Overview
Jean de La Hire is remembered nowadays mainly for having created one of the first literary superheroes of so-called pulp fiction: The Nyctalope. The Nyctalope appeared first in L'Homme Qui Peut Vivre dans l'Eau (The Man Who Could Live Underwater) (1908) and continued to be published until the mid-1950s, when its books were reprinted by La Hire's son-in-law as rewritten editions.
The Nyctalope's adventures were of the science fiction style: In L'Homme Qui Peut Vivre dans l'Eau, mad scientist Oxus grafted a shark’s gills onto a man, enabling him to breathe underwater. In Le Mystère des XV (The Mystery Of The XV) (1911), Oxus tried to conquer the planet Mars. In Lucifer (1920), the villainous Glo von Warteck tried to command the world using “Omega Rays” to enslave mankind. In Le Roi de la Nuit (1923), the Nyctalope flew to Rhea, an unknown satellite of Earth.
La Hire was also the author of La Roue Fulgurante (The Fiery Wheel) (1908), a classic "space opera" in which five Earthmen are abducted in the eponymous “fiery wheel” (a flying saucer) and taken to Mercury by aliens who look like columns of light.
La Hire's other works included Le Corsaire Sous-Marin (The Underwater Corsair) (1912–13), a 79-issue feuilleton derivative of Jules Verne, Joe Rollon, l'Autre Homme Invisible (Joe Rollon, The Other Invisible Man) (1919), a variation on H.G. Wells' story and Les Grandes Aventures d'un Boy Scout (The Great Adventures Of A Boy-Scout) (30 issues, 1926), a serial that features the adventures of boy scout Franc-Hardi in underground realms, other planets, etc.
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