What Mad Universe?!?
An adventure through the history of pulp SF and fantasy!
5 years ago

S1E5 -Chapter Five: I Teach You The Superman!

On GLADIATOR by Philip Wylie

The man of tomorrow, the ubermensch. The perfection of the human form into something godlike, beyond mere mortality. Since the Enlightenment this dream has taken the place of the myth of the demigod or chosen one...and eventually, it saw its realization in the superhero genre. But before Clark Kent ever stepped into a phone booth, there was a story that gave rise to the superhero, and turned it on its head.

In this chapter we look at Philip Wylie's Gladiator, a book that's at once ground zero for the superhero and a strange path not taken for pop culture.

Producer/Engineer: Alex Ross Never Sleeps Network

Theme song by Jack Feerick

Support us on Patreon and listen to the show a week early!

Phil's Patreon Adam's Patreon