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Post by rberman on Jun 27, 2019 13:07:29 GMT -5
When you think and speak of superheroes, do you tend to use their code names or their given names, or does it vary situationally? The books are almost invariably titled by code-name (though Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man tries to have its cake and eat it too), so that would be an obvious default. But for characters whose identity is publicly known, I often use the given name. I'll mention "Reed Richards" a hundred times before I say "Mister Fantastic," perhaps because the latter is both lengthy and corny. Likewise "Namor" rather than "Sub-Mariner." Same thing with "Kitty Pryde" and any of her code-names. Even Marvel titled her mini-series a mixed Kitty Pryde and Wolverine rather than "Kitty and Logan" or "Sprite and Wolverine." That was followed much later by Kitty Pryde: Shadow and Flame but then by Mekanix, a name which still makes no sense to me. The other X-Men I think of on a first name basis. Scott, Jean, Bobby, Warren, Ororo, Peter, Emma. Except for Xavier, because as everyone knows, he is a jerk. Superman is "Superman" if in costume; I would probably only call him "Kal-El" in Kryptonian civilian contexts, but obviously "Clark Kent" when he's in his secret identity. Likewise with "Batman" and "Robin" in costume but "Bruce" and "Dick" out of costume. It's way too hard to remember the bizarre spellings of the street names of the Legion of Super-Heroes, so I just use their code names all the time. Thumbs up to Blok for making it easy on me in both ways. Some names signify a transformation; Norrin Radd is now Silver Surfer forever. (Except when he gets temporarily depowered, which I'm sure has happened several times.) I doubt I would ever call Kingpin "Wilson." Some group names that should never be used by anyone in the comics include "New Mutants" and "Brotherhood of Evil" (with or without "Mutants" appended) and "New Teen Titans." But "The Avengers" win the award for the most poorly justified team name.  |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jun 27, 2019 13:21:41 GMT -5
It varies from character to character. A decent factor is how they were referred too in the comics. Reed Richards was seldom referred too as Mr. Fantastic by anyone. Meanwhile Bashful Benjy was frequently referred too as The Thing. And add in Marvel Two-in-One and his solo titles. I'm not entirely sure I could even name any of Kitty Pride's code names. Sprite, maybe. Probably not 7-Up though.
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Post by brutalis on Jun 27, 2019 13:30:57 GMT -5
What's in a name? Most of the really great hero monikers as code name are already taken anyways. Who wants to be recognized by the public as Chinchilla Man or Caterpillar Woman? Reading and growing up with the "classic" stuff I will usually use the "code name" but sometimes if talking with friends who know the character strikingly well as I do then I may use their secret identity or even abbreviate or use their known nicknames. It denotes an actual feeling of "knowing" and personal connection in doing so to me. I really can't get upset over if somebody else refers to them in shorthand if I recognize who they are talking of. It is more problematic if you don't know though. To kids and collectors you can say Leo/Don/Rafe/Mikey and they know you are talking about TMNT's. Say Leonardo, Donatello, Rafael, Michelangelo to folks who don't read comics or watch cartoons and they assume you are talking about the classical painters.
Examples most people will instantly know these days: Clark, Bruce, Steve, Clint, Tony, Diana, Wanda, Sue, Jean, Lex, and so forth if they read comics or have seen the recent movies. I can see and understand that. It would be more of an issue if I were to talk about lesser known heroes (or villains) Horatio or John Gaunt or Rex Mason, would they be recognized as Nexus, Grimjack and Metamorpho? Not by so many I presume.
And what do you do when the Heroic Identity/Name is the same as their real name or working name? Is it Doctor Stephen Strange or Dr. Strange or just Strange?!? And what about a hero who has no name? The Question and the Doctor (Who) or Underdog (who wants to go around just being called shoe shine boy?) or being referred to where you come from like the Man from Atlantis or The Man from U.N.CL.E?
If comic books functioned as the "REAL WORLD" then a code name is almost a necessity if not only for safety (of friends/family and self) but also for brand recognition. Booster Gold was ahead of his time (yes a joke/reference of him being from the future) in a way in foretelling the way business and consumers lock onto name branding and recognition as being a major selling point today.
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Post by rberman on Jun 27, 2019 13:46:51 GMT -5
It varies from character to character. A decent factor is how they were referred too in the comics. Reed Richards was seldom referred too as Mr. Fantastic by anyone. Meanwhile Bashful Benjy was frequently referred too as The Thing. And add in Marvel Two-in-One and his solo titles. I'm not entirely sure I could even name any of Kitty Pride's code names. Sprite, maybe. Probably not 7-Up though. Yes, her changing names and costumes have been the butt of jokes both in-story and out for years. Probably best just to use her given name in that case.  (from X-Men #139)  (from Astonishing X-Men Volume 3 #1) I too think of "The Thing" instead of "Ben Grimm," along the transformational lines of Silver Surfer. They missed an opportunity to call Sharon Ventura "Miss Thing" instead of "Ms. Marvel." |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jun 27, 2019 13:55:23 GMT -5
It varies from character to character. A decent factor is how they were referred too in the comics. Reed Richards was seldom referred too as Mr. Fantastic by anyone. Meanwhile Bashful Benjy was frequently referred too as The Thing. And add in Marvel Two-in-One and his solo titles. I'm not entirely sure I could even name any of Kitty Pride's code names. Sprite, maybe. Probably not 7-Up though. I too think of "The Thing" instead of "Ben Grimm," along the transformational lines of Silver Surfer. They missed an opportunity to call Sharon Ventura "Miss Thing" instead of "Ms. Marvel." I had to Google her to figure out who that was. And I bought the entire run of The Thing as it was coming out, but still have ZERO memory of Sharon Ventura/Ms. Marvel. |
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Post by rberman on Jun 27, 2019 14:12:43 GMT -5
I too think of "The Thing" instead of "Ben Grimm," along the transformational lines of Silver Surfer. They missed an opportunity to call Sharon Ventura "Miss Thing" instead of "Ms. Marvel." I had to Google her to figure out who that was. And I bought the entire run of The Thing as it was coming out, but still have ZERO memory of Sharon Ventura/Ms. Marvel. In case anyone else was wondering: Sharon was an unofficial fifth FF member during Walt Simonson's tenure in the early 1990s. Ben Grimm had been changed back to human form, but his girlfriend Sharon Ventura had become a Thing. Looks like she was called "Ms. Thing" on at least one occasion:  But also Ms. Marvel:  Sometimes in this era Ben wore a powered "The Thing" suit for old times sake, which frankly seems bizarre. Do you think Dr. Jekyll would go to a Halloween party dressed as Mister Hyde? |
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Post by beccabear67 on Jun 27, 2019 15:06:22 GMT -5
I use the code names because a baddie just might be lurking and learn something otherwise! Except for Kitty Pryde because of all the code names they kept giving her when I was reading (Sprite, Ariel, Shadowcat?). Probably would do the same for Mal in the old Teen Titans too.
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Post by Randle-El on Jun 27, 2019 15:18:17 GMT -5
I always loved that panel with Emma Frost throwing shade at Kitty's code names.
Some superhero names are just evidence of a bygone era when these heroes were created, and don't port well to modern sensibilities. Names like "Mr. Fantastic" (or even The Fantastic Four) are just plain corny names that would't work for a modern audience. They also don't make sense when the hero's identity is either widely known, or at the very least are not secret. As far as what heroes call each other (as opposed to what the public calls them), I like the idea of code names working as a call sign for when a team is on the field, like with fighter pilots. But it would be sort of silly for them to talk to each other that way in normal conversations. I always thought it made more sense for Superman and Batman to refer to each other as Clark and Bruce.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 27, 2019 16:15:15 GMT -5
It was a long time before I knew Reed Richards was even called Mr Fantastic. He was always referred to as Reed. The Thing is a mix; I always refer to him as Ben, as ben grimm is way cooler than The Thing. besides, that's James Arness, to me.  Superman is always Clark, to his hero buddies, in my head, because of the Satellite era JLA comics. he and Batman were always Clark and Bruce, in private. Kitty was always Kitty, because she was Kitty first. And the code name kept changing. Ariel? I don't know why anyone thought that was a good name, prior to the Little Mermaid. Sprite was fine; but, everyone still called her Kitty. Storm was Storm, Wolverine was Wolverine; but, Colossus was Piotr. Nightcrawler depended on the situation. Kurt was easier. Spidey is always Peter, in reference to the supporting cast. Jay Garrick is probably the one case where the real name took over from the code name, because of someone else. He may have been the original Flash or the Earth-2 Flash; but, it was easier to just say Jay Garrick. Same with Alan Scott for Green Lantern, Paul Kirk vs Mark Shaw, for Manhunter, and Ted Knight, Mikaal Tomas, Will Payton or Jack Knight for Starman. Captain Marvel will always be Billy Batson to me, while the imposter is Mar-Vell. Carol Danvers is always Ms Marvel, regardless of what new code name she uses. I don't think even Plastic Man's mother called him Eel. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2019 16:27:30 GMT -5
In the Shaxper's thread ... Marvel, I don't think of Marvel Girl at all and I always consider her name of Jean Grey first and foremost and that alone make her unique. In all sense, I feel that all Comic Book Companies should weigh this very seriously and decide what option is best for that character. In case of Marvel Girl it's doesn't ring well with the X-Men group and I felt in my heart that Jean Grey is better suited and give the X-Men more class. Marvel is being overly used in the comic book industry and I feel that Marvel Comics should kill off the Marvel Girl gimmick forever and stick with Jean Grey instead.
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Post by berkley on Jun 27, 2019 16:34:12 GMT -5
It varies from character to character. A decent factor is how they were referred too in the comics. Reed Richards was seldom referred too as Mr. Fantastic by anyone. Meanwhile Bashful Benjy was frequently referred too as The Thing. And add in Marvel Two-in-One and his solo titles. I'm not entirely sure I could even name any of Kitty Pride's code names. Sprite, maybe. Probably not 7-Up though. Yeah, depends on the individual character. If there was any ambiguity, I would lean towards the code name, partly because I think we should avoid talking about them as if they were real people, as comics fans sometimes tend to do. I have my favourites like anyone else, but anything that helps maintain a little distance, to remember that they're constructs, not actual human beings, let alone our special friends, is a good thing, to my mind. So as you can imagine, I especially dislike referring to them by their first names. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jun 27, 2019 18:15:34 GMT -5
It varies from character to character. A decent factor is how they were referred too in the comics. Reed Richards was seldom referred too as Mr. Fantastic by anyone. Meanwhile Bashful Benjy was frequently referred too as The Thing. And add in Marvel Two-in-One and his solo titles. I'm not entirely sure I could even name any of Kitty Pride's code names. Sprite, maybe. Probably not 7-Up though. Yeah, depends on the individual character. If there was any ambiguity, I would lean towards the code name, partly because I think we should avoid talking about them as if they were real people, as comics fans sometimes tend to do. I have my favourites like anyone else, but anything that helps maintain a little distance, to remember that they're constructs, not actual human beings, let alone our special friends, is a good thing, to my mind. So as you can imagine, I especially dislike referring to them by their first names.I actually agree with this quite a bit. When I refer to any of them by a name rather than a code name it's always first and last name a la Reed Richards or Kitty Pride. I find the familiarity of referring to characters by their first name and expecting everyone to understand who you're talking about more than a little creepy. |
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Post by Icctrombone on Jun 27, 2019 18:26:32 GMT -5
I too think of "The Thing" instead of "Ben Grimm," along the transformational lines of Silver Surfer. They missed an opportunity to call Sharon Ventura "Miss Thing" instead of "Ms. Marvel." I had to Google her to figure out who that was. And I bought the entire run of The Thing as it was coming out, but still have ZERO memory of Sharon Ventura/Ms. Marvel. I remember Sharon Ventura for being one of the worst Superheroes ever to be published. She had some weird PTSD thing going on from her wrestling days that made her hate men or being touched or something. She became at ease for a while when she became a rocky creature during Engleharts FF run. |
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Jun 27, 2019 18:49:19 GMT -5
I always loved that panel with Emma Frost throwing shade at Kitty's code names. Some superhero names are just evidence of a bygone era when these heroes were created, and don't port well to modern sensibilities. Hard disagree. "Captain America" is a better name for a franchise superhero than "Steve" Secret identities are a tool for audience identification, especially among children. I don't see any less need for this now than there was in the past. I basically agree with you that the story (and moral!) logic behind secret identities doesn't really work, but I think they serve an incredibly important meta-purpose. And they can be interesting story elements on their own. (The Lee/Ditko Spider-Man is my favorite superhero comic ever, and a lot of the reason for that is that it got both the most drama and the most comedy out of Peter Parker's inability to completely separate his two lives. I don't think any superhero book has done secret identity stories as well, before or since.) |
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Post by Cei-U! on Jun 27, 2019 19:27:44 GMT -5
As a rule, I always list a character in my big Marvel and DC indexes under their code name unless they've had more than one (major) heroic/villainous identity (e.g., Henry Pym, Garfield Logan, or Carol Danvers). They are a staple of the genre, one I choose to honor (even though I prefer it when the characters use their real names in-story).
Cei-U!
I summon my two cents' worth!
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