Gladiator

Excellent book. It's not written like science fiction at all, more like a work of "mainstream" fiction... and it was very moving to me. I think it was well ahead of its time for more than one reason. 1) The superman concept. 2) The smooth incorporation of the science fiction into a regular world, where it's played entirely straight (rather than for camp) reminds me a whole lot of the TV shows that are on TV the last few years. I think HEROES, SMALLVILLE, many shows incorporate this style today. I got teary eyed reading parts. I think it's excellently written and plotted.

A dark work of prescient genius! Philip Wylie, THE most socially astute author of the Twentieth Century, co-founder and Editor of The New Yorker magazine, created in his protagonist Hugo Danner (often mis-spelled in the pages of the book as BANNER, which no doubt, and not-so-subliminally influenced the creators of The Hulk's alter-ego Dr. Banner in Marvel Comics' series and the movies derived therefrom; royalties owed, anyone?) the original 'Super-man' as the result of his scientist father's in-vitro meddlings. Hugo's life is a tale of brooding angst and social subterfuge, as he must dwell amongst the lesser mortals and hide his abilities from their jealousy and ignorant, dirt-farmer mentalities. Searching for a way to fulfill himself, Danner examines and acts upon various unsatisfactory self-initiated programs of personal growth (and destruction), but only at the end - when it is emotionally too late for him to change and see his true potential through to its logical apex and conclusion, does he even come close to the ideal he represents for all of us. The scenes in which Danner stands atop the trenches of the armies he has single-handedly (and covertly) defeated, clothes blown off by the shrapnel, and covered in the blood and gore of his enemies, is reminiscent of The Terminator movies. The deus-ex-machina ending is more of a lesson for the reader to ponder upon than the world-changeing alternative would - and could - have been. A brilliant work, re-issued by BlackMask online (purveyors of expired copyrights? If so: Kudos in regards to your perceptive choice of subject materials). A word of advice on the Publishers' choice of company icon: FOSI may sue you! LOL!

What if I told you that there was a superhero who could go toe to toe with the man of steel? Or that this hero's teenage years were filled with enough angst to make Spider-Man's adolescence appear well-adjusted? What if this hero possessed the speed of the Flash, the Hulk's rage, Batman's fortune and grim vision, could stride the battlefield like Captain America, master the denizens of the deep like Aquaman and be feared and mistrusted by society like the X-Men? You would be intrigued. You'd wonder where this hero came from and risk several dozen paper cuts flipping through your Overstreet trying to track him down. And if I told you this hero was named Hugo Danner, odds are you never heard of him. And his creator? Siegel and Shuster? Stan Lee? Bob Kane? Will Eisner? Philip Wylie. Who? Exactly. In 1930, one year before The Shadow, three years before Doc Savage, six years prior to The Phantom, eight before Superman, the superhero was created by one man, author Philip Wylie. His creation, Hugo Danner, did not blast across the pages of a comic book but rather a novel (and not a graphic novel) called Gladiator, which tells the story of Danner's journey as the strongest man alive. Danner grows up in rural farm country. Sound familiar? He can bend steel, leap forty feet in the air, is impervious to all harm except an artillery shell, fights as WWI's first and only super soldier. Sound familiar? Danner must hide his strength from a mistrustful society. Sound familiar? Has his teenage years marred by a tragedy he caused. Sound familiar? And dedicates himself to fighting for truth and justice. Sound familiar? Gladiator is all of these things and so much more. This novel, which should be required reading for anyone who has thrilled to the exploits of caped crusaders, not only single-handedly creates the superhero, it somehow manages to encapsulate the themes and motifs of just about every comic ever printed since. All in one slim novel with no costumes and no eye-catching artwork. This is a staggering achievement. Gladiator is the mythical nutshell. Listen to Danner's inner musings, years before comics' Golden Age, and see the creation of an industry: "What would you do if you were the strongest man in the world, the strongest thing in the world, mightier than the machine?" He made himself guess answers to that rhetorical query. "I would -- I would have won the war. But I did not. I would run the universe single-handed. Literally single-handed. I would scorn the universe and turn it to my own ends. I would be a criminal. I would rip open banks and gut them. I would kill and destroy. I would be a secret and invisible blight. I would set out to stamp crime off the earth; I would be a super-detective, following and summarily punishing every criminal until no one dared to commit a felony. What would I do? What would I do?" And there it is, the blueprint of a genre, springing from the mind of one man. The birth of the superhero and the supervilla

Rejoice!! Gladiator is back in print!!! Certainly as many people have observed this novel is the gestation of Superman and all that came after. The similarities are striking. The original Superman origin story read "Nothing less than a bursting shell could penetrate his skin" -- unlike the invulnerable hero he became later. Hugo Danner's adventures follow that description literally. At one point Wylie describes his hair as "so black it was almost blue". Anyone who has seen the early Superman comics knows that his hair has always had dark blue highlights. The original Superman had no super-senses either -- x-ray vision, super-hearing, and the like came later. So here is the character in his raw-est original form. Yet (as other reviewers have noted) here he is a tragic figure. He does heroic things from time to time, but he never receives the accolades of his successors. More often the opposite. This novel is worth reading for more than the origin of Superman. It is a fascinating look at the usual and the unusual. It is a tragedy about a man who is not a man, but with human flaws and a human need to belong. People's reaction to him -- disbelief, jealousy, fear, hatred -- show the way human beings always respond to anyone who is different. The ending of the book has gotten mixed reviews since it was first published. But truth be told there wasn't any other way to end it. Unless, of course, you are Hollywood and you want to make 45 sequels. Wylie is a fascinating author. He takes unusual circumstances and examines what humans are as a species. Many people have lamented his apparent sexism -- especially in his early novels. Yet he must be judged by his peers -- peers of 75 years ago. And all of his characters -- women and men -- are more open than those created by most of his contemporaries. So read it. Enjoy. And contemplate.

This is one of my favorite novels of all time. It was the first super human story written in the 20th century and it triggered the cultural phenomenon of four-color comics. But it is not a super hero story. Main character, Hugo Danner, is 100 percent human being. Although Wylie had mythological characters like Achielles and Hercules to draw from, there was no such thing as a costumed hero flying around doing good for the world (published 1930). He is working from scratch. The book deals with the realistic struggle of a man who is beyond Man. It is a picturesque journey of an individual who has choices to make, a super man who is seeking his place in a world of prejudice, politics, greed, war, and love. There are no super villains. There are no capes or costumes. It is raw and solid. The ending has been criticized by many over the decades, but for me, it fit into the structure and theme of the story perfectly. Want a little more dimension out of your super heroes? Buy this book. Matt Hiebert