committee at that time, for President of the organization.

Closure

On 7 October 2012 the magazine announced it was closing, with a headline "Overlords’ Lair: One Last Story".

Editors

* Johne Cook, Overlord 2006–2012 * L.S.King, Overlord 2006–2012 * Paul Christian Glenn, Overlord 2006–2012

Authors published in EDF

* Larry Hodges *

Steve Stanton Steve Stanton is a Canadian author, editor, and publisher. He founded Skysong Press in 1988 and published the literary fanzine ''Dreams & Visions'' for twenty years, as well as the ''Sky Songs'' anthology series, 2002–2005. He served on the ...

* Michael Ehart * Adam Colston

References

{{Reflist

External links