Tom Swift, Jr.

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Dust jacket of Tom Swift and The Visitor from Planet X, illustrated by Graham Kaye

Tom Swift Jr. is the protagonist in a series of juvenile adventure novels aimed at male adolescents, following in the tradition of the earlier Tom Swift ("Senior") novels. Unlike the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys titles that were also products of the prolific Stratemeyer Syndicate, the original Tom Swift stories were not rewritten in the 1950s to modernize them. It was decided that the protagonist of the new series would be the son of the earlier Tom Swift and his wife, Mary Nestor Swift; the original hero continued as a series regular, as did his pal Ned Newton.

After the discontinuation of the Tom Swift Jr. series, the property appeared in three subsequent series. No attempt was made to maintain a 'genetic memory' of earlier Tom Swift exploits and family history in the Tom Swift III series by Wanderer Press. The fourth Tom Swift Series, Tom Swift IV, does not explicitly refer to the first two series, but does re-use certain character names. A fifth series Tom Swift Young Inventor is now in its early-release phase.

For this series the books were mostly outlined by Harriet (Stratemeyer) Adams, head of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, attributed to the pseudonymous Victor Appleton II, and published in hardcover by Grosset & Dunlap. Most of the books were written by James Duncan Lawrence, who had an interest in science and technology and was faithful to the canon of the previous Tom Swift series. Title #7, Tom Swift and His Diving Seacopter, has several references to the first series including a visit with Mrs. Baggert, who was Tom Sr.'s housekeeper, and other volumes feature a rocket named after the old family retainer Eradicate "Rad" Sampson, a radiation-detector (the Damonscope) named after Tom Sr.'s friend Mr. Damon, and a planetoid named in honor of Tom Swift Sr.'s father Barton. As in the original series, the basic locale is the quaint town of Shopton, New York, on Lake Carlopa.

James Lawrence once said that Tom Swift and His Triphibian Atomicar was one of his favorite Tom Swift Jr. stories. Typical story elements include Tom's loyal and quip-prone friend Bud Barclay, his comic-relief cook "Chow" Winkler, spies (typically from Soviet stand-ins Brungaria or Kranjovia), use of a wonder-material called Tomasite that did anything the story needed, the amazingly versatile force-ray repelatron, and atomic-powered everything, including the aforesaid atomicar. The first invention of the series (and the one making the most frequent appearances in subsequent stories), the Flying Lab (named Sky Queen), was a giant VTOL research airplane the size of a Boeing 747 jumbo jet.

Mention must be made of the role of the book covers in vivifying memories of the books. Mostly by ex-Saturday Evening Post illustrator (J.) Graham Kaye, the covers burst with color and excitement and the sheer romance of invention. Covers in the later half of the series, mostly by Charles Brey, were less detailed and reflected Brey's more modernistic style.

The TSJ stories had stronger science-fiction elements than the earlier series, particularly in the later volumes. One subplot which, beginning on the first page of the first volume, ran the length of the series, is Tom's communication, via mathematical "space symbols," with beings from "Planet X". This mystery is never completely resolved despite the beings sending an artificial "energy brain" to occupy a robot body built by Tom in book #17 (see illustration above).

A total of 33 volumes were eventually published.

The writing and plotting of the series occupies only the middle ranks of boys series fiction from that era, and despite earnest attempts by the authors and publisher, the stories offered science that was more intriguing than accurate. Yet the characters and titles are well-remembered and lovingly regarded, and a great number of influential scientists, researchers, and engineers (including Apple Computers' Steve Wozniak) profess to having been set on their courses by Tom Swift Jr.

Current TSJ "fandom" remains relatively small despite the apparent influence of the stories on a generation. Some "fan fiction" inspired by the Tom Swift Jr. milieu has become available.

The malapropish "Tom Swifties" style of dialogue writing played no role in the actual series.

The list of books in The New Tom Swift Jr. Adventures includes:

Tom Swift and His Flying Lab 1954
Tom Swift and His Jetmarine 1954
Tom Swift and His Rocket Ship 1954
Tom Swift and His Giant Robot 1954
Tom Swift and His Atomic Earth Blaster 1954
Tom Swift and His Outpost in Space 1955
Tom Swift and His Diving Seacopter 1956
Tom Swift in the Caves of Nuclear Fire 1956
Tom Swift on the Phantom Satellite 1956
Tom Swift and Ultrasonic Cycloplane 1957
Tom Swift and His Deep Sea Hydrodome 1958
Tom Swift in the Race to the Moon 1958
Tom Swift and Space Solartron 1958
Tom Swift and His Electronic Retroscope 1959
Tom Swift and His Spectromarine Selector 1960
Tom Swift and the Cosmic Astronauts 1960
Tom Swift and the Visitor from Planet X 1961
Tom Swift and the Electronic Hydrolung 1961
Tom Swift and His Triphibian Atomicar 1962
Tom Swift and His Megascope Space Prober 1962
Tom Swift and the Astroid Pirates 1963
Tom Swift and His Repelatron Skyway 1963
Tom Swift and His Aquatomic Tracker 1964
Tom Swift and His 3-D Telejector 1964
Tom Swift and His Polar-Ray Dynasphere 1965
Tom Swift and His Sonic Boom Trap 1965
Tom Swift and His Subocean Geotron 1966
Tom Swift and the Mystery Comet 1966
Tom Swift and the Captive Planetoid 1967
Tom Swift and His G-Force Inverter 1968
Tom Swift and His Dyna-4 Capsule 1969
Tom Swift and His Cosmotron Express 1970
Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts 1971

The first 18 titles were released in a blue tweed cloth cover with a full color paper jacket. Volumes 1–18 were also published in a blue-spined picture cover edition with Tom Swift and the Electronic Hydrolung (in its first printing only) the only title with the picture cover imprinted directly on the "boards" rather than as a removable dust jacket and wrapping around the spine. Perhaps because the blue covers were similar to the Hardy Boys blue picture covers, the entire run of Tom Swift Jr. books was reproduced in school-bus yellow uniform-spine versions.

A few of the early titles of the Tom Swift Jr. series were re-released in the 1970s in paperback with new illustrations. In 1972, four (#14, #15, #16, and #17) were released as trade paperbacks. #14 was retitled Tom Swift in the Jungle of the Mayas and #15 was renamed Tom Swift and the City of Gold. In 1977, six (#1–4, #6, and #8) were released as mass market paperbacks. One of the stories, #6 Tom Swift and His Outpost in Space was re-released and renamed as #5 Tom Swift and His Sky Wheel.

There exists a number of foreign reprints of Tom Swift Jr. titles including British, Japanese, and Icelandic. There is also a Tom Swift Jr. activity/coloring book and a rare Tom Swift Jr. board game. There was one episode aired of the Tom Swift/Linda Craig Mystery hour in 1983, the only one of several proposed Tom Swift versions (including an elaborate "road show" movie) to actually appear before the public. The televised "Tom Swift" was unrelated to the character as depicted in any of the published series; however, an unsold TV pilot based on Tom Jr. was actually filmed in the late 1950's.

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