Is Tim Peake the new Spider-Man?
- Published
- comments
Major Tim Peake is now a comic book hero called Orbital
Major Tim Peake has been turned into a comic book character!
The astronaut is the inspiration for a new comic series that celebrates real life superheroes, known as 'Super Realoes'!
He will be a main character in a series called the STEM Squad.
His superhero character, Orbital, is inspired by his career as an astronaut.
Alongside him are scientists June Angelides known as Algorithm and James Young as Bio Metal.
If you cannot see the quiz, click here..
It's hoped that the comic book series will show that there are real life superheroes to be found working in Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
There are many fictional superhero characters who work in STEM!
For example The Hulk (Bruce Banner has a Doctorate in Nuclear Physics), Spider-Man (Peter Parker is a photographer), Iron Man (Tony Stark is an engineer) and Shuri, the Princess of Wakanda, is a scientist and inventor.
Many of these characters rely on their scientific abilities to save the day.
But sometimes these skills get overlooked.
The comic book creators hope that real life people will inspire comic book readers to think about a career in STEM
What is the comic about?
The creators of the comic book - the Institute for Engineering and Technology (IET) - hope that comic book readers may be inspired by the real life stories of heroes from STEM careers.
Comic book artists Andy Lanning and Ant Williams teamed up with the IET to create the 'DM Universe', the Difference Makers' Universe.
In their first comic strip, the STEM Squad team up to defeat a giant smog monster threatening to destroy one of the world's biggest solar farms.
As part of the comic's launch, the IET is asking for young people aged between 5 and 13 to submit their design for a gadget that would make the world a better place.
And the winner of the design competition will see themselves and their gadget featured in a STEM Squad comic!
The very first STEM Squad comic cover
Who would make a great superhero?
This got us thinking about other amazing people who work in STEM who would make great comic book heroes.
For example, astronomer Maggie Aderin-Pocock, creators of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine Professor Sarah Gilbert and Professor Andrew Pollard or perhaps inventor of the internet Sir Tim Burners-Lee?
Who would you like to see as a comic book hero?
Let us know in the comments.
- Published5 June 2021
- Published29 July 2020
- Published6 December 2020
