Superhumans in science fiction writing are usually
people with an added ability, either increased intelligence as in The Fourth “R” (1959) by George O.
SMITH or some psi power, such as telepathy. Although Gladiator (1930) by Philip WYLIE may have
been the inspiration for the comic strip Superman,
its protagonist was only moderately stronger than
other men, and vulnerable in other ways. There
have been tie-in novels based on various comic
book superheroes from time to time, sometimes
written by established genre writers, but the costumed superhero from the graphics world is too
implausible to provide fertile ground for original
novelists. Michael BISHOP played with the idea in
Count Geiger’s Blues (1992), but only for satiric
purposes. The one exception to all of this is the
Wild Cards series of novels and original anthologies, 15 volumes set in a shared universe.
The premise is that contamination from outer
space resulted in a variety of unpredictable mutations, providing diverse superpowers to various individuals. Those with significant powers are known
as Aces, those with minor gifts as Deuces. Unfortunately, some of those empowered individuals turn
to a life of crime, and perhaps even more unfortunately, there is widespread fear and distrust among
normals directed toward those with mutant powers, regardless of their choice of lifestyle. The individual writers pursued their own story lines, but
always within a larger context dictated by the editors, so that there is a logical progression from
book to book. Among those who contributed
were Roger ZELAZNY, Lewis Shiner, Pat CADIGAN,
Edward Bryant, Walter Jon WILLIAMS, and the editors themselves. The first volume in the series was
Wild Cards (1987) and the last was Black Trump
(1995). All of these were collections, except for
three titles that were actually novels: Turn of the
Cards (1993) by Victor Milan, Double Solitaire
(1994) by Melinda Snodgrass, and Dead Man’s
Hand (1994) by George R. R. MARTIN and John J.
Miller. The mood of the series was generally playful
in the earlier volumes, but grew more serious and
somewhat bitter toward the end.