My head canon is that kryptonite isn't actually radioactive, but rather it's a prism that distorts yellow sun energy into a frequency harmful to Kryptonians. Which would explain how you could, say, dissolve kryptonite in acid and render it harmless. A fish's digestive tract might work too.
(The Daxamite weakness to lead radiation would work similarly, except when yellow sun energy reflects off it, it's distorted into a frequency harmful to Daxamites. Would also explain how kryptonite and lead cancel each others' deleterious effects.)
Remember how, in pre-Crisis days, kryptonite didn't harm Kryptonians who didn't have super powers for whatever reason (either under a red sun or their powers got taken away like Charlie Kweskill)? My dumb brain-damaged head canon lines up with all of that.
I haven't read this story, but is it possible the fish ate the Kryptonite and just swam away, taking it out of range? Or did it hang around, which definitely means it's a Kryptonite-proof fish? Still a good idea to stay friendly with Aquaman, though.
HJF1, I like the idea that yellow sun energy sort of "charges" Kryptonite. Not sure how that would work with lead, but over the years I've developed pretty extensive theories about how physics work in comic book universes so I'm prepared to entertain the idea that lead in the DC Universe isn't quite as atomically stable as it is in our more mundane reality.
I never got any sense that there was "radiation" from lead that affect Daxamites. I simply assumed that they are extremely sensitive to lead poisoning and its presence puts molecules of lead in the surrounding area which poison them.
Bryan - my idea isn't that sunlight changes kryptonite, only that kryptonite refracts yellow sun energy and changes it into a frequency bad for Kryptonians. Different kryptonites distort it differently, with different effects.
But I don't figure kryptonite to be radioactive or even atomically unstable; so as long as you keep shining yellow sun energy into it, it keeps tweaking what comes out. Until you grind it to powder or dissolve it with acid (like in the "World's Finest" cartoon from the 90s), and then it ceases to be harmful. I figure that's just its crystalline structure breaking down so it no longer functions as a prism.
So what is kryptonite made of? I don't know, but it can be synthesized on earth with great effort and Lex Luthor's level of backing.
HJF1 - to be fair, sunlight is radiation, but refraction definitely shifts wavelengths. So Kryptonite is still refracting at a frequency that harms Kryptonians. However, that doesn't totally explain someone like Metallo, who uses Kryptonite as a power source. Your theory would mean that once he shuts his chest cavity, the Kryptonite would stop working. So I'm thinking that yellow sunlight charges Kryptonite like it charges Kryptonians.
Scipio -- I always thought that Daxamites were hyper-allergic to lead too, and were also unable to purge it from their systems without the special Mon-el cure. So it's not "radiation" that affects them. BUT I'm willing to entertain HJF1's theory simply because I love these kinds of discussions.
I've seen the Daxamite weakness referred to as "lead radiation", but you know, maybe I shouldn't be trusting comic book writers to use words precisely enough to take seriously. They just aren't that itinerant.
My head canon is that kryptonite isn't actually radioactive, but rather it's a prism that distorts yellow sun energy into a frequency harmful to Kryptonians. Which would explain how you could, say, dissolve kryptonite in acid and render it harmless. A fish's digestive tract might work too.
ReplyDelete(The Daxamite weakness to lead radiation would work similarly, except when yellow sun energy reflects off it, it's distorted into a frequency harmful to Daxamites. Would also explain how kryptonite and lead cancel each others' deleterious effects.)
Remember how, in pre-Crisis days, kryptonite didn't harm Kryptonians who didn't have super powers for whatever reason (either under a red sun or their powers got taken away like Charlie Kweskill)? My dumb brain-damaged head canon lines up with all of that.
- HJF1
I haven't read this story, but is it possible the fish ate the Kryptonite and just swam away, taking it out of range? Or did it hang around, which definitely means it's a Kryptonite-proof fish? Still a good idea to stay friendly with Aquaman, though.
ReplyDeleteHJF1, I like the idea that yellow sun energy sort of "charges" Kryptonite. Not sure how that would work with lead, but over the years I've developed pretty extensive theories about how physics work in comic book universes so I'm prepared to entertain the idea that lead in the DC Universe isn't quite as atomically stable as it is in our more mundane reality.
I never got any sense that there was "radiation" from lead that affect Daxamites. I simply assumed that they are extremely sensitive to lead poisoning and its presence puts molecules of lead in the surrounding area which poison them.
ReplyDeleteBryan - my idea isn't that sunlight changes kryptonite, only that kryptonite refracts yellow sun energy and changes it into a frequency bad for Kryptonians. Different kryptonites distort it differently, with different effects.
ReplyDeleteBut I don't figure kryptonite to be radioactive or even atomically unstable; so as long as you keep shining yellow sun energy into it, it keeps tweaking what comes out. Until you grind it to powder or dissolve it with acid (like in the "World's Finest" cartoon from the 90s), and then it ceases to be harmful. I figure that's just its crystalline structure breaking down so it no longer functions as a prism.
So what is kryptonite made of? I don't know, but it can be synthesized on earth with great effort and Lex Luthor's level of backing.
- HJF1
HJF1 - to be fair, sunlight is radiation, but refraction definitely shifts wavelengths. So Kryptonite is still refracting at a frequency that harms Kryptonians. However, that doesn't totally explain someone like Metallo, who uses Kryptonite as a power source. Your theory would mean that once he shuts his chest cavity, the Kryptonite would stop working. So I'm thinking that yellow sunlight charges Kryptonite like it charges Kryptonians.
ReplyDeleteScipio -- I always thought that Daxamites were hyper-allergic to lead too, and were also unable to purge it from their systems without the special Mon-el cure. So it's not "radiation" that affects them. BUT I'm willing to entertain HJF1's theory simply because I love these kinds of discussions.
I've seen the Daxamite weakness referred to as "lead radiation", but you know, maybe I shouldn't be trusting comic book writers to use words precisely enough to take seriously. They just aren't that itinerant.
ReplyDelete- HJF1