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Science

The Periodic Table of Comic Book Elements 197

Posted by chrisd from the he's-looking-au-kid dept.
Ender, Duke_of_URL brought this Periodic Table of Elements to our attention. Of course adamantium is missing, and chemical X doesn't belong in a table of the elements of the comic book universe, it's mostly a collection of golden age and later comics. Modern comics are sorely underrepresented, unfortunately.
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The Periodic Table of Comic Book Elements More

The Periodic Table of Comic Book Elements

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  • what about (Score:1, Redundant)

    by zephc ( 225327 )
    Adamantium? =]

    • Re:what about (Score:3, Informative)

      by Sancho ( 17056 )
      According to the X-Men universe, Adamantium is not an element. Rather it's an alloy. Which is, of course, absurd, since a real alloy will not be stronger than the elements it's composed of. But hey, it's a comic book :)
      • The entire reason that alloys exist is because they create materials stronger than their constituent elements, otherwise it would be pointless to use them.

      • Re:what about (Score:2, Insightful)

        by aiabx ( 36440 )
        In fact, alloys are frequntly stronger than the component metals. A mix of different types of metal atoms is a lumpier structure, and the atoms can't slide past each other as easily as they can in a pure metal. Thus, bronze is stronger than copper or tin, steel is stronger than iron or coal, and so on.
        -aiabx

      • Also... (Score:2, Informative)

        by Inexile2002 ( 540368 )
        Elements don't have an inherent strength, carbon as graphite and carbon as diamond as an example. Part of the reason an alloy CAN be stronger than a common form of element is that atomic bond potentials can be optimized. More bonds, and more stable bonds - stronger material.

  • Damn (Score:2, Funny)

    by jordanb ( 322398 )

    Of course adamantiam is missing, and chemical X doesn't belong in a table of the elements of the comic book universe...

    You, Sir, are a geek.

    • even busted witht the clever dept. title... way to go chris... who the hell is chrisd?

      from the he's-looking-au-kid dept.

    • you know, as long as everyone is chiming in with things which should be on the list ..

      what about medichlorians? probably spelled way wrong .. but you know .. the things in star wars.

      actually, nah, those are probably akin to neutrinos.
      • what about medichlorians? probably spelled way wrong .. but you know .. the things in star wars.

        actually, nah, those are probably akin to neutrinos.

        No, they're described as "tiny life forms", and are presumably intelligent. Hardly elemental!

        • what about medichlorians? probably spelled way wrong .. but you know .. the things in star wars.

          actually, nah, those are probably akin to neutrinos.

          No, they're described as "tiny life forms", and are presumably intelligent. Hardly elemental!

          I figured it was just that spelling and biology aren't taught in Jedi School, so they never learned how to spell and pronounce "Mitochondria"...

  • Whoa! Cool. (Score:3, Funny)

    by funkhauser ( 537592 ) <zmmay2@u[ ]edu ['ky.' in gap]> on Tuesday April 09, 2002 @01:23AM (#3308137) Homepage Journal
    I walk by that guys office twice a week.

    Slashdot hits home. It's scary.

    • Re:Whoa! Cool. (Score:4, Funny)

      by Wanker ( 17907 ) on Tuesday April 09, 2002 @03:05AM (#3308424)
      If he's his own sysadmin, you should walk over there now to hear him cursing while his server gets slashdotted into oblivion.

      Post MP3's if you get 'em. :-)
    • it might be kinda cool if he were to post all these comics in a giant wall sized table of elements.

      i see there are some holes .. so maybe he could employ his students or wotnot to provide something to fFit.

      heck, he may even assemble such a thing, and sell it off. could probably fFetch a pretty geek-penny.
  • And once again, Slashdot scours the universe to find someone with way too much time on his hands. What could be behind such uncanny ability?

  • Thulium? (Score:3, Funny)

    by PopeAlien ( 164869 ) on Tuesday April 09, 2002 @01:23AM (#3308140) Homepage Journal
    What about thulium [uky.edu]

    All it says there is GLUG! sorry no comics yet for this element..

    I wonder if I should rush out and make a thulium comic and take my place in history. Hm.

    Probably not.
  • LOL Instead of doing research on important groundbreaking issues in Chemistry, the Wildcats of KYU are goofin off with comic books while "experimenting" with the chemicals around the lab. LOL

  • Already down.... (Score:4, Informative)

    by Linuxthess ( 529239 ) on Tuesday April 09, 2002 @01:25AM (#3308147) Journal
    But thanks to Google [google.com] you can at least see a snapshot here [216.239.33.100]

    ---------------

  • I was kind of looking foward to that one....
    ...must have seen the /. coming, so probabilities dictated its annihilation.

    ----------

  • HEll yeah! Very good Ideea with this Comic. I'll report it to the internetional meeting of comic book writers ;)

  • BOOM! (Score:5, Funny)

    by x136 ( 513282 ) on Tuesday April 09, 2002 @01:29AM (#3308169) Homepage
    Looks like that server needs an injection of dontcrashium... :P
  • Subject says it all.
    • 'ey Red :)

      I'd not consider mitrhil a 'comic' element. IIRC, Tolkien made it for his LotR universe, which is really not a comic-oriented world. :)
      • You know what... statements like that make me mad... i mean come on.. i have enough problems telling reality and fantasy apart... now you're telling me I have to determine DIFFERENT KINDS of fantasy? Son-of-a... ACK! Screw this.. i am keepin it real from here on out. :-P

        Oh yeah.. thats a joke... in case you have no sense of humor (or think I don't).
      • > I'd not consider mitrhil a 'comic' element. IIRC, Tolkien made it for his LotR universe

        I'm pretty sure D&D later borrowed it from Tolkien, and there are/were D&D based comics.

        But it's fictional, and it may be an alloy. This is about real elements (or at least characters named after and supposedly based on real elements, in the case of e.g. the Metal Men).
        • I may be remembering badly, but I think I recall mention that mithril is simply silver infused with magic. Therefore, it wouldn't get a listing separate from silver. Hey, maybe Silver Surfer was made of mithril, eh?

          Virg
          • > mithril is simply silver infused with magic.

            Maybe that's a special case of alloying...

            In D&D, or Tolkien?
            In Tolkien it was also known as truesilver. But it was found naturally (only in Moria), not made, so if it _was_ silver infused with magic it was Eru or the Valar who did the infusing.
            http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/m/mithril. html
          • If I remember my Tolkien thuroughly (and I'll be inclined to think that I do *g*), mithril is incredibly pure silver, made hard by the depths of the earth and the pounding of dwarven skillsmen. (I don't recall if there was magic involved or not... I think I recall Gimli talking about it at some point in the Trilogy - or maybe it was one of the dwarves in The Hobbit.)

  • <parody voice="redneck">Yep! That there is th' com-pleet tabul o' ell-e-munts! Figger'd out by th' fahnest minds in all Ken-tuckee!</parody>

  • Holy spelling mistakes, batman! (Score:3, Funny)

    by $uperjay ( 263648 ) <jstorrie@ual b e r t a . ca> on Tuesday April 09, 2002 @01:34AM (#3308190) Homepage
    Did you type that with your nose there, Mr. chrisd?

  • thank-god for archive.org (Score:3, Informative)

    by AnimeFreak ( 223792 ) on Tuesday April 09, 2002 @01:35AM (#3308191) Homepage
    http://web.archive.org/web/20020124031915/http://w ww.uky.edu/Projects/Chemcomics/

    Enjoy the mirror!
  • I guess that when there is nothing else to post, stuff like this gets posted. Why don't you go and review all the stuff that I submitted and got rejected and post those instead :-)
  • Not that any spell checker would've caught that so easily, so y'all can slide this time.

    More to the point, adamantium is an alloy. Scientifically speaking, that makes little sense, but who are we to argue with comic book science?

  • adamantium (Score:2, Informative)

    by gam ( 74636 )
    Sorry to geek everyone out, but I believe that 'adamantium' -- was actually a super-strong alloy, not an element. Sort of like steel isn't an element.

    "But Aquaman, you cannot marry a woman without gills! You're from two different worlds!" -- Oh! I've wasted my life.
  • orihalcum(sp?) or was it oricalcum? the silly gold material that is highly sought after.

    ah well. too much Slayers on the mind. esp. that silly Naga. and the other one. thingy. small boobies. dragon slave left and right every episode?
  • I have a Powerpuff Girls comic book at work!

  • What? No Kryptonite?! (Score:3, Informative)

    by Ryu2 ( 89645 ) on Tuesday April 09, 2002 @02:02AM (#3308290) Homepage Journal
    Seems like it's a periodic table of REAL elements with references to where they are used in comics... not imaginary elements that exist in comics only.
    • Okay, but they're still missing Kryptonite.
      • Umm, no, kryptonite is not a real element (you're thinking of krypton)
        • And thank you for playing --- Krypton was the planet.... kryptonite the element from the planet... man, I hate it when geeks get it wrong...
          • > And thank you for playing --- Krypton was the
            > planet.... kryptonite the element from the
            > planet

            I think the previous poster's point was that kryptonite isn't a real element, while krypton is a real element. Krypton is element 36, in fact.

            > man, I hate it when geeks get it wrong

            Man, I hate it when geeks don't read. Because I have to grade their papers. :)

            BTW - there *is* supposedly a page for krypton on the site, but it's hopelessly slashdotted at the moment:

            http://www.uky.edu/Projects/Chemcomics/html/kryp to n.html

  • Not bad. but... (Score:3, Informative)

    by BrokenHalo ( 565198 ) on Tuesday April 09, 2002 @02:13AM (#3308311)
    here [chemsoc.org] is a periodic table that IMHO is way cooler :-)

  • Where Is Explodium? (Score:5, Funny)

    by EXTomar ( 78739 ) on Tuesday April 09, 2002 @02:25AM (#3308328)
    Explodium: The element that most bad guy armies make their crafts and mecha out of. It is cheap so they can make a million of them for every one good guy unit. The problem is that they have this property to explode in a colorful and violent way(which films incrediably well). The Zion(Gundam) and the Empire(Star Wars) invest heavly in this element and base entire fleets off the stuff.

  • Slashdotium (Score:5, Funny)

    by quantaman ( 517394 ) on Tuesday April 09, 2002 @02:28AM (#3308335)
    In its native form this element is deposited on computers all over the internet, is largely harmless and considered fairly trivial. However the presence a web site known as "slashdot" causes this element to ionize and it is than attracted to this site. This ion permeates quickly through broad band and rapidly builds up at this site creating a large positive charge. Often small web sites linked to this "slashdot" will serve as an outlet to these ions and they will accumulate on the smaler site until it reaches critical mass. At this point the web site collapses under the weight and the rate at which the ion transfers slows down noticeably, eventually the process is complete the ions will slowly migrate back to "slashdot". Invariably this process will repeat its destructive cycle indefinitely.
    • The evil geniuses of the comic world have struck again. They have heard rumors that a powerful website known as Slashdot exists somewhere in a parallel universe. This Slashdot is able to destroy any lesser website it links too. Summoning their forces and arcane arts, the villains have utilized this strange Slashdot phenomenon to destroy the periodic table itself. Will our heroes prevail against the villains before the very stuff of matter disappears into a 404 error? Stay tuned for Issue #437.
  • I realized I, and my friends, were geeks when I heard chemistry jokes outside of school. Not just randomly, but at a party i'd held.

    Incidently, they were:

    A,U, Gimmie back my gold!
    C-U later, copper.

    (I know, and they're funnier when you've had a few beers.)

  • The obvious concern: 'Si' (Score:5, Funny)

    by Nathdot ( 465087 ) on Tuesday April 09, 2002 @02:36AM (#3308359)
    The comic listing for silicon should be:

    * Every comic book drawn by a man that has a female character(s)

    If you've ever read Jim Balent's 'Catwoman'... I mean come on... How the fuck am I meant to believe she shimmies up buildings with the slightest of ease. I have trouble believing she walks upright without a back brace.
  • ...this table is an index of comic-book references to real elements, not the other way around (thus adamantidium and chemical X are out, anyway), so instead I'll nitpick at an even geekier level...

    - The PowerPuff girls are well-represented in comics - I own several issues, one of the latest of which includes a gallery of PPG images rendered by comic "names", such as John Byrne and Mike Mignola. So these books are certainly accepted as part of the comics "mainstream" (if such a thing exists), vs. an purely-for-marketing-purposes book assembled by anonymous hacks.

    - lack of modern comics? the point wasn't to find every mention of a given element in every comic ever published - that would be a ridiculous task. this is an overview... with the most popular "elements" getting a wider cross-section of comics. Furthermore, older comics tended to try to include more science factoids in their pseudo-science (as the space-race made science genuinely relevant to pop culture) and referenced real elements more often.

    OK, I'll shut up now.
    • 5. It's actually a good road map as to where we got our misconceptions about certain elements.

      4. It seems to be well laid out, from an information viewpoint.

      3. It gets into the geeky "how far off base were the book's authors?" question. Cool for plotting science blunders, as well as when the writer knew what he was doing.

      2. It gives background info about the comic where the element made its "guest appearance", including the fate of the book series, and the character.

      1. It covers the REAL periodic table. 'Nuf said.

    • this table is an index of comic-book references to real elements, not the other way around

      You want an index of real element references to comic books? That might be hard to come by.

  • It's elements found in comic books (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Its elements of the periodic table found in comic books, not comic book elements. Sheesh, not even close, must be late at night for the editorial staff.

    WhatMeWorry!
  • > Ender, Duke_of_URL brought this Periodic Table of
    > Elements to our attention.



    O my god, they are going to be *so* slashdotted, they'll never now what hit them.



    hehehe


    Slashdot the very best thing next to the e-bomb


  • Because then I could sing:

    These are the only ones of which the news has come to Harvard,
    There may be many others but they haven't been discarvard.
    *fiddly piano bit*

    dave
  • Illudium Phosdex, the Shaving Cream atom?
  • Upsidasium.

    "Hey, Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit outta this hat."

    "That trick never works."

    "Presto..."

  • "Modern comics are sorely underrepresented, unfortunately."

    I guess elements stopped being cool&hip some time ago, it just doesn't appeal to the kids (and other people who read comic strips) of today...
  • There seem to be a variety of ways of spelling the Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator, but it oughta be around here somewhere.

    ...earth-shattering kaboom...

  • This report on how the Metal Men are spending their twilight [hoboes.com] years:

    Only a few of The Metal Men survive. Platimun is a robo-hooker, Iron is a rusting construction worker, and Gold is in hiding because, well, he's gold and people want part of him! Dr. Will Magnus died ages ago, so none of them can be repaired if something goes wrong. Tin and Mercury have already died, and Lead is a living reactor shield in a closed-down nuclear power plant.

  • I always liked this table [theatlantic.com] which was published in The Atlantic [theatlantic.com] back in 1999.

  • the rarest of all substances, unobtanium!
  • I'm not sure if you guys noticed, but the page contains only known elements, not the stuff from fantasy land. Hence, the blatant exclusion of adamantium and kryptonite.

    RTFP!

  • Here is The Periodic Table of Rejected Elements [theatlantic.com] including delirium, geranium, belgium and the criminal elements.

  • Particle man, particle man...
  • If I remember correctly, adamantium isn't really an element, but a polymer. But, I could be wrong...
  • An incredibly heavy element that suddenly forms around web servers and weighs them down. Fortunately, it tends to evaporate after 48 hours.

  • A SciFi Periodic Table (Score:5, Informative)

    by caesar-auf-nihil ( 513828 ) on Tuesday April 09, 2002 @08:42AM (#3308972)
    While I enjoyed this Periodic table, I found this one to be much better:

    http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/periodictable.ht ml

    If you don't cringe after reading Arsenic, there is something really wrong with you.

  • They should have it called the PARODIC table of elements...

  • Un (Score:3, Funny)

    by xFoz ( 231025 ) on Tuesday April 09, 2002 @11:20AM (#3309671)
    Unobtainium - 0) A difficult to find and if found expensive element.1) Superman #1. 2) Real world, really, really hard to find sailboat, old car, vintage computer parts are made from Unobtainium.
  • Not having to do with comics, but Michael Swanwick [michaelswanwick.com] has a Periodic Table of Science Fiction [scifi.com]. Every Friday, he puts up another story about another element (in atomic number order, of course).

    A few of them are comic themed (Kyrpton [scifi.com] and Strontium [scifi.com]) but there's a lot of other good ones there (Arsenic [scifi.com] will give you the creeps).

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