# Most durable weapon/object in comics? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 21, 2006, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-durable-weapon-object-in-comics/353683 "2006-04-21T20:32:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-durable-weapon-object-in-comics/353683/21 "2006-04-22T02:34:36Z")
Cap’s shield has been shattered… by salt water, IIRC. I’m not making it up. Here we go. Found the storyline. Apparently, when he put it back together after Secret Wars there was… oh, it’s just full of stupid. > **[Captain America's shield](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_America's_shield)** > > Captain America's shield is a fictional item appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is the primary defensive and offensive piece of equipment used by Captain America, and is intended to be an emblem of American culture. Over the years, Captain America has used several shields of varying composition and design. His original heater shield first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941), published by Marvel's 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics. The circular shield ... ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-durable-weapon-object-in-comics/353683/22 "2006-04-22T02:49:44Z")
[QUOTE=E-Sabbath] Cap’s shield has been shattered… by salt water, IIRC. I’m not making it up. Here we go. Found the storyline. Apparently, when he put it back together after Secret Wars there was… oh, it’s just full of stupid. > **[Captain America's shield](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_America's_shield)** > > Captain America's shield is a fictional item appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is the primary defensive and offensive piece of equipment used by Captain America, and is intended to be an emblem of American culture. Over the years, Captain America has used several shields of varying composition and design. His original heater shield first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941), published by Marvel's 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics. The circular shield ... [/QUOTE] Wow, that’s amazingly, prize-winningly dumb. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-durable-weapon-object-in-comics/353683/23 "2006-04-22T03:03:28Z")
[QUOTE=Tengu] Not really true. Her lasso was also made by Hephaestus, and it got busted up a few years back. (During either Morrison or Waid’s run on JLA, IIRC.) Although that was under rather unusual circumstances, of course. But it was destroyed, and had to be remade, in any case. I don’t recall her bracelets ever being wrecked, though. If Chronos is right and Cap’s shield’s never been broken, it and Wondie’s bracelets are the only items on the OP’s list that haven’t been destroyed at some point. (Although the others all got better.) GL’s rings are pretty durable, I believe. The head, at least, of the Atomic Axe is unbreakable pretty much by definition (although I think the handle may have been snapped at least once). [/QUOTE] Cap’s shield was broken during SECRET WARS; a bolt from the blue by an omnipotent Dr. Doom (with stolen beyonder powder) did it, and residual beyonder energy repaired it. Nothing else has ever come close. That said, I’d tie the shield with Diana’s bracelet’s and the surfer’s board for durability. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-durable-weapon-object-in-comics/353683/24 "2006-04-22T03:04:27Z")
[QUOTE=E-Sabbath] Cap’s shield has been shattered… by salt water, IIRC. I’m not making it up. Here we go. Found the storyline. Apparently, when he put it back together after Secret Wars there was… oh, it’s just full of stupid. > **[Captain America's shield](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_America's_shield)** > > Captain America's shield is a fictional item appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is the primary defensive and offensive piece of equipment used by Captain America, and is intended to be an emblem of American culture. Over the years, Captain America has used several shields of varying composition and design. His original heater shield first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941), published by Marvel's 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics. The circular shield ... [/QUOTE] Yeesh. This is honestly the dumbest thing that I have ever read in a comic book. > [@](#): > > To prevent this, Rogers travelled to Wakanda with the pieces of the shield taped together, prepared to sacrifice what remained of it in an attempt to absorb the shockwave. However, the villain Klaw (who was made up of living sound waves) had reached Wakanda ahead of him. Klaw stood in the path of the shockwave, absorbing it himself and increasing his own powers considerably. When Klaw next attacked Rogers, the latter instinctively raised the taped-together shield in defense. When Klaw struck the shield, his shockwave-augmented power realigned its vibranium molecules and restored the shield. Rogers then defeated Klaw. Taped together? Realigned molecules? I hope everyone involved in this storyline from the Editor in Chief to the tracer was fired and wedgied within an inch of their lives. ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-durable-weapon-object-in-comics/353683/25 "2006-04-22T03:07:19Z")
Don’t forget the Saint of Killers’s (from Preacher) Walker Colts, forged from the Angel of Death’s sword. I’m not sure if they’re indestructable, but since the Sant of Killers is, I’d imagine they are by proxy. ---
**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:** [April 22, 2006, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-durable-weapon-object-in-comics/353683/26 "2006-04-22T03:17:42Z")
Re Saint Of Killers I say no. As you mention, his revolvers used to be a sword. Presumably, a powerful enough supernatural force could destroy them. The Saint isn’t indestructible either. The Lord, sitting in his Throne Of Judgement, could destroy the Saint. Possibly Genesis (Jesse and several others do describe Genesis as literally more powerful than God) could have done it as well. In fact, I’d say that Jesse could have used the Voice to destroy the Saint. (Unless I’m forgetting something from the early issues) ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-durable-weapon-object-in-comics/353683/27 "2006-04-22T03:51:35Z")
[QUOTE=DocCathode] In fact, I’d say that Jesse could have used the Voice to destroy the Saint. (Unless I’m forgetting something from the early issues) [/QUOTE] If I remember correctly, The Saint is impervious to the Word. It was one of the first things Jesse tried on him: Jesse and the Saint were kind of at a stand off, with Jesse a wee bit scared, if I believe correctly. Shortly before, Jesse had told Cassidy to fuck off, and Cas left in a huff. Just then, Cassidy comes driving the truck, straight into the Saint. Needless to say, the truck is worse for wear. Anyway, if Jesse could have used the Word there, I’m sure he would have. Though my memory is a bit foggy. I did forget that God has/had limited power when not sitting in his Throne, though. Oh well, I still say the revolvers rank somewhere in the top 10 of durable comic book items. ---
**Author:** ![Gerome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Gerome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gerome)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-durable-weapon-object-in-comics/353683/28 "2006-04-22T07:10:41Z")
[QUOTE=Electronic Chaos] If I remember correctly, The Saint is impervious to the Word. It was one of the first things Jesse tried on him: Jesse and the Saint were kind of at a stand off, with Jesse a wee bit scared, if I believe correctly. Shortly before, Jesse had told Cassidy to fuck off, and Cas left in a huff. Just then, Cassidy comes driving the truck, straight into the Saint. Needless to say, the truck is worse for wear. Anyway, if Jesse could have used the Word there, I’m sure he would have. Though my memory is a bit foggy. I did forget that God has/had limited power when not sitting in his Throne, though. Oh well, I still say the revolvers rank somewhere in the top 10 of durable comic book items. [/QUOTE] The Saint is vulnerable to the Word: Jesse instructs him to holster his guns, and the Saint follows suit (although he by no means wants to). Later on he mentions that he’ll kill Custer before he can get a word out, confirming that it works on him. That said, the Saint is still physically only vulnerable to God – a freakin’ nuclear bomb won’t destroy him (or his guns, or curiously, his clothes). and even then only when God is on his throne. Although I wonder what would happen if Jesse Custer instructed him to shoot _himself…_ ---
**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:** [April 22, 2006, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-durable-weapon-object-in-comics/353683/29 "2006-04-22T16:51:15Z")
[QUOTE=foolsguinea] The Silver Surfer’s board is an extension of him. If Norrin dies, it goes away. [/QUOTE] Nah. The Hulk “Future Imperfect” storyline contradicts that. Norrin apparently dead, if memory serves, board still around (and damaged). Also, future-Norrin suffered the destruction of the board, and didn’t recreate it - It’s circumstantial, but I think it’s indicative that the board was a creation of Galactus - the Surfer can’t replicate it himself, no more than he could make someone a Herald. I’d like to add Hercules’ Golden Mace to the list. Forged of adamantine, (the stuff Adamantium tries to imitate) and enchanted. Made by Hephaestus. Can withstand direct hits by Mjolnir with no ill effects. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-durable-weapon-object-in-comics/353683/30 "2006-04-22T17:54:40Z")
[QUOTE=CandidGamera] Also, future-Norrin suffered the destruction of the board, and didn’t recreate it - It’s circumstantial, but I think it’s indicative that the board was a creation of Galactus - the Surfer can’t replicate it himself, no more than he could make someone a Herald. [/QUOTE] The Surfer esapes the space-time barrier in the first issue of one of his series (mid-80s I think) after Ben Grimm figures out that the barrier affects the board and not him. The Surfer transforms the board into energy and re-creates it once he’s outside the barrier. Which doesn’t necessarily mean he can create a new board from scratch but IMHO strongly implies it. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-durable-weapon-object-in-comics/353683/31 "2006-04-22T17:59:22Z")
Does the Winslow count as an object, since he is only arguably sentient? ---
**Author:** ![holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e95f7d/32.png) [@holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/holmes)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-durable-weapon-object-in-comics/353683/32 "2006-04-22T18:11:47Z")
Excalibur: Sword of stone. One of the first durable weapons in comics ---
**Author:** ![holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e95f7d/32.png) [@holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/holmes)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-durable-weapon-object-in-comics/353683/33 "2006-04-22T18:15:04Z")
Sword of the stone, but you that. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-durable-weapon-object-in-comics/353683/34 "2006-04-22T18:21:47Z")
[QUOTE=CandidGamera] I’d like to add Hercules’ Golden Mace to the list. Forged of adamantine, (the stuff Adamantium tries to imitate) and enchanted. Made by Hephaestus. Can withstand direct hits by Mjolnir with no ill effects. [/QUOTE] It might be named after it, but the stuff Adamantium tries to imitate is the Vibranium-alloy used in Cap’s shield. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-durable-weapon-object-in-comics/353683/35 "2006-04-22T18:32:29Z")
[QUOTE=Harborwolf] Taped together? Realigned molecules? I hope everyone involved in this storyline from the Editor in Chief to the tracer was fired and wedgied within an inch of their lives. [/QUOTE] Mark Waid wrote it. I give him a pass because the story he wrote where Cap loses his shield was one of the best sequences of shield-slinging ever printed. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-durable-weapon-object-in-comics/353683/36 "2006-04-22T18:51:51Z")
I don’t know, I really want to ask him about that one. I read… about half of them, and it was, first, gutsnapping, then full of stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-durable-weapon-object-in-comics/353683/37 "2006-04-23T01:36:16Z")
OK, I knew that nobody knew how to actually make Captain’s shield, and I knew that he still had it. I inferred from this that it had never been destroyed. I see now that I was wrong. Given the circumstances, though, can we all pretend I was right anyway? For another nomination, I told a friend of mine about this thread, and he recommended Linus’ blanket. While it hasn’t taken quite the beating that Cap’s shield or Wonder Woman’s bracelets have, it _has_ endured far more than any mortal blanket could be expected to survive, and unlike indestructible objects typically associated with superheroes, it has never been destroyed (or even damaged), nor will it ever. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-durable-weapon-object-in-comics/353683/38 "2006-04-23T02:52:23Z")
Actually, I don’t know that Diana’s braclets count as that indestructable. They’re nothing amazingly special. I seem to remember at one point, if you took them off her, she went insane, though. Their deflective properties seem to be more a matter of skill than anything. Never meeting anything head on, just deflecting slightly. Though since she became a Goddess, they might have gotten some inherent ability. She’s changed outfits a number of times, and the bracelets (manacles) have changed in design, too. There’s no reason to conclude that they havn’t succumbed to metal fatigue offscreen, and been swapped out or fixed. I seem to recall Superman, or an evil version (Ultraman, Superman Robot, Bizarro) or maybe Black Adam, grabbing her by the arm and crushing one. No memory how, within the last five years. ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-durable-weapon-object-in-comics/353683/39 "2006-04-23T03:18:44Z")
[QUOTE=Gerome] The Saint is vulnerable to the Word: Jesse instructs him to holster his guns, and the Saint follows suit (although he by no means wants to). Later on he mentions that he’ll kill Custer before he can get a word out, confirming that it works on him. That said, the Saint is still physically only vulnerable to God – a freakin’ nuclear bomb won’t destroy him (or his guns, or curiously, his clothes). and even then only when God is on his throne. Although I wonder what would happen if Jesse Custer instructed him to shoot _himself…_ [/QUOTE] Yeah, I’ll have to eat my words. I went back today and read the part where Jesse and the Saint meet, and my recollection was pretty wrong. Of course, if Jesse had told the Saint to shoot himself, he’d have to oblige, and his guns are never less than lethal… except when he shot Cassidy, and Cassidy still got up. I’ll have to chalk that up to the fact that Cassidy was technically already dead, being a vamp and all. Anyway, with God and the Devil dead, pretty much the only force that could stop the Saint by the end is Genesis, and since he has no will of his own, he’s really got no reason to try to kill the Saint, so by the end of Preacher, the Saint and all his belongings are as good as indestructable. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-durable-weapon-object-in-comics/353683/40 "2006-04-23T04:21:43Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] For another nomination, I told a friend of mine about this thread, and he recommended Linus’ blanket. While it hasn’t taken quite the beating that Cap’s shield or Wonder Woman’s bracelets have, it _has_ endured far more than any mortal blanket could be expected to survive, and unlike indestructible objects typically associated with superheroes, it has never been destroyed (or even damaged), nor will it ever. [/QUOTE] While I will be happy to give your friends all kinds of props for out of the box thinking, I recall at least two storylines where Linus’ blanket was partially destroyed before returning “good as new” to Linus. 1) There was a storyline where Schultz had Lucy cut up Linus’ blanket and fashioned it to a kite. When Linus asks, “How could you do this?” Lucy replied, throwing up her hands, “It was easy!” where it was promptly blown away by the wind. This storyline went on for weeks a Linus tried to recover his blanket. Readers of PEANUTS wrote in letters claiming to have spotted Linus’ blanket/kite in real life in states as far away as New Mexico and Colorado! Eventually someone found it and mailed t back to Linus. 2) There’s at least one sequence where Lucy uses Linus’ blanket to make a three piece suit for Snoopy. Linus cries in horror: “You used my blanket to make a suit?” Lucy calmly replies, “Not A suit. TWO suits!” whereupon Woodstock appears with an identical miniature suit. Other than a vague recollection of Linus sucking on his thumb while holding Snoopy’s sleeve, I don’t recall that much about that storyline. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-durable-weapon-object-in-comics/353683.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-durable-weapon-object-in-comics/353683.md?page=3)