620: Wings

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Wings

Title text: Please do not try any of this and die or get arrested.

Explanation

Titan is the largest moon of Saturn. Icarus was a character in Greek mythology who is most famous for the fatal end of his flight, when the wax holding the wings together melted and he fell to his death in what became known as the Icarian Sea. In the original, this was because Icarus ignored instructions not to fly too close to the Sun (often taken as tragic examples of hubris); in this comic, Black Hat is bringing an artificial "sun" (the heat lamp) to "Icarus" to recreate the tragedy.

Transcript

Cueball: Titan's gravity is 14% of Earth's, and its atmosphere 50% denser.

Cueball: So if you can generate 9% of your body weight in lift, you can fly on Titan.

Cueball: With wings, a stage harness, a cable, and 91% of my weight in bricks, I want to test this.

[There is a heap of materials on the ground. Cueball is holding a stage harness.]

[Large diagram of a bridge. A rope leads through pulleys tied to the bridge. One end goes to Cueball, one end to a pile of bricks.]

[Cueball is standing with wings attached to his arms.]

[Cueball flaps the wings, and appears to be floating.]

[Cueball glides.]

Cueball: It works!

Megan: Except you have two problems.

Cueball: What?

Megan: You used hot glue on your wing joints and you have friends into Greek mythology.

Cueball: Huh?

[Black Hat is standing on the bridge, with a large lamp labeled "heat lamp" attached to a battery.]

[The wing segments fall off Cueball and he tumbles downward.]

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