What profession does James Kakalios and The Physics of Superheroes have in common?
The Physics of Superheroes The Physics of Superheroes is a popular science book by physics professor and long-time comic-book fan James Kakalios. First published in 2005, it explores the basic laws of physics. Kakalios does not set out to show where the world of superheroes contradicts modern science, granting the heroes one or more "miracle exceptions" from natural law. Instead, he focuses on examples of comic book scenes that can be used to understand the diverse laws of physics from an unusual angle, such as Gwen Stacy's death and Ant-Man's ability to punch his way out of a paper bag. Kakalios relates these elements of comic books to principles of physics, such as levers and torque, and in this way covers diverse topics, from mechanics to the quantum world.
John Byrne (comics) John Lindley Byrne ( ; born July 6, 1950) is an American comics artist and writer. Since the mid-1970s, Byrne has worked on many major superheroes. Byrne's better-known work has been on Marvel Comics' "X-Men" and "Fantastic Four" and the 1986 relaunch of DC Comics' "Superman" franchise, the first issue of which featured comics' first variant cover. Coming into the comics profession as penciller, inker, letterer and writer on his earliest work, Byrne began co-plotting the "X-Men" comics during his tenure on them, and launched his writing career in earnest with "Fantastic Four" (where he also served as penciler and inker). During the 1990s he produced a number of creator-owned works, including "Next Men" and "Danger Unlimited". He scripted the first issues of Mike Mignola's "Hellboy" series and produced a number of "Star Trek" comics for IDW Publishing. In 2015, Byrne and his X-Men collaborator Chris Claremont were entered into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame.