posted
Umbra and Gossamer. I actully liked alot of the new names. Triad, Apparition, Inferno, Andromada were all pretty good in my opinion. That and some dropping the boy, lad and such like Chameleon and Ferro.
From: Michigan | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
I went with Lightning Lad to Live Wire, not only is Live Wire such a STUPID name, but also I don't see why you would change it for Lightning Lad and not Cosmic Boy or Saturn Girl, the change really seems pointless. But if those three are going to be your founders and important, don't give one of them such a stupid name and don't just change it for one of them.
although Gossamer and Alchemist and Liveithan were also pretty stupid, especially Gossamer because it's such a horrible name, much less for a Super hero, just, yuck.
Honestly if they couldn't think of better names then why change them to begin with?
-------------------- Long Live the Legion!
Registered: Mar 2007
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posted
Leviathan just never worked for me. It was even worse when Violet became LeVIathan. And this is coming from someone who loves giant woman stories. But the name really stank.
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From: Freeville, NY | Registered: Nov 2003
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cleome46
or you can do the confusion 'til your head falls off
posted
I think the only one I would have really had a problem with would have been "Gossamer." As a card-carrying WB cartoon snob since almost the day I was born, that name will never bring anything to mind but a giant orange-furred monster in white tennis shoes.
There's crossover potential there, now that I think about it... [snerk]
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From: Vanity, OR | Registered: Dec 2008
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posted
And I didn't include Andromeda because Laurel Gand never really had a superhero name before that.
-------------------- 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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I'm honestly surprised it didn't get more votes. I don't get why anyone would like it. Umbra. Umbra. It doesn't even sound nice. Or look good on paper. Not to mention that its meaning is probably even more obscure than Gossamer.
The other thing I hated about it was that Tasmia had a fantastic costume at the time with a great big 'S' on it yet her name began with a 'U'. Annoying.
There were a bunch of bad names to choose from though.
Despite him being my fave version of my all-time fave Legionnaire I never liked the code-name Leviathan either. There must have been so many better ones to choose from for Gim too. And don't get me started on LeVIathan.
Other non-faves were Dreamer, Chameleon, Ferro, Sensor (they sound incomplete without the Boy/Girl parts) and Triad, which immediately brings up Chinese-gang connotations in my mind rather than plucky super-girl.
I actually didn't mind Gossamer. Or Alchemist. Though I found it harder to picture Jan with anything other than his original code-name than I did Ayla.
From: Australia | Registered: Dec 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Sarcasm Kid: I didn't think there was a problem with the names. But, then again, I was born in the start of the 90s, so...
Conceptually, I think pretty much all the 90s names were better (Gossamer, as I mentioned, being the notable exception) - even besides the Lad/Lass fetish, nearly all the 60s names are too. damn. long. Codenames are for spouting out quickly and clearly - by the time you've got to the end of the longer names, you've probably been clobbered, or your signal's been jammed and you've spent time on a pointlessly long name. [It's how Al Gore's daughter got stuck with the Secret Service codename "Smurfette" - she got asked for a two-syllable word starting with "S" within the next thirty seconds, and she said the first thing that came into her head]
quote:Originally posted by Blacula: The other thing I hated about it was that Tasmia had a fantastic costume at the time with a great big 'S' on it yet her name began with a 'U'. Annoying.
I like the sound of Umbra, actually. And the "S" was never a hangup for me - for one thing, it's highly stylised so that it's basically a wavy line, and two... it looks even less like an interlac "S" than it does the latin "S".
Do you have a problem with the reboot Jan having a chest symbol that looks nothing like an "E" (Interlac OR Latin)? Or howsabout the hourglass-styled stripe on Vi's last costume?
quote:Originally posted by Blacula: Other non-faves were Dreamer, Chameleon, Ferro, Sensor (they sound incomplete without the Boy/Girl parts)
Sensor, I'll give you - but not because of how it sounded, but because it didn't actually make any sense, since Jeka didn't have any sensor-related powers (I would rather have seen the illusionist get an abstract codename). The others... nope.
quote:Originally posted by Blacula: ...and Triad, which immediately brings up Chinese-gang connotations in my mind rather than plucky super-girl.
Here's the first definition in the dictionary I have to hand:
quote:triad /"trVIad/ n. M16. [Fr. triade or late L triad-, trias f. Gk triad-, trias, f. tri- TRI-: see -AD1.]
1 A group or set of three (persons, things, attributes, etc.); spec. (a) Chr. Theol. the Trinity; (b) a Welsh form of literary composition characterized by an arrangement of subjects or statements in groups of three. M16.
[Gangs are 4 of 5, after "In Pythagoreanism, the number three." and "Mus. A chord of three notes, consisting of a given note with the third and fifth above it. M18."]
quote:Originally posted by Reboot: Do you have a problem with the reboot Jan having a chest symbol that looks nothing like an "E" (Interlac OR Latin)? Or howsabout the hourglass-styled stripe on Vi's last costume?
I thought reboot Jan's symbol was always quite obviously a stylised 'E' (for Element Lad) so I never had any problem with that aspect of his costume.
On an aesthetic level though, I thought the design and colours of his costume were among the worst to grace any Legionnaire ever so in that regard, yes I did have a huge problem with his costume.
Can't quite picture Vi's hourglass stripe that you mention but don't think I would've had a problem with it. The general dullness of all of Vi's reboot costumes though, were a bit of an issue for me.
quote:Originally posted by Reboot: Here's the first definition in the dictionary I have to hand:
quote:triad /"trVIad/ n. M16. [Fr. triade or late L triad-, trias f. Gk triad-, trias, f. tri- TRI-: see -AD1.]
1 A group or set of three (persons, things, attributes, etc.); spec. (a) Chr. Theol. the Trinity; (b) a Welsh form of literary composition characterized by an arrangement of subjects or statements in groups of three. M16.
[Gangs are 4 of 5, after "In Pythagoreanism, the number three." and "Mus. A chord of three notes, consisting of a given note with the third and fifth above it. M18."]
That may be so but it was never the first definition that sprung to my mind when I saw the name Triad.
This is probably a regional thing but down here in Perth, Western Australia we have a huge Chinese/South-East Asian immigrant population (they being our closest neighbours and all) and during the 90s there was a lot of reactionary talk in conservative newspapers (probably wrongly) that a lot of the rising crime in the city was the fault of the famous Chinese criminal organisation, the Triads (similar to the Sicilian Mafia or the Japanese Yakuza or the 30th Century Taurus Gang).
So, since I was reading this book in the late 90s, that was the first conotation that came to mind when I saw the name Triad. Dictionary-philes might have immediately thought of the definition you mention though.
From: Australia | Registered: Dec 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Reboot: Conceptually, I think pretty much all the 90s names were better (Gossamer, as I mentioned, being the notable exception) - even besides the Lad/Lass fetish, nearly all the 60s names are too. damn. long. Codenames are for spouting out quickly and clearly - by the time you've got to the end of the longer names, you've probably been clobbered, or your signal's been jammed and you've spent time on a pointlessly long name. [It's how Al Gore's daughter got stuck with the Secret Service codename "Smurfette" - she got asked for a two-syllable word starting with "S" within the next thirty seconds, and she said the first thing that came into her head]
This is a good point. Another consideration is that if you're going to go into battle against the Fatal Five, you want a name that's going to engender respect, if not fear. Let's face it: Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, and Matter-Eater Lad do not cut it.
(Of course, Ferro, Triad, et. al., may not engender fear or respect, either, but at least Tharok is less likely to snicker over them.)
Another aspect of the '90s codenames that I appreciated is that they weren't too obvious. They made you think or even do some research to figure out how the name applied to the character. If kids learned new words such as "gossamer," "umbra," or "leviathan," so much the better. But even us older folks benefited, I think, by looking at the characters in a different way and seeing how their powers might relate to other concepts.
About Umbra: I confess that I hated the name for an entirely different reason. Years ago, I came up with a different character with that name, only to have to change it when DC started using it.
-------------------- 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 Blacula: I'm one of the few that voted for Umbra.
I'm honestly surprised it didn't get more votes. I don't get why anyone would like it. Umbra. Umbra. It doesn't even sound nice. Or look good on paper. Not to mention that its meaning is probably even more obscure than Gossamer.
I'm trying to think of the last time in my life I heard the word "gossamer". Umbra, whereas, I'm familiar with. Amateur astronomy background...
quote:Originally posted by Blacula: Can't quite picture Vi's hourglass stripe that you mention but don't think I would've had a problem with it. The general dullness of all of Vi's reboot costumes though, were a bit of an issue for me.
quote:Originally posted by He Who Wanders: About Umbra: I confess that I hated the name for an entirely different reason. Years ago, I came up with a different character with that name, only to have to change it when DC started using it.
I know the feeling. I came up with characters called Dark Angel and even Power Girl before I knew comic characters already existed with those names.
Recognizability of a name is an issue. I once mentioned Ferro Lad to a non-Legion-reading friend, and she said "Feral Lad?" Then, "ferro" isn't really a word, only in combination with something.
-------------------- 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
Recognizability is important, but I don't think it should be a primary or even secondary consideration when selecting a name.
If we take it for granted (as DC and Marvel seem to) that the first readership for comics is young children, then most names are going to be new to them. Should creators then keep the names simple so kids can recognize them, or should should creators try for something more creative and bit beyond a child's level so readers can "grow into" the characters?
I suggest the latter approach is better. Otherwise, Sub-Mariner might have been called "Fish Man" and Cyclops might have been called "Mr. Eye-Beams." Kids, of course, may know what a cyclops is, and they may equate Namor's name with a submarine (I did, which was the reason I mispronounced it as a child), but these names were not immediately recognizable in terms of what the characters could do. (Namor could not fire torpedoes, for example. Scott only vaguely looked like he had one eye when he wore his visor.) It's worth discovering that "mariner" refers to someone who travels by sea, and "sub-" means, of course, underneath.
Besides, names can take on their own meanings once fans become accustomed to them. Someone once pointed out that "The Beatles" is a very silly name, and it is. But it's taken on a life of its own.
The more I think about it, the more I like "Gossamer." Not only does it describe Ayla's power, it also rolls off the tongue. If young readers were not familiar with the word, I bet it didn't take them long to figure out what it meant.
-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I liked Dreamer, Spark, and Gossamer. Hated Alchemist, Leviathan, and Apparition.
Inferno was okay. Didn't like Sensor or Ferro. Umbra is short, appropriate, and sounds feminine, but I missed calling her Shady.
I think Waft would be a good name for Light Lass. It's short and to the point and it means "to carry lightly and smoothly through the air" or "to send or convey lightly, as if in flight."
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From: Champaign, IL | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
^ With my slight dyslexia I read your 'Waft' above Jim as 'Fart'. Wouldn't that be an inappropriate name for Ayla.
From: Australia | Registered: Dec 2003
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-------------------- 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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Wouldn't that be an inappropriate name for Ayla.
