Book review; The Periodic Table of Marvel – Newspaper

Imagine walking into science class and instead of learning about real elements like hydrogen or oxygen, you find a Periodic Table filled with your favourite superheroes!

That’s precisely what The Periodic Table of Marvel does — it turns Marvel characters like Spider-Man, Iron Man and Thanos into colourful, element-style symbols in a big, bold and super cool book.

Created by DK and Marvel Entertainment, this book isn’t about real chemistry, but it makes you feel like a science project. Unlike major or minor components, metals or non-metals, this book brings to you over a 100 heroes, villains, gadgets and teams spread over 190-odd pages. With fun categories like Villains, Cosmic Beings and Tech Users, you won’t feel for a moment that you are not in a chemistry class.

The book tells you about the Powers, Affiliations, Famous moments and Cool stats of nearly all of Marvel’s Characters.

Written by Marvel expert Melanie Scott, this book is styled like the Periodic Table. Instead of organising characters alphabetically or by movie/story, this book uses a periodic table layout, like the one you see in science class — but for superheroes! Each character has a symbol (like Iron Man = Fe, Spider-Man = Sm).

Do you know that the Infinity Gauntlet is listed as its own “element” in the Tech section? Are you aware that Rocket Raccoon, Star-Lord, and Groot are grouped under “Cosmic Beings,” reflecting their deep connection to space adventures, much like outer space elements in a chemistry chart. The book reveals unexpected connections, such as how Ant-Man and Ultron are linked by science and shrinking technology.

You can read it all at once like a comic adventure or flip through it anytime you want to discover something new. Each character gets their full-page profile, complete with amazing pictures, fun facts, powers and significant moments from their stories.

The book is perfect for kids ages 8–14 who love Marvel and want to know more about the characters. Don’t worry, if you are a DC fan, this book is designed to make you closer to Marvel. It’s not a deep dive, but it is a great way to explore the Marvel universe without getting overwhelmed.

Parents can also dive in and relive their days as schoolboys. They can even educate themselves by going through the book.

Published in Dawn, Young World, August 9th, 2025

Continue Reading