The Brave and the Bold #31: A Medical Review

March 4th, 2010

Filed under: Comics, Medicine

The Brave and the Bold #31 “Small Problems”
J. Michael Straczynski, writer
Chad Hardin and Justiniano, pencilers

The Atom is called to Arkham Asylum to treat a neurological problem the Joker is having. He has to shrink down to microscopic size, enter the brain, and release an “experimental chemical” at a specific location to cure the Joker.

There are many, many problems with this comic. I’m all for Fantastic Voyage homages, but it is obvious that Straczynski has no understanding of how the brain or nervous system actually functions. A twelve year old with access to Wikipedia and five minutes to spare could write a more accurate — and no less engaging — story.

The main stumbling block is Straczynski’s misunderstanding of synapses — the junctions between nerve cells*, where one cell passes a signal to the second cell. These synapses can be either chemical (a message molecule known as a neurotransmitter carries the impulse from the first cell to the second cell), or electrical (the two cells are connected by channels which allow an electrical signal — ions, really — to be passed from the first cell to the second cell).

I’ll just touch on a few of the bigger errors here:

Scene from The Brave and the Bold #31What the doctor here is describing is not particularly rare at all. When too many synapses fire off, you have a seizure. If it involves part of the brain, it’s a partial seizure; if it involves most of the brain, it’s a generalized seizure. If the seizures happen repeatedly, then it’s considered epilepsy. If it is a seizure that cannot be stopped, then it is called status epilepticus, and yes, it can lead to brain damage and death (but it’s not rare: 42,000 deaths a year).
• If the Joker really were in status, he’s be dead long before the Atom ever got there.
Scene from The Brave and the Bold #31This is some horrible, horrible technobabble. I know everyone uses “the brain = a computer” metaphor, but it’s just that: a metaphor; a figure of speech. The brain is not really a computer — it is orders of magnitude more complex and you can’t “reboot” it. For one thing, I’d want my brainstem to keep working no matter what, since it controls such things as the heartbeat and breathing.
• “Synaptic array at the microscopic level” is redundant. All human synapses are microscopic.
Scene from The Brave and the Bold #31 Straczynski seems to think that all synapses are electrical in nature, but that is not true — in fact, chemical synapses are much more numerous; electrical synapses only show up in certain pathways where speed is important — reflexes, for instance. He spends most of the issue confusing the two types of synapses. “Synaptic gaps” occur in chemical synapses; electrical synapses are tied together by ion channels. Chemical synapses are involved in the higher processes, like memory. Electrical synapses transmit ions from one nerve cell to another through channels in the cell membrane — there is no “electrical pulse” or lightning bolts (as drawn in the comic) between the nerves. The rest is just more technobabble.

For a better “The Atom in somebody’s brain” story, I recommend The Brave and the Bold (original series) #115, where the Atom controls a brain-dead Batman to solve his murder.

*There are also synapses between nerve cells and other cells, such as between a nerve cell and a muscle cell.

Tags:

11 Responses to “ The Brave and the Bold #31: A Medical Review ”

  1. Jon
    March 5th, 2010 at 4:14 am

    Or in other words: “These electrical pulses fizzing between cellular components that are bigger than you may affect your brain. And by ‘affect your brain’, of course, we mean ‘fricassee you’.”

  2. Dr Archeville
    March 5th, 2010 at 7:13 am

    Did at any point the Atom ask “why should I do anything to save the life of this mass-murdering psychopath?”

    The doctors who came up with the treatment may cite Hippocratic Oath (the applicability of which, in regards to treating an unrepentant and incurable mass-murdering psychopath like the Joker, I’ll leave to others more learned than me), but as far as I can recall, Palmer’s not a medical doctor, he’s a physicist, and has never taken such an oath. Well, aside from the general superhero “be a Good Guy” oath.

  3. Scott
    March 5th, 2010 at 7:48 am
    Official Comment

    It was in there, but handled clumsily.

    When he learns the patient is the Joker, Atom just sits there, not wanting to help. Then the doctors talk about their duty to save lives, and Atom still just sits there. Then the doctors say, “Even if you help us, he might still die,” and so Atom says, “OK, I’ll do it.”

  4. MarkAndrew
    March 5th, 2010 at 9:49 am

    Wow. Somehow, you made me like this book less. That’s… that’s fairly impressive.

  5. Zaratustra
    March 5th, 2010 at 12:45 pm

    Basically, he only agrees to do it because it’s very likely he’ll fail. It’s a kind of complicated moral position he’s taking there.

  6. Your Obedient Serpent
    March 5th, 2010 at 4:35 pm

    I’ve been re-watching JMS’s BABYLON 5 for the first time since its original airing. It holds up quite well overall, but whenever Dr. Franklin opens his mouth in Medlab, I just chuckle sadly and wait for a Londo moment.

  7. Andreas
    March 5th, 2010 at 6:01 pm

    Londo rules.

    I am watching B5 all the way through for the first time. 4 eps left plus some of the movies. While yes, it has many many flaws the way the story holds together over 5 seasons is cool.

  8. Ledasmom
    March 9th, 2010 at 6:01 am

    Hey, I remember reading that brain-dead Batman story! When exactly was it published?

  9. rgl
    March 9th, 2010 at 10:46 am

    The brain-dead Batman story was in B&B 115, Oct/Nov 1974.

  10. maya-marie
    March 9th, 2010 at 6:00 pm

    if you want to read something a bit better and less brain numbing, have you read “when the wind blows” ? it has a pretty good example of radiation poisoning. there’s also a cartoon version, but I wouldn’t recommend it with kids around.

  11. Metz77
    March 13th, 2010 at 4:26 pm

    Isn’t that B&TB story the one by Bob Haney? The absolutely insane one? That one’s great.

Leave a Reply

« The Anthrax of Comic Books Transfusion for a Bigot »