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Fantasy Commentator, v. 1, issue 10, Spring 1946

Page 244

244
FANTASY COMMENTATOR

VI
The Microcosmic Superman

Although this class is in every way the exact antecedent of that preceding it, the listing of specific antitheses is made somewhat out of place by the fact that, if we keep to our prescribed limitations and omit considerations of feys, fairies, elves and similar little people, there is but one singular miniature superman deserving citation.

Hermes, of Rocklynne's "Smallest God," has come into being through accidental means. He is an exact complement, in reduced size, of his macrocosmic cousins previously discussed; great muscular power, supreme intelligence and the ability to communicate with other minds telepathically are among his attributes. After becoming involved in an interesting series of adventures, this might mite finally achieves the goal of his existence when his intellect is transferred to a perfect, artificially-created, human body. Although this novelette makes no pretensions of being outstanding, it nevertheless provides reading fare that is lightly and pleasantly entertaining.

VII
The Evolution Superman

It was Edmond Hamilton who first conceived the idea that the process of evolution, as observed in nature, could be duplicated artificially by fictional laboratory methods. Though producing supermen by such means was probably incidental to his purpose, one resulted in each of his two stories that treated the plot: "The Man Who Evolved" and "A Million Years Ahead." Somewhat later a third variation of the same idea appeared in "The Monstrosity of Evolution" by Throp McClusky.

In Hamilton's earlier effort a scientist, seeking to learn the ultimate height of man's evolution-scale, invents a machine that accelerates its user at the rate of fifty million years of evolution per fifteen minutes' exposure to its radiation. After the initial quarter-hour the subject's brain and body are seen to evolve equally; at the end of the next the body has begun to atrophy; and after the third the body has shrunk to a dimunitive appendages, entirely out of proportion to the size of its huge cranium. At this point the subject is discussed with difficulty from halting the process himself, and emerging as despotic ruler of the world. The experiment continues until there remains nothing but a huge palpitating brain, the ultimate goal of homo sapiens. The last step reduces this brain to a seething primal slime whence all life originates.

The author's plagiarism of his own material results in an infinitely inferior story. For a cash recompense an ex-criminal submits himself to the same experiment; this time, however, the process is stopped after a million years of evolution have been accomplished. Upon release from the machine he sets out to conquer the world, his plan being frustrated in typical Hamiltonian fashion when the supervising scientist submits himself to the same process and overcomes him. Both men are eventually devolved back to their original forms.

The superman produced in the same fashion by McClusky plans to submit everyone in the world to the same process, but is slain by his creator before the scheme can materialize. The author casts interesting sidelights on the process, reasoning that a superman evolved to live millions of years in the future, with diminished stature, expanded cranium and weakened physical structure, could exist under present-day conditions. These and other scientific theorizings seem of more value than the fiction cloaking them.

Lloyd A. Eshbach's "Valley of the Titans" discusses an attempted acceleration of evolutionary processes also, but the unfortunate scientist depicted here succeeds only in producing devolution. The tale, too, seems more concerned with developing a love-interest than in anything else.

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244 FANTASY COMMENTATOR VI The Microcosmic Superman Although this class is in every way the exact antecedent of that preceding it, the listing of specific antitheses is made somewhat out of place by the fact that, if we keep to our prescribed limitations and omit considerations of feys, fairies, elves and similar little people, there is but one singular miniature superman deserving citation. Hermes, of Rocklynne's "Smallest God," has come into being through accidental means. He is an exact complement, in reduced size, of his macrocosmic cousins previously discussed; great muscular power, supreme intelligence and the ability to communicate with other minds telepathically are among his attributes. After becoming involved in an interesting series of adventures, this might mite finally achieves the goal of his existence when his intellect is transferred to a perfect, artificially-created, human body. Although this novelette makes no pretensions of being outstanding, it nevertheless provides reading fare that is lightly and pleasantly entertaining. VII The Evolution Superman It was Edmond Hamilton who first conceived the idea that the process of evolution, as observed in nature, could be duplicated artificially by fictional laboratory methods. Though producing supermen by such means was probably incidental to his purpose, one resulted in each of his two stories that treated the plot: "The Man Who Evolved" and "A Million Years Ahead." Somewhat later a third variation of the same idea appeared in "The Monstrosity of Evolution" by Throp McClusky. In Hamilton's earlier effort a scientist, seeking to learn the ultimate height of man's evolution-scale, invents a machine that accelerates its user at the rate of fifty million years of evolution per fifteen minutes' exposure to its radiation. After the initial quarter-hour the subject's brain and body are seen to evolve equally; at the end of the next the body has begun to atrophy; and after the third the body has shrunk to a dimunitive appendages, entirely out of proportion to the size of its huge cranium. At this point the subject is discussed with difficulty from halting the process himself, and emerging as despotic ruler of the world. The experiment continues until there remains nothing but a huge palpitating brain, the ultimate goal of homo sapiens. The last step reduces this brain to a seething primal slime whence all life originates. The author's plagiarism of his own material results in an infinitely inferior story. For a cash recompense an ex-criminal submits himself to the same experiment; this time, however, the process is stopped after a million years of evolution have been accomplished. Upon release from the machine he sets out to conquer the world, his plan being frustrated in typical Hamiltonian fashion when the supervising scientist submits himself to the same process and overcomes him. Both men are eventually devolved back to their original forms. The superman produced in the same fashion by McClusky plans to submit everyone in the world to the same process, but is slain by his creator before the scheme can materialize. The author casts interesting sidelights on the process, reasoning that a superman evolved to live millions of years in the future, with diminished stature, expanded cranium and weakened physical structure, could exist under present-day conditions. These and other scientific theorizings seem of more value than the fiction cloaking them. Lloyd A. Eshbach's "Valley of the Titans" discusses an attempted acceleration of evolutionary processes also, but the unfortunate scientist depicted here succeeds only in producing devolution. The tale, too, seems more concerned with developing a love-interest than in anything else.