Gladiator [Paperback]

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.

"Gladiator" by Philip Wylie is thought to be the book from which Superman was derived. Hugo Danner is the strongest man on earth. His father, Professor Abednego Danner, attempts to duplicate the strength displayed by small insects. He tests a solution he creates on tadpoles, and a kitten, before finally drugging his pregnant wife, Matilda, and injecting it into her abdomen. The result is a bullet-proof, super strong, super fast baby boy.

Aside from similarities in abilities between Hugo and Superman, the stories are very different. "Gladiator" is the story of a man blessed with super abilities, and cursed because he has them. As he goes through life, he always must try to hide just how strong and fast he is. Time and time again, he feels he is forced to flee from his current situation when those around him learn of his abilities. He spends time as a Sports hero in college, a strongman in a sideshow on Coney Island, a war hero, and many others. Each time he thinks he has found a place, but each time he is disappointed.

This book was tied for 9th on the Arkham Survey of `Basic SF Titles' in 1949. It is not without flaws, but I found it to be entertaining. It is certainly not a great book, but just as certain it is worth reading. If the legacy of "Gladiator" is the Superman comics, then that alone would make it noteworthy. As an early SF novel, it is also of interest.

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 supervillain. Siegel and Shuster have claimed that Gladiator was the inspiration for Superman and, reading Wylie's masterpiece, it is not hard to see the truth of that claim.

Gladiator has never been adapted to comics, has never appeared on the silver screen in a multi-million dollar movie franchise, nor on television in an animated series or prime time. There are no merchandising lines or theme parks. And I can't help but wonder if this is because Wylie's vision became a self-fulfilling prophecy, so uncannily predicting everything that followed that comic creators shied away from it lest the be considered plagiarists.

What Edgar Allan Poe did for the mystery story and H.G. Wells for science-fiction, Wylie did for superheroes. Gladiator reads like a comic book, a great comic book, on par with the original Superman, Batman, Stan Lee's best, Watchmen, Sin City, Dark Knight and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

It has all the drama, daring, heartbreak and adventure comic readers could ever want. The novel's place in the history of the genre is unquestionable, but it is important to note that the story stands on its own as one heck of a superhero ride.

The novel is currently available from University of Nebraska Press and simply must not be missed. The writing is edgy, crisp and fast-paced, with surprising disregard for the conventions and morals of the '30's. Hugo Danner is no squaky-clean Superman but rather comes across as gritty as Frank Miller with a world view that would make The Punisher smile, coupled with a compulsion to do the right thing that would put Peter Parker to shame.

As an exciting superhero story, Gladiator delivers. As a piece of history, the novel rises above and beyond all expectation.

Here is another excerpt from the latter part of the novel when Danner is still agonizing over how to best use his gifts for the betterment of mankind. His newfound mentor offers a suggestion, the clarity of which sends chills up and down the reader's spine:

Hugo gasped -- "You mean -- other men like me?" "Exactly. Not one or two. Scores, hundreds. And women. Perfect bodies, intellectual minds, your strength. Don't you see? You are not the reformer of the old world. You are the beginning of the new. The New Titans! Then -- slowly -- you dominate the world. Conquer and stamp all these things to which you and I and all men of intelligence object. In the end -- you are alone and supreme."

In the end, Gladiator stands alone and supreme as an unparalleled work of speculative fiction and Hugo Danner and Philip Wylie deserve a place of honour in the great pantheon of those who came after.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 18 reviews  4.3 out of 5 stars