# DC Universe Research - Attention, all Comic Book Dopers.. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 30, 2004, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-universe-research-attention-all-comic-book-dopers/252913 "2004-06-30T17:44:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-universe-research-attention-all-comic-book-dopers/252913/41 "2004-07-11T21:31:16Z")
Justice League issue #99 from the early 70s was called “Seeds of Destruction.” I think there were two alien Pied Piper types that fluted plants into doing incredible misdeeds. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-universe-research-attention-all-comic-book-dopers/252913/42 "2004-07-11T22:14:10Z")
> [@Master Wang-Ka](#): > > …I was unaware that anyone had attempted to revive it, much less explain Brother Power’s existence away as “plant elemental.” Yup. No less a comics luminary than Neil Gaiman did in the 1989 Swamp Thing Annual #5 “Brothers” – republished in _Midnight Days._ > [@Master Wang-Ka](#): > > It’s debatable about the carrots, though. The meteor that landed in Captain Carrot’s flower box transferred its energy to the FLOWER BOX, not to Captain Carrot. The carrots growing there soaked it up. Right. The carrots are biochemically altered by ongoing exposure to the meteor’s radiation, and the meteor’s composition had been altered in a collision with Superman. What’s to debate? (Unless it’s exactly how Alley-Kat-Abra got magical abilities, Rubberduck elasticity and Yankee Poodle magnetism – three non-canonical Kryptonian superpowers – from Superman.) ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-universe-research-attention-all-comic-book-dopers/252913/43 "2004-07-12T03:27:33Z")
Liana, a resident of Earth-6, had the power to “control nature” which was depicted as rapid plant growth. She first appeared and was killed in _Crisis on Infinite Earths_ issue 3. An obscure one, during the first appearance of Kanjar Ro a member of the Justice League (Wonder Woman I think) used an alien flower to “capture an echo” of an alien leader saying Kanjar Ro’s name, which was necessary to break the hold he had over the League. Easy Company had a member named “Flower” but he was AFAIK a non-powered soldier. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-universe-research-attention-all-comic-book-dopers/252913/44 "2004-07-12T04:28:42Z")
So, this thread prompts me to ask: In the pre-Crisis DC Universe, was white kryptonite ever used against Swamp Thing, Black Orchid or any of the other (pre-Crisis) plant-based heroes? It occurs to me you could basically write a Superman story around that, with the plant hero subbing for Superman and white k for green k. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-universe-research-attention-all-comic-book-dopers/252913/45 "2004-07-12T04:47:57Z")
**Fiver** AFAIK White Kryptonite is only effective on _Kryptonian_ plant life. In the same way that Green K is essentially harmless to Earth animals (Lex Luthor eventually got cancer in one hand after wearing a Green K ring for a few decades), White K is harmless to Earth plants. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-universe-research-attention-all-comic-book-dopers/252913/46 "2004-07-12T04:56:00Z")
Oops. The cancer was postCrisis. PreCrisis AFAIK, Green K was utterly and completly harmless to Earth fauna. I believe the same was true of White K. Unless Swampy made himself a body out of some Kryptonian plant preserved in the Fortress Of Solitude, White K would be no threat. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-universe-research-attention-all-comic-book-dopers/252913/47 "2004-07-12T05:03:12Z")
White kryptonite could kill all plant life on any world. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-universe-research-attention-all-comic-book-dopers/252913/48 "2004-07-12T12:40:00Z")
What Askia said. But by the time Swamp Thing was a major player and by the time Black Orchid was kicking around, Superman’s writers had already begun to move away from the Rainbow of Kryptonite - and then, of course, comes the Crisis which did away with them all except Green. (Until recent issues of Superman/Batman, of course, which had cameo appearances of most of 'em.) They may have reintroduced Red K while I wasn’t looking, too. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-universe-research-attention-all-comic-book-dopers/252913/49 "2004-07-12T12:59:37Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > They may have reintroduced Red K while I wasn’t looking, too. I think it was even John Byrne who re-introduced Red K. It was, as I recall, a chunk of green K magicked to go wacky by Mr. Mxyzptlk. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-universe-research-attention-all-comic-book-dopers/252913/50 "2004-07-12T15:37:42Z")
Re White Kryptonite I sit corrected. To avoid hijack, and answer all your Kryptonite questions, go [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=73237&) ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-universe-research-attention-all-comic-book-dopers/252913/51 "2004-07-12T16:11:41Z")
Wowsers. I knew Fenris was good, but after checking out that other thread, I have to tip my proverbial hat. Varieties of Kryptonite I wasn’t aware of? Sure, they may have been way before my time, and only mentioned once, but that’s just no excuse! For the record, I knew Green, Red, White, Blue, Gold, Jewel, and Silver. Yellow, Slow, Anti… never heard of 'em. Though, if I’d been around at the time of that thread, I could’ve answered the question about the special piece of kryptonite in the backup feature - because I have a Superman digest-size that reprints the entire backup. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-universe-research-attention-all-comic-book-dopers/252913/52 "2004-07-12T16:30:16Z")
> [@Fiver](#): > > I think it was even John Byrne who re-introduced Red K. It was, as I recall, a chunk of green K magicked to go wacky by Mr. Mxyzptlk. As noted in the linked thread (but I knew it anyway) the red-colored Kryptonite made by Mr Mxyzptlk was “Krimson Kryptonite.” Source of a somewhat significant “oops” in continuity, as the effects of Mr M’s powers were supposed to entirely disappear when he was banished back to his home dimension but the Krimson K stuck around. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-universe-research-attention-all-comic-book-dopers/252913.md?page=2)