---
title: "Nikola Tesla in popular culture"
chunk: 2/5
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla_in_popular_culture"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T04:04:56.506096+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

=== Appearances ===
In The Light and Darkness War (1988–89) by Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy, Tesla appears as a supporting character who has been transported, upon death, to another dimension where other deceased human warriors and scientists, such as Leonardo da Vinci, are engaged in a never-ending battle against the forces of Outer Darkness. A biography of Tesla featured in the second issue in order to introduce Tesla to contemporary readers unfamiliar with the scientist.
In the eight-issue Serbian comic book series Generation Tesla (1995), created by writer Milan Konjević, and artists Siniša Radović and Zdravko Zupan, Tesla evades his own death by transferring himself to another plane of existence. In 2020, he resurrects a number of humans slain by the evil Kobalt, transforming them into superhumans who can counter the threats of such villains. He is founder and mentor of super-hero team Generation Tesla.
In Matt Fraction and Steven Sanders' graphic novel The Five Fists of Science (2006), Tesla teams up with Mark Twain to battle Thomas Edison.
The Inventor: The Story of Tesla (2012) written by Ravé Mehta with art by Erik Williams, is a graphic novel based on the story of Nikola Tesla. It begins with Tesla's birth in Smiljan, continues through Tesla's battle with Thomas Edison during the war of the currents, and ends when J.P. Morgan pulls the plug on Tesla's Wardenclyffe Tower project. Other major characters in the graphic novel are George Westinghouse, Mark Twain, Guglielmo Marconi, Lord Kelvin, U.S. President Herbert Hoover, and Swami Vivekananda.
JLA: Age of Wonder (2003) is a two-issue mini-series from DC Comics' Elseworlds line, in which Superman lands in Kansas in the 1850s and emerges on the world stage at the 1876 Centennial Exposition. He teams up with Edison but ends up working with Tesla, who eventually deploys a death ray during World War I.
In Jeff Smith's comic book series Rasl, Tesla's ideas are prominently featured as the foundation of travel between alternate realities. The story also features an alternate take on Tesla's biography and uses his journals as a plot device.
Red Giant Entertainment's comic book series Tesla features Nikola Tesla as he uses his greatest inventions to battle against a shadowy organization of the planet's most brilliant minds, who are bent on world domination.
Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener's Atomic Robo is a comic book series about a robot that was invented by Nikola Tesla, which also features fictionalised representations of other scientists such as Carl Sagan and Thomas Edison.

=== Allusions ===
Although Nikola Tesla doesn't make a direct appearance in the comic book series The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill, it is implied very early on that Tesla (and also Thomas Edison) is responsible for some of the steampunk technology seen in the series. A circuit breaker on the last page of Empire Dreams, the first issue of Volume 1 bears the logo "Edison Teslaton".

== Companies ==
Tesla, Inc. and Nikola Motor Company are both named after Nikola Tesla.

== Events and holidays ==

=== Nikola Tesla Day ===
Tesla's birthday, 10 July, is celebrated by some as World Tesla Day, Nikola Tesla Day, or simply, Tesla Day. Some organizations celebrate Tesla Day informally on 10 July. However, The Tesla Memorial Society wrote letters to several officials asking to commemorate 10 July as international Nikola Tesla Day.
Tesla's birthday (or in one case, both the day itself and the week leading up to it) is officially celebrated as a holiday in various parts of the world. In Serbia, 10 July is celebrated as the National Day of Science. In Croatia, it is called Nikola Tesla Day. In Niagara Falls, Canada, it is named as the Day of Nikola Tesla. In the autonomous province of Vojvodina in Serbia, the local Association of Teachers also officially celebrate 10 July as the Day of Nikola Tesla though in practice, the celebrations last the seven days (one week) from 4 July to 10 July inclusive.
Google honored Tesla on his birthday on 10 July 2009 by displaying a Google Doodle in the Google search home page, that showed the G as a Tesla coil.

On 7 January 2021 (which is both Orthodox Christmas and the anniversary of Nikola Tesla's death), the Tesla Science Foundation Serbia (TSFA) sent a petition to the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church proposing that the Synod consider the canonization of Nikola Tesla as an Orthodox saint with his birthday, 10 July as his feast day.
At Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe an annual Tesla Expo is held each year near the date of Nikola Tesla Day and celebrates with a STEM festival highlighting Tesla's accomplishments and impact on today's science and technology.

== Film ==

=== Appearances ===