Mary Beth's comment reminded me that the most popular current superhero who was affected by chemicals is The Flash. As an ardent comic book collector throughout my childhood and into my early 20s (yes, I admit it!), I agree that there are many super heroes who were either created as a result of chemical accidents or had the ability to manipulate the elements. There was, for example, a cute set of  comic book characters in the 1960s called "The Metal Men". Each  of the characters had the characteristic of a specific metal. The symbols on their uniforms were the alchemical symbol for the metal. Great stuff for young, budding chemists.

 I can think of a lot more, but if one Googles "Comic Book Heroes and Chemical Accidents", an interesting Wikipedia page comes up. I have taken the liberty to redact the page to contain mostly chemical and physical transformations and manipulations (this might save you some time, Mary Beth :)):

Acid generation                                    Anarchist;^[36] Man-Thing;^[37] Reptile               

Ability to generate acid, can be manifested through touch or as a spray (e.g. acid spit, acid blood, etc.).

 

Firebreathing                                       Ghost Rider;^[53] Etrigan the Demon^[54]             

Ability generate gases from the body and exhale fire from the mouth.

 

                                                        

Pheromone manipulation                       Wallflower;^[71] Crimson Fox^[72]                     

Ability to generate and control pheromones which may have various effects.

 

Poison generation                                 Cobra;^[73] Poison Ivy;^[74] Maya Herrera            

Ability to assault others with one or more varieties of toxins, with widely disparate effects..

 

                                                        

Ability to develop a resistance or immunity to whatever they were injured by or exposed to. This effect can be permanent or temporary.

Self-detonation or explosion and reformation      Nitro;^[79] Damage;^[80] Ted Sprague^[81]      

Ability to explode one's body mass and reform.

 

Vortex breath                                       Awesome Android;^[84] Kirby                         

Ability to inhale/exhale with superhumanly powerful strength. This can range from exhalation on par with gale force winds to inhalation on par with the power of a gravitational vortex. In some cases, freezing temperatures can also be achieved.

 

Superhuman senses                               Sabretooth;^[91] Supergirl;^[92] Icon;^[93] Jim Ellison          

Ability to see, smell, taste, feel and/or hear more than a normal Human.

 

 

Heat vision                                          Gladiator;^[102] Superboy-Prime;^[103] Mister Majestic^[104]   Heat vision

Ability to burn objects and other individuals with one's gaze

Telescopic vision Peepers;^[105] Lar Gand^[106]  

Ability to magnify and extend one's vision to various levels

Freeze vision                                       Bizarro^[107]                                                 

Ability to freeze objects and other individuals with one's gaze

 

WaterbreathingNamor;^[110] Aquaman^[111]  Water breathing Liquid breathing

Ability to respirate through water in lieu of a gaseous medium. Not to be confused with an ability to go without breathing or to be able to breathe an alternative air supply.

Psychometry	Adrienne Frost;[131] Jack Hawksmoor;[132] Tuxedo Mask[133]	Psychometry (paranormal)
Ability to relate details about the past or future condition of an object or location, usually by being in close contact with it
Telepathy	Exodus;[134] Saturn Girl;[135] Abe Sapien; Piccolo[136]	Telepathy
Ability to read the thoughts of, or to mentally communicate with others
Technopathy	Black Box;[137] Cyborg Superman;[138] Drummer;[139] Micah Sanders[140]
Ability to manipulate technology. Manifested as a special form of electrical/telekinetic manipulation, a special form of "morphing" which allows physical interaction with machines, or even a psychic ability that allows for mental interface with computer data

Physics or reality manipulation

Darkness or shadow manipulation	Shroud;[154] Shade;[155] Shikamaru Nara[156]
Ability to create or manipulate darkness, often by mentally accessing a dimension of dark energy (the Darkforce dimension in Marvel Comics, and the Shadowlands in DC Comics) and manipulating it
Density control	Vision;[157] Thunder[158]
Ability to increase or decrease the natural density of an object and/or one's self
Disintegration	Wither;[159] Plasmus;[160] Castiel[161]
Ability to disintegrate matter through touch or through beams
Elemental transmutation	Alchemy;[162] Metamorpho;[163] Edward Elric[164]	Transmutation
The ability to alter chemical elements, changing them from one substance to another by rearranging the atomic structure. May be limited to self-transmutation
Intangibility or phasing	Kitty Pryde;[171] Phantom Girl;[172] D. L. Hawkins
Ability to quantum tunnel through solid matter without harm[171]
Light manipulation	Monica Rambeau;[173] Doctor Light;[174] Angelus[175]
Ability to control, generate or absorb light particles
Magnetism manipulation	Magneto;[176] Doctor Polaris[177]
Ability to control and/or generate magnetic fields
Mass manipulation	Harry Leland;[178] Thom Kallor[179]
Ability to increase or decrease mass in an object
Microwave manipulation	Firestar[180]	Microwave
The ability to convert ambient electromagnetic energy into microwaves and manipulate it into various effects such as heat, light, and radiation
Molecular manipulation	Apocalypse;[181] Firestorm;[182] Solar; Piper Halliwell
Ability to mentally manipulate the molecules of objects and/or one's self on a molecular level
Probability manipulation	Longshot;[183] Calamity King	Probability
Ability to alter probability, causing unlikely things to happen, or likely things not to happen
Radiation manipulation	Radioactive Man;[184] Captain Atom[185]
Ability to generate, manipulate or have immunity to toxic radiation
Sound manipulation	Klaw;[190] Fiddler[191]
Ability to manipulate sound

 

Elemental and environmental powers

See also: Classical element

Ability to control or manipulate the elements of nature.

Type		Examples	See also
Air and wind manipulation		Wind Dancer;[194] Red Tornado;[195] Aang; Sailor Uranus
Ability to control, generate, or absorb air or wind
Cold and ice manipulation		Iceman;[196] Ice;[197] Tracy Strauss;[198] Elsa[199]
Ability to reduce the kinetic energy of atoms and thus reduce temperature, can be used to control, generate, or absorb ice
Earth manipulation		Petra;[200] Terra;[201] Gaara;[202] Samuel Sullivan
Ability to control earth; sand, stone, rock, lava, dirt, or other minerals
Electric manipulation		Electro;[203] Black Lightning;[204] Sailor Jupiter;[205] Elle Bishop
Ability to control, generate or absorb electric fields
Fire and heat manipulation		Pyro;[206] Fire;[207] Sailor Mars;[208] Azula	Pyrokinesis
Ability to control the kinetic energy of atoms to generate, control or absorb fire
Plant manipulation		Klara Prast;[209] Floronic Man;[210] Briar Moss
Ability to create, control, manipulate or animate plant life
Water and moisture manipulation		Washout;[211] Mera;[212] Sailor Mercury; Katara
Ability to control, generate or absorb water
Weather manipulation		Thor;[213] Weather Wizard;[214] Sarah Rainmaker;[215] Trisana Chandler	Weather control
Ability to control or mentally affect the weather. This includes the ability to generate various natural phenomena (rain, tornadoes, lightning, ocean currents, etc.) or control the intensity of the weather.

Energy manipulation

These powers deal with energy generation, conversion and manipulation. In addition to generic energy, versions of these powers exist that deal with such things as light, sound, electricity, nuclear energy, and the Darkforce dimension.

Type	Examples	See also
Concussion beams	Cyclops;[216] Darkseid[217]
Ability to generate or transform various forms of energy into a "solid" or concussive beam of energy
Energy blasts	Havok;[218] Starfire;[219] Vegeta
Ability to expel various forms of energy from the body
Energy constructs	Cerise;[220] Jade;[221] Ury? Ishida
Ability to create complex shapes (such as giant boxing gloves or cages) or even functional machinery (such as fire extinguishers or laser rifles) out of solid energy
Energy conversion	Bishop[222] Winter[223]
Ability to absorb one form of energy and convert it into another form of energy
Force field generation	Unus the Untouchable;[224] Argent;[225] Orihime Inoue;[226] Wyatt Halliwell	Force field
Ability to project powerful fields of manipulated energy

 

 

Transportation and travel

Type	Examples	See also
Electrical transportation	Atom;[227] Livewire[228]
Ability to travel through electrical conduits (such as power lines or telephone lines). Can enter through devices such as televisions, electrical poles or computers
Omnipresence	Eternity;[229] Living Tribunal
Ability to be present anywhere and everywhere simultaneously
Dimensional travel	Roma;[230] Vox;[231]Access[232]
Ability to travel between two or more dimensions, realities, realms, etc.
Portal creation	Spot;[233] Gates[234]	Portal (doorway)
Ability to create wormholes, portation "discs" or other spatial portals for transport between two non-adjacent locations
Summoning	Master Pandemonium;[235] Kid Eternity;[236] Jackie Estacado;[237] Jiraiya[238]	Conjuration Evocation Magic satchel
Ability to summon beings or objects for assistance. This may range from invoking simple implements to mighty familiar spirits.
Superhuman speed	Quicksilver;[239] Flash;[240] Seta S?jir?;[241] Sonic the Hedgehog[242]	Speedster (fiction) Supersonic
The ability to move, run, fly, react, think, and sense at speeds much faster than a normal human. Those with this ability also have accelerated brain activity which allows them to process sensory information so fast that everything seems to be moving in slow motion while the user moves at normal speed.
Teleportation	Nightcrawler;[243] Misfit;[244] Goku;[245]	Teleportation
Ability to move from one place to another without occupying the space in between
Time travel	Trevor Fitzroy;[246] Time Trapper;[247] Hiro Nakamura	Time travel
Ability to travel back or forth through time

Miscellaneous

The following powers could be manifested in any number of ways.

Energy propulsion

Type	Examples
Cosmic energy control	Ikaris
Energy aura projection	Sunfire;[248] Halo[249]
Gravitational manipulation	Gravity[250]
Magnetic levitation	Polaris;[251] Static[252]
Molecular manipulation	Kitty Pryde, Dead Girl; Doctor Manhattan,[253] Piper Halliwell
Sonic repulsion field	Banshee; Tyroc
Telekinetic power	Vance Astrovik; Sapphire
Thermo-chemical energy	Cannonball; Jetstream

 

Physical propulsion

Wind current control	Cyclone;[254] Red Tornado[255]
Wings	Warren Worthington III;[256] Northwind;[257] Rouge the Bat

 

Shapeshifting

Ability to change appearance or body structure.

Type	Examples
Animal morphing	Snowbird;[261] Beast Boy;[262] Jake Berenson
Ability to take on animal forms. May be able to take on the abilities of the altered form
Elasticity	Mister Fantastic;[57] Plastic Man;[263] Monkey D. Luffy[264]
Ability to stretch, deform, expand or contract one's body into any form imaginable
Inorganic	Colossus;[265] Ferro Lad[266]
Ability to transform completely into an inorganic substance while retaining organic properties
Liquification	Hydro-Man;[267] Aspen Matthews[268]
Ability to turn partially or completely into a liquid
Metamorphosis	Mystique;[269] Clayface;[270] Voodoo[271]
Ability to change one's physical, biological form to mimic the appearance, characteristics and/or power set of other individuals
Size shifting	Henry Pym;[272] Giganta;[273] Garganta[274]
Ability to increase or decrease one's size
Sublimation	Amelia Voght;[275] Count Dracula
Ability to transform into a gaseous, mist, or fog-like form
Substance mimicry	Absorbing Man;[276] Amazing-Man[277]
Ability to transform into any substance touched

 

From: DCHAS-L Discussion List <dchas-l**At_Symbol_Here**med.cornell.edu> on behalf of Mary Beth Mulcahy <mulcahy.marybeth**At_Symbol_Here**GMAIL.COM>
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Date: Tuesday, August 11, 2015 at 11:17 AM
To: "DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU" <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Chemistry-oriented science fiction?

I have a five year old boy who loves comic books, so while I haven't memorized all the villains and super heroes like he has, from reading to my son I know a lot of them were transformed by chemical accidents. I can look up specific names in one of the references we have at home if that would be helpful.

Mary Beth

On Mon, Aug 10, 2015 at 3:51 PM, Stuart, Ralph <Ralph.Stuart**At_Symbol_Here**keene.edu> wrote:

I'm thinking about the safety culture presentations I'll be giving next week (better before the presentation than during) and one question that occurred to me is "what examples of science fiction are there that are primarily focused on chemistry and/or chemical safety as a key topic?" I suspect that there are people who are better versed in this literature than I and I'd appreciate examples that come quickly to mind.

I'd also be interested in examples of specific books you may have had as children (age 12 and under) that got you interested in science outside of school.

Thanks for any information on these questions.

- Ralph

Ralph Stuart, CIH, CCHO
Chemical Hygiene Officer
Keene State College

ralph.stuart**At_Symbol_Here**keene.edu