Unlikely Times was a 1930's science-fiction pulp magazine that Fenton Hardy worked for when he was lost in time during the events of Time Bomb. Frank and Joe Hardy, along with Tom Swift and his father discovered that the magazine had ceased publication around 1939, most likely due to paper shortages during World War Two. In May 1932 Fenton Hardy was considered, by fans of the publication, to be one of the best science fiction writer's the magazine had ever had, even though he had had only one story published up to that point.