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

S5E142 -Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Two: The Lady Bird!

On L'OISELLE by Renée Marie Gouraud dʻAblancourt

Superheroes have their origins in a dozen different places and eras, some well known, some less so (at least here in North America). Pre-WWI French pulp has actually been a surprisingly fertile ground for early proto-superheroes--or what some might call full-blown superheroes, long before the era they're usually associated with. L'Oiselle (The Bird), an early pulp story about a female daredevil with a flying suit, is certainly a strong contender for one of the first superheroes, so let's dig in and take a look!

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