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Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Deadline uses nuclear physics to try to defeat Starman — Starman #25 (1990) #starman #nuclearphysics #dccomics

Top panel: Deadline sits against some rocks proudly holding his recently-acquired super-gun. He thinks “I wonder if you realize just how good a TARGET you make?” Middle panel: “ZAMPFF” Bottom panel: Starman on the ground, clothes in tatters. “What have you done to me?” Deadline responds “Maybe you noticed that GEL sticking to you. The explosives carried it… has a lot of BORON in it. Ever heard of boron? It absorbs NEUTRONS…”

A few pages later in the same issue, a close up on Deadline’s hand thrusting a knife into Starman’s chest. “This blade is plated with CADMIUM… the stuff used to control nuclear reactions!”

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Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · 19/04/2026

Superman uses a fork to explain higher dimensions — Action Comics #14 (2013) #superman #dccomics

The cover of the New 52 Action Comics #14. Superman hovers in the air as a swarm of beings that look a lot like Angels from Doctor Who descend on him.

In four panels, Superman uses a fork to explain what is happening. “In THREE DIMENSIONS this fork is ONE single object, right? But when it interacts with a TWO-DIMENSIONAL surface — like the cover of your JOURNAL, Noah — it leaves FOUR distinct points.” Superman pokes the book with the fork, leaving four points imprinted in the cover. He continues, “The MULTITUDE isn’t a MULTITUDE at all. It’s not a RACE of beings — the multitude is all ONE thing — a single WEAPON with COUNTLESS POINTS aimed at us from a HIGHER, 5th DIMENSION. We have to hit ALL of them at the same time.”

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Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

Space weather is just not the same — Superman The Man of Steel #31 (1994) #superman #dccomics

Superman flies through a snowstorm, thinking “BEAUTIFUL snowstorm! Man, it’s great to be BACK! One of the things I MISS in space is the weather…” (A voice from below is less appreciative, saying “Doesn’t matter where I park, blasted SNOW PLOWS always bury my car!”)

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Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

Superboy avoids an electric shock — Superboy #17 (1995) #superboy #dccomics

Superboy and Neon face each other left to right. Neon unleashes a blast of electricity on Superboy (“BZZZZZZT!”) but Superboy is unfazed: “See, I’m gonna live ‘cause this Neo-villain never LEARNED that even blastin’, like, a BAZILLION gigawatts of electricity is pretty lame —“

We now see Superboy full length, hovering about six inches above the ground. “… when the BLASTEE isn’t GROUNDED!” “Mmm! A mild, TINGLY sensation — not unlike a BREATH MINT!”

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Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

Lex Luthor has an idea about how to communicate with the future — Adventures of Superman #444 (1988) #superman #lexluthor

Pete Ross, Lana Lang, and Lex Luthor are sitting together in the front seat of a car. Lex, driving, says “I don’t know … I have theorized that ONE-WAY communication with the future might be possible by bouncing a radio beam off a distant planet, so that it would return to Earth hundreds or even thousands of years in the future. I won’t GUARANTEE anything but it’s sure worth a TRY!!”

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Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

The secret of time travel! — Firestorm The Nuclear Man #70 (1988) #firestorm #timetravel #dccomics

Professor Rikkard Rynders, trapped in the time-stream, is explaining to Firestorm how he got there. “I had come to the conclusion that TIME-TRAVEL was a matter not of PHYSICS but of the CONSCIOUSNESS. Via the astral self, utilizing psychedelic drugs, I had made several trips through time. It IRRITATED me that none of my colleagues BELIEVED my successes without demonstrable verifiable PROOF.” In the panel we see the Professor and Firestorm standing next to each other in the time-stream looking onto the events of the past, where the younger Professor and his graduate assistant are setting up the experiment.

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Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Lex Luthor is complimented on his security measures — Supergirl and Team Luthor #1 (1993) #lexluthor #neutrino #dccomics

Lex Luthor, sitting in his levitating chair, meets Dr Packard from Project Cadmus. Dr Packard exclaims “Ah, Mr Luthor! I am mightily impressed by your security measures, sir! Even a NEUTRINO, I dare say, would be hard pressed to escape this room undetected.”
Luthor replies “Such a great compliment means a great deal, coming from you —“

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Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

A Physics emergency in Federal Bureau of Physics #6 (2014) #dccomics #vertigo

A man leans forward, speaking into a phone held up to his ear (a large cordless landline phone). A voice asks “and which emergency service do you require?” His answer: “PHYSICS.”

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Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · 28/12/2025

The Atom uses electromagnetism to save himself — DC Comics Presents #51 (1982) #theatom #electromagnetism #dccomics

Three panels left to right showing The Atom attempting to interact with a horseshoe magnet. Time travel has left him in the form of a phantom so he is not able to hold onto the magnet and return to his own time. Instead he has to use electromagnetism to attract himself to the magnet. He explains: “Got an idea! All matter contains POSITIVE protons and NEGATIVE electrons whose charges cancel each other out. By rapidly shrinking, I can disrupt my body’s normal electrical neutrality … and briefly take on the aspect of a CHARGED PARTICLE myself! And “charge-in-motion” is the physicists’ definition of …magnetism!”

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Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · 27/12/2025

Amadeus Cho calculates how to get out of a tight spot in Amazing Fantasy #15 (2005) #marvelcomics

Amadeus Cho stands in a diner, fists-clenched and facing two wide-eyed strangers with their hands up. The air around him is filled with physics equations as he calculates how to escape.

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Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

“Consider a velocity so great that it would take you around the Earth’s equator seven and a half times in a single second” — DC Comics Presents #51 (1982) #superman #theatom #dccomics

Four page-wide panels: (1) Superman speeds after a laser beam propagating in space. He thinks “… unless I can outrace this LASER BEAM!” A caption says “Consider the speed of light ..” (2) Now we see inside the laser beam, the silhouette of The Atom riding alongside the photons in the beam. The caption reads “Consider a velocity so great that it would take you around the Earth’s equator 7 1/2 times in a single second…” (3) Zoomed out again to show Superman flying alongside the head of the beam. Caption: ”Now consider a man whose powers are so vast and his will so determined that he can match that speed… and BEAT IT!” (4) Superman is using his cape to catch The Atom who is emerging from the beam and growing back to his full size. Caption: “His name, of course … is SUPERMAN!”

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Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

Our place in the Universe — The All New Atom #1 (2006) #theatom #dccomics

Dropping new Professor Ryan Choi off at his house, his colleague Panda pontificates on our place in the Universe: “Earth’s circumference at the equator’s almost twenty-five thousand miles, Ryan. It’s ten times that distance to our own Moon. Our average distance from the Sun is 93 million miles. Jupiter’s almost five times that distance, at a diameter 12 times that of Earth. Our Sun dwarfs our planet, and it’s one star out of an untold number. It’s not even a particularly LARGE star. Look up at the night sky, Ryan. We’re each and every one of us ALREADY small.”

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Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

A head-on collision between irresistible force and immovable object fixes the space-time continuum in DC Comics Presents #2 (1978) #superman #superboy #dccomics

Three panels showing Superman and Superboy first lining up facing each other preparing to run, then sprinting at high speed towards each other, and then finally flashes of light and a loud BARAMMM as they collide. The thoughts of Superman reveal what is happening: “The signal transmitted across time by the alien COMMUNICATOR I’m wearing DID THIS — DISTURBED the SPACE-TIME CONTINUUM— DISTORTING the NATURAL LAWS — allowing me to CO-EXIST with a version of MYSELF from an earlier time of my life! But as a RESULT of the disruption, both SUPERBOY and I are TRAPPED here in the 30th CENTURY! I once DREAMED about a situation like this — when I was SUPERBOY! And IN that dream, we solved our problem with a DELIBERATE HEAD-ON COLLISION BETWEEN US! The impact of an IRRESISTIBLE FORCE meeting an IMMOVABLE OBJECT — namely the two of US — hurled us back to our respective times! I just hope it works in REAL LIFE, TOO!”

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Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

Captain Comet speed reads — Strange Adventures #41 (1954) #captaincomet #dccomics

Captain Comet stands flipping through the pages of a book. A woman to his left asks “Why, CAPTAIN COMET, how can you read so fast?” He replies “My mind takes a split-second PHOTOGRAPH of each page, Linda! Now, have you a television set?”

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Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

Reed hears the call of his microchips — Fantastic Four #334 (1989) #fantasticfour

Reed Richards is at the front of the scene, looking out towards us. Sharon Ventura as She-Thing is in the background and asks “Uh, Reed?” Reed replies “MMMM. I think I hear my microchips calling, Sharon. I’ll see you later!”

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Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

Resonant vibrations solidify the air but that’s not enough to stop She-Hulk! — The Savage She-Hulk #25 (1981) #SheHulkSunday #marvelcomics

Radius boasts to She-Hulk “I can cause resonating vibrations — force the very air molecules themselves to solidify around you — trap you in an unbreakable shell —“ but ends with “—Unk—!” as She-Hulk cries out “Says you!” and punches him.

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Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

Thanks to Einstein, Matter Eater Lad digests an energy beam — Superboy #184 (1972, collected in DC Finest: Legion of Super-Heroes: Zap goes the Legion) #LegionOfSuperHeroes #Einstein #MatterEaterLad

An orange-coloured beam is going into Matter-Eater Lad’s mouth as he says “You forget — all energy is nothing more than converted MATTER! I can DIGEST the stun-beam with no ill effects!”

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Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

Leia and Luke look for Alderaan in the night sky — Star Wars #33 (2017) #starwars

Three wide panels. Top: Leia and Luke are lying on a grassy slope looking up at the night sky. Middle: a close up on the back of Luke’s head in the foreground, looking towards Leia who faces up to the sky. Luke asks, “You still LOOK for it, don’t you?” Leia replies “Every time I look up. And the weird part is …” Bottom: “…sometimes it’s still there. We’re so far away right now, the light from its explosion still hasn’t reached us. It’s hard not to feel like… if I just fly toward that spot… it’ll still be there.”

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Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

The Complete History of the Universe — Fermilab poster from 1984 (Angela Gonzalez, Michael Turner) #cosmology #sciart

A black and white poster showing the different stages of the history of the Universe. On the left is a cartoon of nested circles illustrating the Big Bang and then on the right are parallel scales showing time, energy, temperature, density. At the bottom another scale shows the constituent particles relevant for each time period. The lines are labelled with significant events such as “End of Grand Unification”, “End of Electroweak Unification”, “Matter Domination: Formation of Structure Begins” and “Formation of atoms”. This image comes from the article by Michael Turner “The Road to Precision Cosmology” published in 2022.

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Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

I can’t wait to see what’s on the other side of the Moon! — Strange Adventures #39 (1953) #farsideofthemoon #dccomics

Two people in a small red space ship look down at the Moon. The space ship looks like a round version of a 1950s car with fins and a long round bench seat. Pointing towards the Moon, one of the figures says “The other side of the Moon… never seen from Earth! It looks exactly the same as the Earth side!”

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Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

A new villain takes inspiration from nuclear fusion experiments in The Fury of Firestorm #18 (1983) #firestorm #dccomics #nuclearfusion

A man in a green suit is being held in the air by white rings that send off a bright blast of energy. On the left, a man in a helmet explains “I call myself TOKAMAK, the human reactor! ‘Tokamak’ is the Russian name for a FUSION PLASMA REACTOR…”

We now see Tokamak in full. He is wearing a metallic suit and the man in green is now a blur surrounded by white rings of plasma as he screams AAAAAAA.. Tokamak continues “PLASMA ENERGY RINGS, Merkyn, MAGNETIC FIELDS - of the kind used to control a FUSION REACTOR! I can generate them by focusing the energies I now contain.”

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Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

Watching the cosmic microwave background radiation on TV — Traveling to Mars #11 (2024, Mark Russell and Roberto Meli)

A couple on a sofa fell asleep watching TV and have just woken up to the glow of the screen. “Look it’s snowing.” “I didn’t even know televisions still did that.” In the panel below we see the TV screen filled with random noise. The captions read “I remember how as a kid, I’d get up early to watch cartoons and be disappointed that I was too early. That there wasn’t anything on. Not understanding that what I was actually seeing was the microwave radiation left over from the birth of the universe.”

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Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

The heading of the letters page in The Fury of Firestorm #9 (1983) #firestorm #dccomics

Firestorm flies towards us, arms outstretched, above the words “Nuclear Reactions”, the title of the letters page.

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Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

Scientific people know very well that time is only a kind of space — Classics Illustrated #133 The Time Machine (1966)

The opening page of Classics Illustrated adaptation of “The Time Machine” from 1966. It shows the Time Traveller working on the time machine in his laboratory, wearing shirt and tie and holding a soldering iron. The time machine consists of a frame built from two circular tubes at right angles to each other, within which is a seat with various bits of wiring and controls. At the bottom of the page is a caption that reads “Scientific people know very well that time is only a kind of space. We can move forward and backward in time just as we can move forward and backward in space. To prove this theory, I invented a machine to travel through time. If you pressed one lever, the machine went back into the past. If you pressed the other lever, the machine glided forward into the future. With this machine, I set out to explore time.”

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Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

The mists of hyperspace — Mystery in Space #63 (1960) #dccomics

Two men in the cockpit of a space ship. Everything is cast in a green glow and swirls of green mist can be seen through the window. The caption reads “Captain Parker presses a special control button and a green light floods the starship as the mists of hyper-space close in about the CONQUISTADOR…” One of the men exclaims “So this is what it’s like to travel in a space-warp!”

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Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

A rogue planet accidentally intercepts the zeta-beam in Mystery in Space #55 (1959) #dccomics #exoplanets

In the caption Alanna is describing to Adam Strange the reason why the zeta-beam hadn’t reached him: “My father disproved that belief when he calculated that the ZETA-BEAM had struck a runaway world whose erratic course through space caused it to intercept the ZETA-BEAM on its way to Earth and you…” Below, we see Alanna looking astonished as her father shows her an image of the zeta-beam striking the rogue planet.

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Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · 09/11/2025

An ammonia lake in the outer Solar System in Action Comics #382 (1969) — very cool considering that we now know there are methane lakes on Saturn’s moon Titan! #LegionOfSuperHeroes #TitanMoon

Light Lass appears on a large screen in front of a computer console. She has just entered an airlock. Our villain, dressed in a brown suit, says “Good evening, my dear… it’s a bit chilly out tonight.. minus 240 degrees…the AMMONIA LAKE is freezing over! Won’t you come in?”

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Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · 09/11/2025

Hope you’re having as much fun as She-Hulk on #SheHulkSunday! — She-Hulk #8 (2014)

Four panels top to bottom. In the first, we’re looking over the shoulder of She-Hulk as she faces a crowd of reporters. Her shirt is beginning to rip apart. She says “You guys all know I’m a HULK, right? And you know what happens when Hulks get ANGRY, right?” Then a close up on her eyes, she is wearing sunglasses that reflect the faces in the crowd. She continues “They LOSE CONTROL. And then… things get SMASHED. It’s not the HULK’s fault. It’s just how it is. And you guys …” Next panel the crowd scatters in terror as She-Hulk throws out her arms and, wild-eyed, shouts “… ARE MAKING ME MAAAAD!” In the final panel, She-Hulk turns and smiles as her companion says “Nice work.” She-Hulk laughs “Heh.”

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Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · 08/11/2025

It’s okay, all is explained on the next page..

Paul in the foreground asks “This is an impossible nightmare. How are we even BREATHING?” The Atom in the background crosses his arms and replies “I’m not sure. When you’re this size, some of the physical laws seem not to apply.”

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Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · 08/11/2025

An electron? Hahahahahaha! — Power of the Atom #12 (1989) #theatom #dccomics

Top panel: Ray Palmer and his ex-wife’s husband Paul have just landed on what looks like the surface of a moon. In the black sky there are flashes of light and two spheres that could be other moons or planets. Paul asks “Where are we?”
Bottom panel 1: A close up on the sphere with another sphere in the background. Again, it looks a lot like a moon and planet. A voice says “I think we’re on an ELECTRON.”
Bottom panel 2: a close up on the head and shoulders of Paul who puts his hand to his head and opens his eyes and mouth wide in amazement. “An electron?” Red and pink radial lines in the background emphasize his surprise.
Bottom panel 3: back to the spheres again. This time the voice says “Hahahahahaha!”

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Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

The Atom surfs inside an optical fibre — Power of the Atom #4 (1988) #theatom #dccomics

The small figure of The Atom flying through a jumble of circles of different colors that represent photons inside an optical fibre. He is thinking “… I should be able to ride the PHOTON STREAM through the optic cable —“

The Atom pops out the other end of the cable, returning to normal size and surprising the villain I.Q., saying “Smile for the camera!” I.Q., startled, cries out “What on Earth—?”

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Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

Superman, are you sure this is a good idea? — Action Comics #376 (1969) #superman #dccomics

Superman is shown in his laboratory, control panels and a glass bell jar in the background behind him. A piercing EEEEEEEEEEE noise that has been tormenting Superman radiates across the panel. Superman is placing a glass dome over his head, thinking “My VACUUM HELMET should do the trick, once the air is pumped out of it! Sound-waves can’t travel in a vacuum!”

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Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · 26/10/2025

She-Hulk goes for a deep dive on #SheHulkSunday — Incredible Hulk Annual #16 (1990)

She-Hulk is deep under water wearing a diving mask and flippers, hair streaming out behind her. She is lit up by a bright light source that she holds in one hand. She thinks “No average human diver could make THIS trip. I must be over THREE HUNDRED FEET DEEP already!”

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Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · 25/10/2025

I’ve been having a lot of fun reading Joe the Barbarian, definitely recommend if you haven’t read it — here’s a physics lesson from Chapter 4 #joethebarbarian #vertigocomics #dccomics

A panel from Chapter 4 of Joe the Barbarian (2011, Grant Morrison writer/creator, Sean Murphy artist, Dave Stewart colorist, Todd Klein letterer). With Joe and friends gathered around in front, a man stands at the blackboard explaining. He holds a staff in one hand and a piece of chalk in the other. The man is saying “…so to summarize… square root of eye of NEWT, over function of the cosine where EEE equals MAGIC times the speed of all likelihood SQUARED. WITH me? Resulting in at least two isomorphically LINKED states of being as represented by these ELLIPSES and where this CIRCLE represents the sum total of EVERYTHING.” Jack the rat reacts with a “HRRN.”

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