Polite Dissent

Black Widow #5 “A Field in the East”
Richard K. Morgan, writer
Bill Sienkiewicz and Gorlan Parlov, artists

In Black Widow #5, the use of the mysterious hormone Medusagen is finally explained. It seems that the immune systems of the Black Widows are so revved up that they can’t get pregnant because their own bodies will reject the pregnancy. Stefanya was taking the Medusagen to suppress her immune system so she could get pregnant.

This does make some sense once you realize that Medusagen is not so much a hormone as it is a steroid. Some steroids (like prednisone) are immune suppressants and might be able to suppress the Widows’ immunity enough to allow for a pregnancy, especially a strong drug like Medusagen is supposed to be. Far fetched but possible.

In Batman: Gotham Knights #60, Batman is trying to discover who kidnapped Alfred. He finds a drop of the “surgical grade quality anesthesia” agent Narcopropaline and deduces that it must be Hush (the “Greatest Neurosurgeon in the World”¹) who kidnapped Alfred.

Narcopropaline is an entirely imaginary drug². One question: at one point in the story it’s referred to as an anesthetic, and another time a narcotic. Which one is it?

The name “narcopropaline” is both good and bad. From an imaginary point of view, the name sounds medical and the “narco-” prefix lets you know what it does right off. In the real world, the name wouldn’t fly. “Narco-” has a strong negative connotation and no pharmaceutical company would name its drug that — pharamaceutical companies are very sensitive about names. The suffix “-propaline” makes it sound more like a synthetic fishing line than a drug. Still, as Hush stories go, this was almost palatable.

Notes:
¹The phrase “Greatest Neurosurgeon in the World” is ©2004-2005 Polite Dissent.
²I think it is perfectly fine for authors to make up their own drugs. If it’s imaginary, who can say what it can and can’t do? If more authors did this, I’d be out of a blog. Well, maybe…