Meet Otis Adelbert Kline

A pulp author that I have not read, but which I have seen mention over the years is Otis Adelbert Kline (1891-1946). And usually what I read was that he had a rivalry with Edgar Rice Burroughs due to writing similar stories. That is probably not true, or not to the extent some make it. And this has probably overshadowed his other works.

Kline wrote several novels and short stories, though writing wasn’t a major part of his career. He was also an associate editor at Weird Tales. And he later focused more on his literary agency. Today, most of his novels and several of his short stories are still available.

David Anthony Kraft divides Kline’s career into three periods. The first is from 1922 to 1928, where he did weird fiction and detective stories. He actually wrote The Planet of Peril in 1922, long before it was published. The period of 1929 to 1935 is considered his best, where Kline did the Dragoman stories, several of his interplanetaries, and the jungle stories. Kline’s final period of 1936 to 1942, was apparently more mediocre pulp science fiction, often with others.

His main works people know are his Mars, Venus, and jungle series:

The Venus series includes:

• The Planet of Peril (1929)
• The Prince of Peril (1930)
• The Port of Peril (1932)

The Mars series includes:

• The Swordsman of Mars (1933)
• The Outlaws of Mars (1933)

The Jan of the Jungle series includes:

• Jan of the Jungle (The Call of the Savage) (1931)
• Jan in India (1935)

His Venus and Mars stories are “planetary romances,” where the heroes switch minds with inhabitants of those planets (so what happens to the ones who come to Earth?) and have adventures. In the Venus series, Earthman Robert Grandon exchanges minds with someone on Venus, has adventures, wins and marries the princess (in the first book), and has further adventures in the following two. In the Mars books, two different Earthmen exchange minds. One has adventures in the first; the second one is in the second book. Supposedly there was a third Mars novel written, but never published in his lifetime, and most likely lost. Sad.

Jan of the Jungle, which was filmed as the serial The Call of the Savage, is about Jan, a white boy growing up in the jungle, though there’s a twist. Jan had been raised in a cage with Chicma the Chimpanzee as his foster mother. This is due to the crazy Dr. Bracken, out for revenge on Jan’s mother, who had spurned him. He wants Jan to think that Chicma is his mother. But instead, Jan and Chicma escape to the jungles of Venezuela after a shipwreck. Jan later meets the girl Ramona, who teaches him of civilization. The second Jan story takes him to India, going up against the Maharaja of Varuda.

Other novels and series are The Bride of Osiris, serialized in WT, and the “Dragoman” series of stories which appeared in Oriental Tales, a companion magazine to WT. There is also The Secret Kingdom, Maza of the Moon, and Satans on Saturn.

David Antony Kraft edited a fanzine devoted to Kline: OAK Leaves, that ran for 16 issues from 1970-82. The first 12 was reprinted in book form as The Complete OAK Leaves, Vol. 1. There were many articles by and about Kline, including notes from his youngest daughter, and some fiction (two issues reprinted a couple of his longer stories). I am looking for issues 13-16.

Pulpville Press has reprinted the most OAK works, but some other publishers (Altus Press, Black Dog Books), have done a few as well. As I obtain and read some of these, I plan on posting reviews. I read and enjoyed Burroughs as a kid, but I’m intrigued by the Kline stories, which are said to be better.