I had the opportunity to attend Planet Comicon in Kansas City this weekend, my first such event. For those who don’t know, these events sprang up in just the past ten to fifteen years, originally among people in the comic book industry. They now encompass every aspect of fantasy and science fiction including comic books, video games, movies and television shows.
A lot of the participants spend days, weeks, or longer developing elaborate character costumes. Halloween taken to the max. I went primarily to see the costumes and to watch the competition. I didn’t expect to get much out of the panel presentations. Boy was I ever wrong.
There were so many interesting presentations that I found it hard to find time to eat. Two of the sessions focused on the physics behind science fiction, what might work based on real science and what suppositions are pure baloney. Dr. Dan Claes, Department Chair & Professor, HEP Physics & Astronomy, University of Nebraska, gave an artful mathematical demonstration of the physics related to Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Many of the assumptions behind Superman’s original comic book incarnation are based on valid science. He could leap tall buildings (but not fly) and had superhuman strength. His abilities would be plausible, if highly improbable, based on the assumption that his species was born on a planet with radically higher gravity and a red sun that promoted a different cell structure. The modern versions of both heroes are beyond real science, however.
Dr. Claes’s second lecture focused on the effects of radiation. Godzilla, giant ants, and other radiation-induced nasties—not plausible. Sorry monster movie buffs. The modern field of genetics offers many more possibilities. Spiderman on the other hand, might be plausible if there were other factors involved such as a rapidly-spreading radioactively altered virus that the spider transmitted.
All science fiction revolves around stretching science to its limits and trying to project ourselves into a future we can’t see. One of the limits to interplanetary travel is the damaging effect of long-term exposure to cosmic radiation that astronauts would experience. We have nothing that will adequately shield them. So Star Trek—not possible at this point in time. But new elements are discovered or created from time to time, or we may discover a way to counteract the effects, so who knows.
I am surprised and thrilled that Planet Comicon gave me many insights and inspirations for my future writing. Dr. Claes answered a major question I had for the book I am writing and seeing the alien creations of others helped me clarify how my own characters should look.
It just goes to show that a writer never knows where he or she will find inspiration. Keep an open mind and keep on trying new things.
