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Authors: James Kakalios

The Physics of Superheroes: Spectacular Second Edition (66 page)

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leaping ability of
silk and webs of
spinning
Sputnik
squeezed quantum states
Stacy, Gwen (Spider-Man’s girlfriend)
death of
Stapp, Col. John
Star Boy
Starro (JLA foe)
stars
formation of
gravity and
nuclear fusion and
Starsky, Igor (Bruce Banner’s research assistant)
Star Trek
(TV series)
static electricity
statics
steel
steering plates
Stilt Man (Daredevil foe)
Storm (Ororo Munroe)
Strange Tales
Strange Tales
straw, drinking
stress fracture
string theory
Strong force
subatomic particles.
See also specific particles
suction
Sullivan, Vin
sun
color of
electricity and energy from
energy from, and food
shining of
surface temperature of
weather and
Sun Eater (Legion of Superheroes foe)
Superboy #1
Superboy
Supergirl
superhero comics.
See also specific physics concepts; superhero foes; superhero friends; and super heroes
bloopers in
Communism and
costumes in
decline of, in mid 1950s,
historical and scientific trivia in
history of
origin transitions in, and popular zeitgeist
physics and
political attack on
Superman (Kal-El, Clark Kent)
Aquaman vs.
Bizarro planet and
buildings lifted by
costumes and
disguise of
electrical currents and
Flash vs.
Golden vs. Silver Age
graphite squeezed into diamond by
heat vision of
Hulk vs.
imp foe of
Kryptonite and
Krypton’s doom and
Krypton’s gravity and strength of
last words of
leaping of
long-distance thirst-quenching, and
moon on string and
Newton’s laws of motion and
origin of
parallel Earth visited by
pre-flying, and gravity
race with Flash across Milky Way
Spider-Man vs.
Superboy removed from history of
time travel of, and effort to change history
time travel of, and relativity
weight of, on Krypton
X ray vision of
Superman
,
Superman
,
Superman
,
Superman
,
Superman
“Superman’s Greatest Feats,”
“Superman’s Super Boo-Boos” (Action Comics # 333)
Superman: The Movie
(film)
supernova
surface
fracturing or tearing
friction and
surface tension of water
surfactant
Swamp Thing (DC Comics character)
Swimming
tachyons
Tales from the Crypt
Tales of Suspense
Tales of Suspense
,
Tales of Suspense
,
Tales of Suspense
,
Tales of Suspense
,
Tales of Suspense
,
Tales of Suspense
,
Tales of Suspense
,
Tales of Suspense
,
Tales of Suspense
,
Tales of Suspense
,
Tales of Suspense
,
Tales of Suspense
,
Tales to Astonish
Tales to Astonish
,
Tales to Astonish
,
Tales to Astonish
,
Tales to Astonish
,
Tales to Astonish
,
Tales to Astonish
,
Tales to Astonish
,
Tales to Astonish
,
Tarzan
Taxol (anticancer drug)
telepathy
telephone
television
reverse
temperature
atmospheric, and weather
Kelvin absolute scale
kinetic energy and
light emitted by hot objects and
phase transitions and
quantitative concept of
zero entropy and
tensile strength
tension, pendulum and
“Tests” (
Spider-M an Unlimited # 2
)
The Top (Roscoe Dillon)
theory, scientific
thermal conductivity
thermal convection rolls
thermal imaging
thermodynamics
thermodynamics, laws of
First
Second
Third
thermoresponsive materials
Thing (Ben Grimm)
Thomas, Roy
Thompson, Benjamin
Thompson’Arcy
Thor, Mighty
hammer travel of
throwing
thunderstorm
time.
See also
space-time
impulse and momentum and
power and
Special Theory of Relativity and
Time Pool
Timely Comics.
See
Marvel Comics
time travel
titanium alloys
Titanium Man (Iron Man foe)
tornadoes
torque
axis of rotation and
center of mass and
defined
unbalanced
Toyman (Superman foe)
transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
transistors
defined
invention of
top-hat
“Trapped by the Protector” (Ant-Man)
Trevor, Steve (Wonder Woman’s friend)
tunneling phenomena
turbine
turbulence
Ultimates
,
Ultimates
,
Ultimates
,
ultraviolet catastrophe
ultraviolet light (UV)
UV glasses and
Ultron (Avengers foe)
Uncanny X-Men, The
Uncle Ben (Spider-Man’s relative)
“Unified Field Theory, The” (West Coast Avengers)
U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency
universe
Big Bang and
elemental mass in
missing mass of
parallel (multiverse)
Unknown
uranium
vacuum
vacuum tubes
van der Waals force
Vault of Horror, The
Veidt, Adrian (Watchmen character)
Velcro, invention of
velocity.
See also
acceleration; deceleration
braking time and
density and
escape
friction and drag and
impulse and momentum and
initial
shortening of lengths and
Vibranium
Vietnam War
Vinci, Leonardo da
violin string analogy, and electron’s discrete energy levels
viscosity
Vision (Avenger superhero)
vision.
See also
night-vision goggles
Ant Man and
Aquaman and
Atom and
night-vision goggles and
X-ray
vocal cords
voltage
voltage difference
volume
cube-square law and
of sphere
vortices
dolphins and golf balls and
water-strider and
Vulture (Spider-Man foe)
Waid, Mark
Warner Bros.
warp speed
Wasp (Janet Van Dyne)
costumes of
shrinking of
waste energies
waste heat
Watchmen
(film)
Watchmen
(Moore and Gibbons)
water
breathing under
density of
electricity and
hard vs. heavy
height or sea level of
running on surface of
surface tension of
waves in
water-air interface
water analogy
electric current and
transistors and
water molecules
diamagnetic
phase transitions and
V-shape of, and snow
water pressure
swimming speed and
water vapor, humidity and
Watson, Mary Jane (Spider-Man friend)
Watt (unit of power)
Watt, James
wave function, for electron
wavelength
matter-wave
electromagnetic waves
sound wave
wavelike nature of matter.
See also
matter-waves
Weak force
weather
Weather Wizard (Mark Mardon)
webbing
real spider’s
Spider-Man and
weight.
See also
cube-square law; mass
Atom’s ability to shrink size independently of
friction and
mass vs.
Superman’s, on Krypton
weightlessness
Wein, Len
Weird Science-Fantasy
Weird Tales
Weisinger, Mort
Wertham, Dr. Frederic
West, Iris (Flash’s girlfriend)
West, T.H. (physics professor)
West Coast Avengers
West Coast Avengers #42
What is Relativity?
(Landau and Romer)
Wheeler Nicholson, Malcolm
Whirlwind (Dave Cannon, Human Top)
Wieringo, Mike
Wildcat
Wildenberg, Harry
wind
wind power
Wingless Wizard (Fantastic Four foe), antigravity discs of
wireless technology
wires
coil, generation of electrical current and
electrical current and
malleability of metal and
resistance of, and light
shape memory and
telephone
Wizard
magazine
Wolverine (Logan)
Wonder Woman
,
Wonder Woman
bullet-deflecting bracelets of
Golden vs. Silver Age
moon on string and
Wong-Chu (Iron Man foe)
Work
conservation of energy and
defined, vs. torque
thermodynamics and
World’s Finest
,
World’s Finest
,
World War II,
wormholes
X-Men
X-Men
,
X-Men
,
X-Men
,
X-Men
,
X-Men
,
X-Men 2: X-men United
(film)
X rays
X ray vision
glasses for
Yeager, Col. Chuck
Yellowjacket (Henry Pym).
See also
Ant-Man; Giant-Man
yellow journalism
Yellow Kid
yew tree, stress/strain properties of
Yinsen, Professor (Iron Man ally)
Zantanna
zero degrees Kelvin
zero entropy systems
zone of force
Zook (J’onn J’onnz sidekick)
Zwicky, Fritz
Zzzax (Avenger foe)
Figure 31: Photograph by Francis Simon, courtesy of AIP Emilo Segre Visual Archives, Francis Simon Collection.
 
The copyrighted DC Comics and Marvel illustrations in this book are reproduced for commentary, critical, scientific and scholarly purposes. The copyright dates adjacent to the illustrations are the dates printed in the comics in which the illustrations were first published.
 
The copyrights and trademarks in Superman, Flash, Weather Wizard, Aquaman, Rulers of Appellax, the Atom, Superboy, Golden Age Flash, Ray Palmer, Victor Danning, John Carr, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, and related logos and indicia are owned by DC Comics Inc.
 
The copyrights and trademarks in Spider-Man, Gwen Stacy, Green Goblin, Ant-Man, Wasp, Porcupine, Iceman, Storm, Electro, Magneto, Sub-Mariner, Angel, Kitty Pryde, Whirlwind, White Queen, Sebastian Shaw, Iron Man, and related logos and indicia are owned by Marvel Entertainment Group Inc.
1
To this end, Lex Luthor publicly came to Superman’s aid on several occasions, with the goal of making Superman doubt his judgment regarding Luthor’s intentions. So committed was Luthor to this plan that he even directly saved Superman’s life when he was threatened by another crook wielding a Kryptonian sword capable of killing him. You might think that it would be simpler at this point to abandon his plan to “gaslight” Superman and just let the other crook kill him and be done with it, but who can truly understand the thought processes of a criminal mastermind like Lex Luthor?
2
The concept of using words and drawings to tell a story is more than five hundred years old. There are examples of woodcut “broadsheets” from the Middle Ages that use paneled borders, speedlines, and word balloons.
3
Water is characterized as “heavy” when the two hydrogen atoms in H
2
O each have an extra neutron, while water with a large mineral content is termed “hard.” Fortunately for the Golden Age Flash, water softeners were not common in the 1940s.
BOOK: The Physics of Superheroes: Spectacular Second Edition
4.99Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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