-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by cleome: Leviathan just makes me grin because it reminds me of the sea-king in those Hebrew folk tales I'd hear a lot as a kid.
This is another reason, besides his growth powers, that I thought the name was fitting: In the preboot, it was established that Gim was Jewish. (I don't recall if he was in the reboot.)
As for Gim not resembling a sea monster, as some have said, people sometimes forget that codenames don't have to be taken literally. Medusa, in mythology, is an ugly woman with snakes for hair and who turns men to stone with a gaze. Medusa of the Inhumans has nothing in common with this character other than that her power originates from her hair. But it's hard to think of the second Medusa with any other name.
-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Well, this one's getting responses quickly. Guess there are strong feelings. I'm surprised at the early leader, too.
I should've mentioned I didn't include the Legion on the Run names. Again, different reason. None of them were meant to last, and they were supposed make a break from past names to hide their identities (they didn't really).
-------------------- Tom Strong, on nostalgia: "I suppose it's a ready substitute for genuine feeling." - Tom Strong #6, Alan Moore
From: Calgary, Alberta | Registered: May 2008
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posted
my number 2 choice would have been Alchemist
-------------------- Five billion years from now the Sun will go nova and obliterate the Earth. Don't sweat the small stuff!
From: Boston | Registered: Aug 2003
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Arm Fall Off Boy
Now starring in his own DC Comic, September 2011!
posted
Honestly, I didn't like any of these. Too many visual connotations are conjured up:
Live Wire-Can't touch this! Spark-Bzzt. Like a bug zapper Gossamer-Pretty, but, weak, weak, weak. Apparition-She'll always be Phantom Girl Inferno-I think of a towering, burning building where people die. Leviathan-Same as above. He'll always be Colossal boy. Micro Lad is just as bad. Andromeda-She's a super powerful person, not a friggin' galaxy! Valor-This one actually grew on me, but once Mon-el, always Mon-el. Didn't like M'onel either.
Just a crappy bunch of names, but I voted Gossamer the worst.
-------------------- Long Live all them Legions!
From: North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2008
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quote:Originally posted by He Who Wanders: This is another reason, besides his growth powers, that I thought the name was fitting: In the preboot, it was established that Gim was Jewish. (I don't recall if he was in the reboot.)
I think it was said or shown at his funeral, although I don't have the issue to hand to check.
quote:Originally posted by Arm Fall Off Boy: Live Wire-Can't touch this! Spark-Bzzt. Like a bug zapper
I think that the secondary meanings for these two (after, of course, the electricity link) were intended to be
quote:LIVE WIRE [answers.com] Informal. A vivacious, alert, or energetic person.
quote:SPARK [New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary] d A trace or flash of spirit, courage, wit, etc. M20.
[I do agree with you about "Gossamer", however, which is why I voted for it. In a sense, it's exactly the opposite of "Spark" as a name.]
quote:Originally posted by Arm Fall Off Boy: [QB] Too many visual connotations are conjured up: Apparition-She'll always be Phantom Girl [...] Leviathan-Same as above. He'll always be Colossal boy. Micro Lad is just as bad.
And they are visual connotations, how?
-------------------- My views are my own and do not reflect those of everyone else... and I wouldn't have it any other way.
quote:Originally posted by jimgallagher: You left out Shrinking Violet -> Leviathan.
Again, on purpose. That went with a power change. I only put in names that could be applied to the same character. Asking about Violet would've brought with it the issue of whether or not you liked that story development.
-------------------- Tom Strong, on nostalgia: "I suppose it's a ready substitute for genuine feeling." - Tom Strong #6, Alan Moore
From: Calgary, Alberta | Registered: May 2008
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quote:Originally posted by Arm Fall Off Boy: Andromeda-She's a super powerful person, not a friggin' galaxy!
Andromeda is also the name of a character from Greek mythology: a princess who was chained to a rock after her mother boasted how beautiful she was. This makes me think of Laurel's early postboot personality and how she was imprisoned after the White Triangle storyline.
Another interesting connection is suggested by Wikipedia. "Andromeda" means literally "to think of a man," which is fitting since Laurel was conceived as a female version of Mon-El and replacement for Supergirl (a female Superboy).
-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I haven't even voted yet because I can't choose between ALCHEMIST and LEVIATHAN. HATED those.
Actually since Alchemist got dumped post-boot for the original name Element Lad but the Colossal Boy name didn't return until late 3boot, I might go with Leviathan...
posted
regardless of Leviathan being a biblical sea monster or mythical beast and nothing to do with a guy that grows really tall...
when i was 11 years old and reading Legionnaires #1 for the first time, I had no idea how to pronounce it!!
Le-VIE-a-thon? Levi-a-thon? Levy-a-thon? to a fourth grader, that's IMPOSSIBLE to figure out
also, the name just doesn't sound super heroic...
-------------------- everything i like rules. everything you like is terrible.
From: USA #1 | Registered: Aug 2007
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Arm Fall Off Boy
Now starring in his own DC Comic, September 2011!
posted
quote:Originally posted by Arm Fall Off Boy: Live Wire-Can't touch this! Spark-Bzzt. Like a bug zapper
I think that the secondary meanings for these two (after, of course, the electricity link) were intended to be
quote:LIVE WIRE [answers.com] Informal. A vivacious, alert, or energetic person.
quote:SPARK [New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary] d A trace or flash of spirit, courage, wit, etc. M20.
[I do agree with you about "Gossamer", however, which is why I voted for it. In a sense, it's exactly the opposite of "Spark" as a name]
Yes, I know. I was just trying to have a little fun with these.
quote:Originally posted by Arm Fall Off Boy: [QB] Too many visual connotations are conjured up: Apparition-She'll always be Phantom Girl [...] Leviathan-Same as above. He'll always be Colossal boy. Micro Lad is just as bad.
And they are visual connotations, how? [/QUOTE]
Ok, I got a little carried away in including Apparition in the visual thing. You're right.
Micro Lad to me will always be the reject who joined to LSV. I understand this latest Gim could shrink down to six feet, but he was still macro size if you ask me.
-------------------- Long Live all them Legions!
From: North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2008
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quote:Originally posted by What Was Wrong With the Reboot? Lad: when i was 11 years old and reading Legionnaires #1 for the first time, I had no idea how to pronounce [Leviathan]!!
What's wrong with a fourth grader looking it up in a dictionary or encyclopedia?
One of the "icing on the cake" appeals that comics always had for me was in learning new words or ideas. I remember thinking that Magneto was pronounced "mag-net-o" (instead of the accurate "mag-neet-o") and being astonished when I found out that it was a real word.
Likewise, I didn't figure out that the accent on Sub-Mariner was on the second syllable and not the third until long after I first encountered the character.
Learning how to pronounce difficult names in comic books can even have a positive real-world application, as it can make kids receptive to words or names that don't readily conform to the grammar rules we are taught in grade school. One of my favorite bands, Jefferson Airplane, had a guitarist named Jorma Kaukonen. I learned some years after I discovered them that I had been pronouncing his name wrong. It's "YOR-ma COW-kuh-nen"--which is how it is pronounced in Finland, where Jorma's family is from. Whereas some of my friends and family members would get embarrassed at learning they had mispronounced a word--or dismiss the correct pronunciation because it didn't fit in with what they had been taught--I always regarded such times as "a-ha!" moments.
Kids are going to encounter difficult names or words sooner or later; introducing such names in a comic book setting was, to me at least, a fun way of getting started.
-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
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