I attend a science fiction/fantasy convention every year and during one of the panels on the Physics of the Avengers this past year, the speaker recommended this graphic novel, which was written by a friend of his. Hard science explanations in a graphic novel format intrigued me, but I was unsure if it would actually work over the entire work.
While it drags in some places, I really enjoyed this graphic novel. There isn’t a coherent story, but rather the author chooses to use the ancient technique of simply two people talking to illustrate points he is trying to make.
The topics range from relativity to black holes to symmetry. What I really respected is how formulas are worked into the overall explanation. In fact the author takes that problem head on early in the novel and show how equations, which can be so intimidating to people, really can be used to help paint a picture and provide clarity to the phenomenon being described. Honestly, that was my favorite part of the entire book.
Some of the chapters did drag on a bit long and the one sequence where the female scientist ends up going home with the go who was trying to pick her up was unnecessary but on the whole I did really like the book. The artwork is not great but for someone who is a trained scientist, and not an artist, it is extremely impressive.
If you are looking for something different and have an interest in hard science explanations of some challenging concepts in physics, this is the graphic novel for you.