Super Powers: Science and Research

Many years ago, I seem to recall one of the Marvel comic writers (possibly Stan Lee) discussing how they incorporate super powers into their stories. I think he said it was fun, but sometimes problematic to apply those powers to real world situations. For instance, he asked a question about what would happen if a light was on in a room and then Sue Richards (aka, the Invisible Girl) turned the light bulb invisible. Does the room stay lit? Does it go dark?  In truth, nobody knows (and it’s possible that readers don’t care), but I always thought that it was great that someone on the Marvel team was thinking about the science.

Of course, there’s an argument that the entire point of superhero stories is that these are people who aren’t bound by natural laws. Ergo, it’s not that important to get the science right. But even if that’s true, there are still some situations where you can’t get around certain facts and laws of nature.

For instance, in writing about a character with “super-vision” not too long ago, I found myself researching how far human beings could see at ground level. The answer, it turns out, is about three miles – the distance to the horizon. After that, the curvature of the earth will begin to block your view. If  you elevate, you can see farther. (Likewise, you can see taller objects, like skyscrapers or mountains, even if they’re beyond the aforementioned three miles.) However, if the curvature of the planet limits an ordinary person, then it will limit someone with super-eyesight as well. They might be able to see something more clearly at the horizon than an ordinary person – maybe read a book someone’s holding, see an insect land on a flower, take down a license plate number – but the Earth’s curvature is going to stop them from seeing beyond that. (I suppose there’s an exception if, say, said superhero also had x-ray vision, which might allow them to see through the planet…)

In short, it’s fun to write stories like my Kid Sensation series, but I still end up doing a fair amount of research to try to figure things sometimes – especially in relation to some of the character’s powers. Again, a lot of readers may not care, but I’d still like to stick the landing if I can.