Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining for comic book lovers
Review: ...I hoped a lot, too, but didn't get what I had hoped for.
As you can imagine, this book's chosen task is to examine superheroic powers from the standpoint of present-day science and try to figure out how the whole strong-fast-fly thing might work. Instead, all the authors do is fill a book with explanations of how such things might never be. Imagine attending Billy Graham's funeral - with the elegy pronounced by Madalyn Murray O'Hair.
Examples? Superman couldn't straighten a falling building, it would fall apart around him. He couldn't fly, because we can't figure out how it would be done. He couldn't have come from Krypton, because such a planet would be too far away. On page 18 they wrap up the original superhero with "As we've shown, visitors from other planets are possible. Superman's not."
What if you want to "make mine Marvel!"? Simple. "We can't fix the Fantastic Four. Their powers are too bizarre to explain, no matter what their origin" (page 29).
Man, there's a whole 200 pages of this pooh-poohing, cranky-old-maid kind of stuff!
What made me the angriest was the chapter that was supposedly about Marvel's X-Men. In a 15-page chapter titled "Good, Evil, and Indifferent Mutants," about half of the chapter is about the comic-book characters. The other half is a rather obvious rant preaching the "Gospel of Evolution." Gresh and Weinberg evidently feel that you can't have "X-men type" mutations without the whole nine yards of the Theory of Evolution as baggage. That's fine with me, except ...
Their idea of showing how scientifically viable Evolution is, is by calling those who disagree with them STUPID. They set up a Straw Man of "what all Creationists believe" and then knock the stuffings out of it. Supposedly, anybody who believes God created humanity as a separate species also believes that He did it in 4004 BC, etc ... the kinds of dogmas held at the Scopes Monkey Trial.
But the authors have created a hypothetical rope-a-dope "Christian." On pp 137-8 they say, "If God created everything at one time (4004 B.C.E.) and God created man in his own image, man is already as perfect as God intended. Mutations in humans would demonstrate that man wasn't perfect when he was created."
Well, DUH. How could these smart folks know so much about Christianity without knowing its central premise? Which says something like, "We were created perfect, but chose to do something wrong. That's why Jesus came in the first place, to re-connect us with our Creator."
So yes, we might have been created perfect, but we sure ain't perfect no more! Besides, how could God have created everything at one time when my grand-daughter Jazra is only a couple of months old? Evidently the authors' understanding of "Christian" beliefs is meager at best.
That's what really gripes me - Gresh and Weinstein spend time making fun of their make-believe Christian but don't spend any space talking about the X-Men! For example, could you really replace somebody's skeleton with Adamantium without the body trying to reject the foreign matter? Could the melanin in someone's body actually change enough to enable one person to look like another? Does the human body contain enough energy to project heat, or cold? Are there any known wavelengths that have the property of freezing something, for that matter?
No, you don't get that. All you get is a book full of, "It can't be done, and this is why." I keep thinking of Frank Edward's image when he wrote about the old chestnut of "the impossible bumblebee." Supposedly the bumblebee is aerodynamically impossible, its wings are too short, etc. But since the bumblebee hasn't read the physics books, it just keeps flying.
This book won't set your imagination flying. It'll tie your imagination to an anvil and throw it into Lake Michigan. Don't do what I did when I spent money on it.
Rating: 
Summary: "Science" Kills the Superheroes
Review: ...I hoped a lot, too, but didn't get what I had hoped for.
As you can imagine, this book's chosen task is to examine superheroic powers from the standpoint of present-day science and try to figure out how the whole strong-fast-fly thing might work. Instead, all the authors do is fill a book with explanations of how such things might never be. Imagine attending Billy Graham's funeral - with the elegy pronounced by Madalyn Murray O'Hair.
Examples? Superman couldn't straighten a falling building, it would fall apart around him. He couldn't fly, because we can't figure out how it would be done. He couldn't have come from Krypton, because such a planet would be too far away. On page 18 they wrap up the original superhero with "As we've shown, visitors from other planets are possible. Superman's not."
What if you want to "make mine Marvel!"? Simple. "We can't fix the Fantastic Four. Their powers are too bizarre to explain, no matter what their origin" (page 29).
Man, there's a whole 200 pages of this pooh-poohing, cranky-old-maid kind of stuff!
What made me the angriest was the chapter that was supposedly about Marvel's X-Men. In a 15-page chapter titled "Good, Evil, and Indifferent Mutants," about half of the chapter is about the comic-book characters. The other half is a rather obvious rant preaching the "Gospel of Evolution." Gresh and Weinberg evidently feel that you can't have "X-men type" mutations without the whole nine yards of the Theory of Evolution as baggage. That's fine with me, except ...
Their idea of showing how scientifically viable Evolution is, is by calling those who disagree with them STUPID. They set up a Straw Man of "what all Creationists believe" and then knock the stuffings out of it. Supposedly, anybody who believes God created humanity as a separate species also believes that He did it in 4004 BC, etc ... the kinds of dogmas held at the Scopes Monkey Trial.
But the authors have created a hypothetical rope-a-dope "Christian." On pp 137-8 they say, "If God created everything at one time (4004 B.C.E.) and God created man in his own image, man is already as perfect as God intended. Mutations in humans would demonstrate that man wasn't perfect when he was created."
Well, DUH. How could these smart folks know so much about Christianity without knowing its central premise? Which says something like, "We were created perfect, but chose to do something wrong. That's why Jesus came in the first place, to re-connect us with our Creator."
So yes, we might have been created perfect, but we sure ain't perfect no more! Besides, how could God have created everything at one time when my grand-daughter Jazra is only a couple of months old? Evidently the authors' understanding of "Christian" beliefs is meager at best.
That's what really gripes me - Gresh and Weinstein spend time making fun of their make-believe Christian but don't spend any space talking about the X-Men! For example, could you really replace somebody's skeleton with Adamantium without the body trying to reject the foreign matter? Could the melanin in someone's body actually change enough to enable one person to look like another? Does the human body contain enough energy to project heat, or cold? Are there any known wavelengths that have the property of freezing something, for that matter?
No, you don't get that. All you get is a book full of, "It can't be done, and this is why." I keep thinking of Frank Edward's image when he wrote about the old chestnut of "the impossible bumblebee." Supposedly the bumblebee is aerodynamically impossible, its wings are too short, etc. But since the bumblebee hasn't read the physics books, it just keeps flying.
This book won't set your imagination flying. It'll tie your imagination to an anvil and throw it into Lake Michigan. Don't do what I did when I spent money on it.
Rating: 
Summary: THE "GRESH" who stole christmas
Review: Almost every chapter tells you why the superhero is impossible. Gresh has no imagination in trying to figure out how future science may explain a superhero.If Gresh lived in the past, he would probably prove how electricity or flight is impossible or rockets or the internet. The original comics do a better job in explaining the heros.
Dince Gresh likes cartoons better thean comic "That's all folks"
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty boring
Review: As a kid, I used to be very keen on comics and superheroes. I did enjoy a similar book on the physics of startrek and as such I was hoping that this book would shown me a new prespective on this subject.Instead I found very little that was particularly interesting. Except for the physics, the science in general, I found quite poor. We have this big attack in it on creationism. Which is totally unrelated to the subject at all! Most of the characters are only very superfically examined.
Rating: 
Summary: A Must Book For Anyone Who Writes or Reads Comics!!
Review: Despite the negative words of a previous poster, this book is not mean spirited or nasty. It takes a humorous and friendly look at superhero origin stories and points out how ridiculous they are. From there, the authors point out how the origins could have been written, using common science knowledge, to make the stories more believable. For example, they point out that having the Hulk created by high-level radiation is impossible - such a massive dose of radiation would destroy human tissues. Instead the authors demonstrate that by using steroids and gene research a believable Hulk origin could be written. This book points out that good science and good comics can work together. Until the comic book writers learn this lesson, their work will always be considered juvenile kid stuff. It's time for comic book writers, editors and publishers to enter the 21st century and stop copying the mistakes of the 1950's and 1960's. If you want to see where comics are heading in the future, this is a book you have to buy!
Rating:
Summary: Mildly Entertaining but not great
Review: Doesn't leave a lot of room for imagination. Of course we know a lot of these characters are impossible, that's what's fun. Stick to the science and let the imaginative aspects alone.
The evolution rant was tedious, unnecessary and had nothing to do with superheroes. Next time, let's hope the authors leaves their personal soapboxes at home.
Rating:
Summary: The Science of Superheroes
Review: For anyone who loves superheroes, or just plain science, this is the book for you! Each chapter goes into the origin behind all of the legendary superheroes, followed by an explanation of the scientific and technological limitations of reality. This is definitely the most imaginative perspective I've seen on all my favorite superheroes.
Rating:
Summary: Impossible Superheroes...Really?
Review: I enjoyed how this book examined the different superheroes from a scientific perspective and broke down the components of their particular powers, but, c'mon, all of them are proven absolutely scientifically impossible? Remember, there was a time when people thought that a world that wasn't flat was scientifically impossible too. Sure they break all sorts of scientific laws, but new theories and breakthroughs are being created all the time in an era where human cloning's being debated and even the theory of relativity is starting to be challenged. I agree with an earlier poster, that I would have liked to have seen more of the heroes approached like the Hulk--in terms of seeing how they, or their powers, could POSSIBLY be real.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining for comic book lovers
Review: I found this book entertaining and a quick, easy read. Gresh & Weinberg clearly & simply explain what could be complex scientific concepts about most of my favorite superheroes. But you have to be flexible about perceiving the content, though, as their science isn't friendly to all comic heroes. They are balanced (Batman, X-Men could happen, Superman, Spiderman, Flash, the science doesn't hold). They are pro-comic, I thought, and you'd have to be: only comicbook lovers will like this book. I found "Science" a chance to laugh about the heroes I still love and that mean so much to me, and they shed some light on writing in this genre. Good summer beach reading.
Rating:
Summary: Very narrow minded view on Superheroes and Science
Review: I had very high hopes for this book, sadly I was very disappointed. The only reason I finished the book was to give it as thorough and un-biased review as possible. The first couple of chapters were quite enjoyable, but the rest of the book just kept me wishing that it was going to get better. What bothered me the most about this book was the frequent use of the word "impossible". The closed minded approach to the science they addressed is reminiscent of somebody saying the world is flat, that the earth is the center of the universe, that submarines were works of only inventive writers or that the sound barrier can not be broken. The book states that traveling past the speed of light is impossible (the chapter about the Flash), but in a later chapter it goes on to say that time travel is possible. Combine this with the book contradicting itself in the same chapter (the chapter about Spider-Man) and you end up wanting to throttle the authors for their inconsistency. Then there is the completely irrelevant discussion of creationism in the chapter that was supposed to be about the X-men and evolution. The discussion took up most of the chapter and had nothing to do with mutation. It is obvious by the end of the book that the authors have done little to zero research on any comic book written since the 80's. Their belief seems to be that Donald Duck was the best comic book ever and that there are no strong super heroines. Do not waste your time or hard earned money on this book. It has a few (very few) shinning moments of good writing. But they do not offset the obvious dislike of comic books and those who work in the comic book industry.
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