"Gladiator" is one of the great unsung novels of science fiction. At the time it was written, there had been something of a vogue for novels about superhuman characters...but they had for the most part been novels about humans possessing superintelligence...such as Olaf Stapledon's "Odd John". Wylie was one of the first---if not the first---to explore the consequences of an otherwise ordinary human being possessed of superhuman strength.

I certainly would not catagorize "Gladiator" as pulp fiction (if for no other reason than that it had been originally published in hardcover by the prestigious Alfred Knopf and not in a science fiction pulp magazine). Philip Wylie was one of the most literate, often controversial authors of the first half of the twentieth century. He wrote screenplays, science fiction (including the classic "When Worlds Collide"), numerous mainstream novels and hundreds of short stories, mostly for the "slicks" rather than the pulps. "Gladiator" is one of his earlier works and one that is known more by reputation. It's very good to see it made available again and I hope that it receives the wide readership it deserves.

Ron Miller

(While "Gladiator" was an inspiration for "Superman" by admission of its creators, it might be a stretch to say that the book was also an inspiration for "Doc Savage". Lester Dent much more likely found his source in George Allen England's "Flying Legion", whose main character was a man of superior strength and intelligence, who was based in a penthouse atop a NY skyscraper and who indulged in high adventure with a small group of equally talented, like-minded men. The book even includes a prototype of Pat Savage!)