WeBuzz

Reader discussion: Gladiator

Public reader discussion about Gladiator in the WeRead Catalog by Philip Wylie.

Hugo Danner, the first Superman (1930) [88- year old SPOILERS]

By SamReads4

I’m kind of into “super-history,” so I’d read that Philip Wylie’s 1930 novel *Gladiator* (not totally confirmed, but it’s the claim) may have influenced the stuff that eventually turned into Superman. I finally got around to reading it on a long trip, and yeah—pretty depressing overall—but I kept spotting connections to *Action Comics #1*, so I figured I’d throw my notes down. The big “where did the idea come from?” thing, to me, is that if you set *Gladiator* next to earlier attempts, it almost feels like it’s taking that old superhero concept and breaking it apart. Since Hugo Danner stories weren’t really around long enough for Wylie/Siegel to have seen them, I mostly saw two influences: the Frankenstein angle (his strength is made by a mad-scientist dad) and that whole WWI “lost generation” vibe where Hugo gets more and more disillusioned. **Stuff that feels similar:** - The “ant strength / grasshopper leap” thing—Hugo’s super-strength is basically built from an insect-serum experiment by his father, which feels like the same kind of origin beat as *Action Comics #1*. - “Super-baby” energy: Clark-like super-strength and invulnerability right from birth. - Football: Hugo plays football, and his first real kill is basically snapping someone’s neck. (That’s a very recognizable early Clark move too.) - At 18 he heads off on his own and builds this huge fort. - Small town to New York. (Smallville’s exact location was always a bit fuzzy later, but Metropolis is basically New York.) - Raised by church-y Protestant parents who push “be modest and hide it.” Hugo’s dad isn’t exactly all-in religious, but he wants him to keep his powers quiet. - His dad’s goal is bigger than just Hugo—it’s about making a whole super-race, and then Hugo inherits the job after he’s gone. Early Superman comics have that “engineered whole race” vibe sometimes too (unless I’m misremembering which medium it was). - He does odd jobs and helps people at times, like early Superman stories. - And the whole “nothing less than a bursting shell could penetrate his skin” line—Hugo has that too, and it actually gets him in WWI. (Plus other weaknesses like poison/hunger/fire/electricity show up.) **Differences that really stand out:** - Hugo is way more miserable and restless. When Superman stories go dark like that, it’s usually treated like a step on the way to becoming “proper Superman,” but here it’s basically the point. If someone wanted to write a deconstructionist Superman story, this feels like a “here you go” kind of example. - Love/friendship doesn’t really work out for Hugo the same way. We get to keep the happier relationship stuff for Superman, while Hugo… struggles more long-term. - Hugo straight-up kills a ton more people. He basically thinks his powers won’t be accepted and that there’s no good use for them, so he ends up joining the foreign legion, killing Germans, and then realizes he kind of likes it too much. Again: if you want the darker deconstruction version, this is your manual. - The last bit is extra brutal: Hugo goes mad and tries to use his dad’s plans to conquer/destroy Earth, and then God destroys them both. I can’t think of that ever happening in a Superman story. Anyway, hope this was at least interesting. —JM! P.S. Someone apparently made a Hugo Danner “respect thread,” which is… honestly kind of amazing.

Looking for something like Gladiator - not Roman but a nobody rising up to get revenge on the powerful.

By window_verse

The Count of Monte Cristo is one of my favorites too.

Fantasy gladiator books

By AcarusBrisk

Now that the second Gladiator movie is almost here, I’m looking for some fantasy gladiator-type books. Does anyone have recommendations? Thanks!

I keep seeing hate on "Evil" Superman clones. Who are your favorite "Lawful Good" copy/homages to the Big Blue Boyscout?

By simple-market5111

Metro man, I guess? Not totally sure.

Fantasy book with gladiator/tournament style fighting

By starFable

I read this book like 10+ years ago, and I can’t really pin it down. I think the main character somehow ends up involved with fighters who use these blade forms—like blades that are attached to their arms around the wrist or elbow. From what I remember, the protagonist gets trained by them too and even goes through some kind of transformation. I know it’s super vague, but I’ve been trying to find the title with basically no luck based on what I have.

The "Emperor" series by Conn Iggulden is a great read for anyone who is fascinated by ancient Rome.

By narrow_epilogue

This series tracks Julius Caesar and Brutus (and a few others) from when they’re kids right up to their final deaths. It really makes you feel what it’s like to be right there on the front line with a bunch of guys facing the barbarian tribes in Gaul, and then it also pulls you into the tents while they’re figuring out the whole crossing the Rubicon. I think it’s a great series and the pacing is solid. By the end of each book, Iggulden has that section where he breaks down what’s fact vs what he made up, and he’ll say why he changed certain events and where he had to guess. Honestly, this is my 7th reread and I’m still into it.

Is The Shadow public domain yet? If not who owns it and when will it be?

By poemRough

Looks like in the US the Shadow might finally hit the public domain in 2027. I saw that it’s still owned by Condé Nast, so I guess it’s just a waiting game until then.

What books have titles that sound amazing?

By turtleDistant

The one that stuck with me for ages is *The Silence of the Lambs* by Thomas Harris. It’s scary as hell and weirdly creative. Every time I see the title, my brain goes to some gloomy slaughterhouse scene, like there’s this pile of dead lambs. Honestly, it feels really clever, even though it’s kind of disturbing.

Looking for books about Gladiators and Rome

By paperback-frog5948

I’m really into Roman history, especially the whole gladiator side of it. I’ve already read *Spartacus* by Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Conn Iggulden’s Emperor series, and *I, Claudius* by Robert Graves. If anyone has any other historical fiction stuff or anything similar, I’d love suggestions.

Books like Gladiator

By littleSignal46

I’d love some really good Roman historical fiction—something like SPQR, but with a clear storyline running through the whole thing.

Before there was Superman, Philip Wylie's GLADIATOR

By EstivageFable

This one from 1930 is pretty interesting, even if it’s kind of a downer. Philip Wylie isn’t super famous today, but he was a big deal back then, and you can feel the writing is steadier than a lot of the pulp stuff. The main vibe is still wild and dramatic though. GLADIATOR mostly gets talked about as one of the big inspirations for the original Golden Age Superman. I read it right alongside the first ACTION COMICS issue, and yeah… the connections feel way too direct to ignore. And of course there’s also Doc Savage in the mix (even the Clark thing and all that Arctic fortress stuff). Still, honestly, borrowing from earlier stories has been happening forever. The story follows Hugo Danner, a kid from Colorado whose scientist dad gives his pregnant wife a serum so Hugo ends up with crazy-strong, basically superhuman powers. He can lift ridiculous weights, jump way up high, and shrug off bullets. But it’s not like he gets all the classic Superman tricks—no real flying, no seeing through walls. It’s more like “human ability, turned up to 11,” and he’s still a normal person in a lot of ways (food, air, and he can still make dumb choices like drinking too much). What gets me is how little he actually manages to do with those powers. Aside from a brief destructive rampage during World War I, his attempts just fall apart or go wrong. And the book is way more cynical about people than Siegel and Shuster were—like in real life he’d probably end up corrupted, hated/fearful, or grabbed by the government and studied. He also doesn’t seem to land on the “double life” idea that Superman has. He tries pushing politicians or getting behind social reform, but everything is bleak and disappointing. Then when he frees someone from a bank vault by literally yanking the door off, the cops end up interrogating and torturing him to figure out how he did it. Part of me kept thinking… would it have killed him to just do private investigation stuff or focus on saving people instead? Even the “robin hood patrol at night” angle would’ve meant he was doing some good. A lot of it feels like Hugo just wasn’t raised with much direction or strong values. His mom is religious but in a cold, not-very-helpful way, and his dad is sort of distracted. And then WWI and everything after just wrecks normal lives and relationships—so yeah, it’s not like he had a clean path ahead. Overall it’s well-written and gets in close, but it doesn’t exactly feel uplifting. There aren’t tons of moments that make you stop and stare, either. And the ending—Hugo begging God for a sign—felt so unlikely and overly melodramatic that I honestly wonder if it was forced on him.

Colosseum-esque fantasy books?

By espressowonder2006

Does anyone know of any books like this? I remember the Night Angel series by Brent Weeks mentioned something similar, but I can’t seem to find a whole book that focuses on it. Any ideas?

Suggest me a book with Gladiator in title

By LetterCrescent

Can you suggest me a book that has “Gladiator” in the title? I’m kind of stuck on a reading challenge where I have to match the title of my top 10 Spotify Wrapped songs with books, and my 4th most listened track is “Gladiator” by Jann. Please help me not regret my music picks haha. The challenge is mainly to get me to try new genres, so I’m open to pretty much anything :)

Alternate history superhero universes?

By cloudshadow

I’ve always been pretty into superhero stuff that basically asks, “Okay, if powers really existed, what would that do to society and culture?” Like Watchmen and Kingdom Come. I also end up wondering what normal day-to-day life would look like in a world like that. But outside of those two, I honestly can’t think of a lot of superhero comics or novels that really dig into how superpowered people could completely shift everything—enough that the setting feels kind of unrecognizable compared to ours. Any recommendations?

Anyone know a good series with gladiators?

By cloudyriver

I’m trying to find a series where there’s some tournament-style stuff going on in at least part of it—doesn’t need to be the whole thing, but I want those showdown/facing-off moments. Kind of in the vein of Spartacus, I guess. Also I really dig stories where someone falls from grace or starts out at the bottom and has to claw their way up, total bad-ass energy. Caladin Stormblessed is honestly one of my favorite characters in any book.

Can someone explain Iron Munro’s importance to me?

By CoastPlanet18

I’m not gonna lie, I was pretty confused about why this random superhero I’ve never even heard of is getting brought up alongside Sandman and Wildcat. Unless he’s part of the JSA in the main continuity too, it doesn’t really make sense. And I just kept wondering—what’s the point of mentioning him at all? Feels like he’s probably meant to be a foil to Superman or something, but I’m not totally sure.

Superman AS Jesus before 1978's Superman the Movie in comic books?

By hidden_raven6223

I know people often point out the Superman-as-Jesus thing, and it’s pretty clearly shown in stuff like Superman: The Movie (and then later in Returns and the Snyder films). But I keep wondering—did that connection first get spelled out in an obvious way in the 1978 movie, or were there older comics that already treated Superman like a Christ figure? Basically, I’m trying to figure out whether any comic writers before 1978 looked at Superman that way and actually put it into the story. I’ve been digging through older issues, but I’m not really seeing anything that matches. Anyone know of examples, or is my search just missing them?

Things that inspired Superman's creation

By hareStill1977

I’m not sure what to think—this feels like the Moses story mixed with Burroughs and that Jonathan Carter of Mars thing.

Any books similar to Gladiator (2000)?

By owlchapter

This movie is honestly legendary. I’ve seen it a bunch of times and it still feels like such a good time every single time—really entertaining and it pulls you in from the start. I always end up tearing up a little by the end, even if I try not to. I feel like everyone knows which one I mean, but just in case—if you haven’t seen it, you should really go watch it on Netflix. And if you don’t remember it, you can find a recap on YouTube (I can’t drop links here though). It doesn’t have to be exactly like that, but I’d love to see more recommendations like this. If you can, point me to the most epic, finished books. Even if the ones you’re thinking of aren’t exactly what you had in mind, but you still think they’re worth checking out, go ahead and send them. Thanks!

Books with Gladiatorial Combat

By ReefCedar

Does anyone know any good books that have a lot of gladiator-style fighting? I feel like it shows up as a trope, but I just don’t see it much in fantasy or sci-fi lately. Honestly, I can’t even remember the last time I read a book where it was really a thing. Any suggestions? Thanks!