The Science Behind the Comic Books

Comic books (or graphic novels if you prefer) are by definition not subject to the basic laws of science and nature. The artists who draw such can make the heroes and heroines (and the villains for that matter) as powerful or special as they wish; science is rarely an included factor. However, it is fun to occasionally speculate about the possibility of one or more of our favorite creatures arising from the pages of the books and entering real life. In this article, we will examine five of the best known heroes and determine if any of them could enter the real world.

Superman: The last son of the planet Krypton, Superman (Kal-El) is endowed with superhuman strength, toughness and reflexes, along with X-ray vision, heat vision, and the ever-cool ability to fly. An alien stranded as an infant on this planet, Superman was taken in by a kindly childless couple (the Kents) and raised as a human. Upon attaining adulthood, the mighty Man of Steel has since fought for "truth, justice and the American Way."

Possible? Well, no. Superman's toughness can be explained by super-high molecular density (far harder than steel one might add), and his strength by an origin on a high-gravity planet. However, to retain such strength (and indeed to evince it in the first place), Kal-El would have to live at least a good portion of the time on his planet of birth or one with similar gravity. Spaceborne astronauts will testify to the progressive loss of muscular strength under low- or null-gravity conditions; Krypton's son would experience the same atrophication.

Additionally, high density leads to high weight, not the reverse. Superman's ability to fly, from whatever power source, is predicated on being able to defy gravity in his localized sphere. With technology, this might one day be possible (earthly scientists are trying to discover the secrets of antigravity even now), but the methodology of Kal-El I beyond scientific boundaries.

By the way, how dense would Superman have to be in order to have bullets bounce? The straight-line estimate would be roughly the level of tungsten carbide, an artificial substance capable of cutting diamond. In one memorable series, the Man of Steel crushes a lump of coal in his hands, producing a large diamond, and does so without physical injury. One must assume that the toughness of Superman's hands is greater than that of a diamond, the toughest naturally occurring mineral.

Spider-Man: Journalism student and science whiz Peter Parker is observing the demonstration of a new radiological device when a spider drops into the path of the beam. Blasted by the radiation, the spider's genetic code is altering o fast that it barely survives twenty seconds before expiring. Hover, the twenty seconds are enough for the spider to reach out and bite the nearest human, in this case Peter. As a result the Amazing Spider-Man can sling webs, jump incredible distances, has superhuman strength and speed, can climb walls and has a "spider sense" that warns him of danger. In the original series, Parker whomps up a couple of fancy gadgets to shoot his web material; in the movie version, the webs are built in. Later versions of the origin story replace the radioactive beam with a beam that causes DNA mutation and recombination.

Possible? Sorry, Spidey fans, but no. Even assuming the beam is the mutation sort (as the radiation version would simply have killed the spider), arachnid genetics are too simple to combine with human. Humans have 46 chromosomes, arranged in pairs, spiders have about 20. What's more, spiders are among the slower of our creepy-crawly pals, and have been known to trip when they try to exceed their own speed limits. And before you start snickering at the idea of a spider pratfall, you try coordinating 8 limbs simultaneously and see where it gets you. Spiders also do not happen to be especially strong, unlike ants and some other creatures which can lift multiple times their own body weight. As for the spinnerets of the spiders, they happen to be rear mounted, meaning that Peter might have to moon the audience in order to toss a web in real life.

Beyond this, however, some of the abilities are genuine. Some species of spiders can walk upside down on ceilings, and several do have reflexes that outdo most other creatures. None actually have the preternatural danger sense, but fast reflexes might make up for most of that. As far as the webs, engineers are designing robots today that can spin "webs" of carbon cylinders so thin that a hundred of them side by side would not equate to the width of a human hair, but with strength actually greater than spider silk. Although the sticky part hasn't yet been worked out, it would appear that Spidey's webs are well on their way to becoming a reality.

Batman: The original "antihero," the Dark Knight is the alter ego of millionaire philanthropist and scientist Bruce Wayne. The Batman comics were designed to apply to the grittier noir works that were rapidly becoming popular in film; unlike the films, the comic book seems to have survived. Wayne witnessed his parents being killed by a gangster and swore to avenge their deaths. To do so, he trained his body into as perfect a weapon as possible, then accessorized with an assortment of gadgets, most of which have the word Bat worked into the name. Crime-fighting sidekick Robin came along later, but uses the same essential elements (training and gadgets), even if he does have a penchant for using the words "Holy" and "Batman" in the same phrase a bit too often.

Possible? Holy technology, Batman, the answer is yes. Ninety percent of the gadgets originally introduced in the series exist today, most of them available commercially. And human training can indeed cause a human to exceed normal values; anyone who doubts is invited to watch Magnus von Magnusson blow through weights that take four ordinary humans to shift. Von Magnusson, as an aside, is the six-time champion of the World's Strongest Man competition. In fact, the Batmobile (including flaming turbo drive and nitro boost tank, but with no ammunition actually in the twin mount machine guns) was built as a concept car by Ford Motor Company in 1997. The guns, by the way, are real. And if no one has as yet managed to duplicate the Smilex gas of the villainous Joker, then maybe there are a few things that should remain solely in the pages of the comics.

The Incredible Hulk: The green giant is the result of normally mild-mannered Bruce Banner getting his mad on, supposedly as the result of another nuclear effect. According to the comics, the good doctor threw himself atop his friend to shield said friend from the effects of a nuclear weapon test; the result was a gigantic, mean, green powerhouse on adrenaline.

Possible? Fortunately, no. If it were, it would be extremely likely that we'd have had one of these things stomping around; after all, more than 150,000 people died as a result of the twin attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Radiation has been pretty comprehensively studied over the last few decades, and the effects it has on the human organism are relatively well known. The most likely outcome of the Hulk-making blast would have been a dead doctor; less likely threats would include cancer and radiation sickness. Genetic mutation, at least on the level of the Hulk, is out.

The Invisible Woman: Possibly the most appealing of the early superheroes, the Invisible Woman received her abilities as a result of cosmic radiation during a trip out of the earth's protective atmosphere. Her powers are simple, yet effective: a force field that protects herself and her friends at will and the ability to disappear from view.

Possible? Actually, yes, at least in part. The radiation idea has been pretty thoroughly debunked (keep in mind that the Fantastic Four made their debut back in a time when the idea of space travel was still science fiction material). In the last four decades, numerous people have been outside of the atmosphere, many for much longer than the Fan-4. However, in this case, it is technology that permits, or may permit, a duplicate of the Invisible Woman to enter reality. Invisibility is achievable; all that must occur is that the light waves approaching the person or object must be bent around that person or object. Without visible light reflecting back to the viewer, the person or object cannot be seen.

Of course, there are a few drawbacks to this. The light-bending effect is limited at preset to a small amount of electromagnetic radiation, such as the low-power waves of radar systems. This technology could be used to prevent stealth aircraft from being spotted by unfriendlies, as well as prevent radar reconnaissance of troop movements. Altering the entire visible spectrum, on the other hand, would require more technology that we currently have, but scientists studying the concept believe that the most probable method for final success will involve the projection of some sort of electromagnetic shell.

The other drawback is that the person inside such a shell would be completely blind. Without light be allowed through to strike the retinas of the shielded person, it would be as if the invisible wonder was trapped in total darkness…