2010-05-06
Original: 2010-05-06 on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Top section (equations written above the comic panel):
B = 1/3 = bugs encountered per kilometer by a moving vehicle with a one square meter forward surface (units = bugs/km·m²)
S = 1/3 = forward surface area of Superman (units = m²)
D = 5500 = distance from Fortress of Solitude to Metropolis (units = km)
B·S·D = what Superman actually looks like when he saves you
Panel (the comic):
Superman (flying in, his face and body completely encrusted with splattered bugs): "I'M HERE TO HELP!"
(An old woman and a man stand looking startled as a bug-covered Superman flies toward them.)
Votey:
Superman (now a close-up of his bug-splattered face, still grinning): "YOU'RE WELCOME, CITIZEN!"
B = 1/3 = bugs encountered per kilometer by a moving vehicle with a one square meter forward surface (units = bugs/km·m²)
S = 1/3 = forward surface area of Superman (units = m²)
D = 5500 = distance from Fortress of Solitude to Metropolis (units = km)
B·S·D = what Superman actually looks like when he saves you
Panel (the comic):
Superman (flying in, his face and body completely encrusted with splattered bugs): "I'M HERE TO HELP!"
(An old woman and a man stand looking startled as a bug-covered Superman flies toward them.)
Votey:
Superman (now a close-up of his bug-splattered face, still grinning): "YOU'RE WELCOME, CITIZEN!"
Alt text
Above the comic panel is a set of physics-style equations. B = 1/3 = bugs encountered per kilometer by a moving vehicle with a one square meter forward surface (bugs/km·m²). S = 1/3 = forward surface area of Superman (m²). D = 5500 = distance from the Fortress of Solitude to Metropolis (km). B·S·D = what Superman actually looks like when he saves you. The comic panel shows Superman flying in to rescue an old woman and a startled man, except his entire face and body are caked with the smeared remains of countless bugs he hit during the long flight. He cheerfully announces, "I'M HERE TO HELP!" The joke: multiplying the equation out gives roughly 600 bugs splattered across him. Votey: a close-up of Superman's grotesquely bug-encrusted grinning face as he says, "YOU'RE WELCOME, CITIZEN!"
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.