Pogo Planet

"Pogo Planet" by Martin Pearson is a science fiction novel written during the early 1940s. The story introduces Ajax Calkins, an ambitious individual who desires to become a pioneer in space exploration. He sets out to claim a newly discovered planet, Midplanet, and embarks on a comical adventure filled with unexpected challenges and bizarre creatures. In the narrative, Ajax crashes on Midplanet only to discover a vibrant world where the atmosphere has trapped light, creating an intriguing environment. As he explores, he encounters intelligent kangaroo-like beings and a giant flea named Bosco, who aids him in an escape from captivity with the kangaroo inhabitants. The tension escalates as Ajax and Nadia Landor, an Earth girl, must navigate their way back to safety amidst whimsical circumstances, including Ajax's attempts to assert his dominance as a self-proclaimed ruler. Ultimately, the story blends humor and adventure as Ajax learns that grandiose ambitions can be hindered by unpredictable realities. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Donald Allen Wollheim was an American science fiction editor, publisher, writer, and fan. As an author, he published under his own name as well as under pseudonyms, including David Grinnell, Martin Pearson, and Darrell G. Raynor. A founding member of the Futurians, he was a leading influence on science fiction development and fandom in the 20th-century United States. Ursula K. Le Guin called Wollheim "the tough, reliable editor of Ace Books, in the Late Pulpalignean Era, 1966 and '67", which is when he published her first two novels in Ace Double editions.