Panel 1: The question “How likely is it to survive a 1,000-foot fall?” appears centered at the top of this panel. Below it is the text “The likelihood of surviving a 1,000-foot fall is very low, probably less than 1%, but it is hard to know for sure how much less.” Next to this text, a man in dark shoes, dark pants, a white shirt, and a dark necktie falls head-first through space with his hands above his head. The number 0.0000 appears next to his right foot and continues, arcing toward his right hand. We see his face, next to which a caption by his head reads “Oh, no!” Panel 2: At the left of the panel, the same man continues his fall. Now he is falling feet first and he faces the reader. The text to his right reads “There are quite a few examples of people surviving 1,000-foot falls, but many, many more have died after falling that far. How many more? Now one knows…” Panel 3: The following text appears at the upper left corner of the panel: “After a fall of 1,000 feet, the faller hasn’t yet reached terminal velocity, but they would be going really fast, around 110 miles per hour.” To the left of the text, the same man, his body now in a horizontal position with his back facing the ground and his tie pointing upward, continues to fall. Two vertical gray arrows point toward his body. One of the arrows comes from the top of the panel and points at him. Lines flowing off of this arrow indicate acceleration. The other arrow starts at the bottom of the panel and points up at him, suggesting the impact of air resistance. Panel 4: At the top left, the text continues: “Landing on a soft surface (snow, bushes, mud, etc.) or a sloped one helps, because it allows more time for the faller to slow down.” Below this text, the same man bounces down a hillside from the right side of the panel to the lower left. The text continues “It’s not the falling that kills you, it’s the stopping.” This cartoon is part of a series called Falling. It is written and drawn by Jim Hamilton who can be found on Instagram at Green Harbor Publications (all one word, greenharborpublications).
Published On: March 12, 2025

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