Books with title Asterix Gladiator

Originally Published: 1930"The lusty life of an uninhibited superman!"A scientist invents a serum to improve humankind by granting the proportionate strength of an ant and the leaping ability of the grasshopper. He injects his pregnant wife with the serum, and his son Hugo Danner is born with superhuman strength, speed, and bulletproof skin.The novel is widely accepted to have been an inspiration for Superman.

The Adventures of Asterix (French: Asterix or Asterix le Gaulois) is a series of French comic books written by Rene Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo (Uderzo also took over the job of writing the series after the death of Goscinny in 1977). The series first appeared in French in the magazine Pilote on 29 October 1959. As of 2008, 33 comic books in the series have been released.The series follows the exploits of a village of ancient Gauls as they resist Roman occupation. They do so by means of a magic potion, brewed by their druid, which gives the recipient superhuman strength. The protagonist, the titular character, Asterix, along with his friend Obelix have various adventures. In many cases, this leads them to travel to various countries around the world, though other books are set in and around their village. For much of the history of the series (Volumes 4 through 29), settings in Gaul and abroad alternated, with even-numbered volumes set abroad and odd-numbered volumes set in Gaul, mostly in the village.The Asterix series is one of the most popular Franco-Belgian comics in the world, with the series being translated into over 100 languages, and it is popular in most European countries. The success of the series has led to the adaptation of several books into 11 films; eight animated, and three with live actors. There have also been a number of games based on the characters, and a theme park near Paris, Parc Asterix, is themed around the series. To date, 325 million copies of 33 Asterix books have been sold around the world making co-creators Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo France's bestselling authors abroad.

Mae'r Rhufeiniaid wedi cipio Perganiedix, bardd y Galiaid, a'i roi dan glo yn y Syrcas Maximus. Ei ffawd yw cael ei daflu i'r llewod. I'w gadw rhag y dynged erchyll hon, rhaid i Asterix ac Obelix ffeindio'u ffordd i lawr i'r arena. Gyda thorf enfawr o Rufeiniaid yn disgwyl, mae gan Asterix ac Obelix sioe a hanner i'w pherfformio wrth iddynt gamu allan i'r arena fel gladiatoriaid! The Romans kidnap Perganiedix, the Gaulish village bard, and lock him away in the Circus Maximus where an audience with the lions awaits him. Saving Perganiedix from this terrible fate proves difficult for Asterix and Obelix, until they manage to find work that will get them into the arena ... as gladiators!

Hugo Danner was the pulp prototype of the modern superman. He was stronger than the mythic heroes of old and nigh invulnerable. He had superhuman speed and he could leap like a grasshopper. He was a circus strongman who put his god-like powers to the task of helping others, which began as an attempt to win wars for his country, but was later focused on holding our corrupt leaders to account for their dismissal of the common man’s struggle. In many ways that description is fitting of the original Superman, but while Hugo Danner arose at the dawn of the age of the superhero, he actually predates all of them. Hugo was introduced in Philip Wylie’s GLADIATOR, a pulp novel published in 1930, eight years before the introduction of his comic book counterparts. Hugo Danner’s origins are much more grounded than Superman’s. He is not sent from the Heavens to protect us and his powers are not naturally gifted by the sun. He actually owes his origins to a much more modern and terrestrial myth: Mary Shelley’s FRANKENSTEIN. Like the monster created by the titular character of Shelley’s novel, Hugo Danner’s powers are the product of science. His father vaccinated his pregnant mother with a formula derived from Alkaline Radicals so that their child would be born with preternatural powers. Hugo’s quest to put his power to purpose drives him to join the French Foreign Legion and fight in World War I, but even his strength proves insufficient to mitigate the horrors of war. In what is likely his greatest similarity to the Golden Age Superman, Hugo decides to direct his efforts toward social issues. This runs him afoul of crooked politicians and freedom fighters who are more concerned with their causes than they are with the people those causes are meant to support. GLADIATOR predicts the coming of the superhero by envisioning Hugo as a circus strongman in tights. Though Danner never dons the costume of a circus performer in his exploits, the imagery exists in the book as a subtle proof of concept. In the end, the tragedy of Frankenstein’s monster predicts Hugo Danner’s fate. He travels in search of answers and ultimately succumbs to his own despair. On the one hand, Hugo is faced with the prospect of perpetual personal loneliness and isolation. On the other, he must consider the potential horror of a world where other creatures such as himself are brought into existence. Unlike Superman, whose never-ending battle inspires scores of super-powered imitators who share his passion for two-fisted justice, Hugo has seen how difficult it can be to do good even when you have all the greatest power and all the noblest intentions. GLADIATOR leaves us with the question of how the world might benefit from the coming of a superman. It also gives us room to doubt if such a man could ever be happy here.

Gladiator concerns a scientist who invents an "alkaline free-radical" serum to "improve" humankind by granting the proportionate strength of an ant and the leaping ability of the grasshopper. The scientist injects his pregnant wife with the serum and his son Hugo Danner is born with superhuman strength, speed, and bulletproof skin. Hugo spends much of the novel hiding his powers, rarely getting a chance to openly use them. The novel is widely assumed to have been an inspiration for Superman, though no confirmation exists that Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were influenced by it.