# Comic book names in real life? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 7, 2011, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-names-in-real-life/584621 "2011-06-07T14:04:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-names-in-real-life/584621/1 "2011-06-07T14:04:01Z")
I was reading a review of the new X Men movie, and it occurred to me that it might be the first movie in which the actor playing a role has a name that is more comic-booky than the character (January Jones playing Emma Frost). Which led me to think about other people with comic book names in real life, such as Wolf Blitzer (no explanation needed) Lucy Liu (Silver Age Superman’s mysterious Oriental girlfriend?) Howard Hughes (see also: Tony Stark) Others? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-names-in-real-life/584621/2 "2011-06-07T14:05:49Z")
Hugh Jackman …what? ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-names-in-real-life/584621/3 "2011-06-07T14:12:19Z")
Sean O’Sullivan (KC Royals pitcher) sounds like a name that comics would give to a character who’s supposed to be identifiably Irish (not too far off Sean Cassidy, AKA Banshee). ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-names-in-real-life/584621/4 "2011-06-07T14:12:36Z")
I heard the name Matt Marvel announced at my son’s eighth grade graduation last week, and thought he sounded like a superhero. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-names-in-real-life/584621/5 "2011-06-07T14:16:09Z")
When I first heard the name, I honestly thought January Jones **was** a Marvel character. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-names-in-real-life/584621/6 "2011-06-07T15:05:22Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > I heard the name Matt Marvel announced at my son’s eighth grade graduation last week, and thought he sounded like a superhero. I knew a guy who’s last name was Marvel. He joined the police. I always wondered if he ever made Captain. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-names-in-real-life/584621/7 "2011-06-07T15:06:35Z")
Michael Ironside (also in First Class) Tod Slaughter (old actor, his film roles being primarily villains, so the name was appropriate) Max Schreck (also an old actor, best known for playing Count Orlok in Nosferatu, so again…way appropriate name…also the namesake of the main villain of Batman Returns) There are a number of people with the surname Death, or variants, such as footballer Jason Death or actor Charles De’ath. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-names-in-real-life/584621/8 "2011-06-07T15:53:44Z")
My real name often elicits jokes and comments at comic shops and among comic fans, because I happen to share it–after a fashion–with a certain superhero. It’s also been used as an alias by another hero, among other comics contexts. I suppose that could qualify it as a comic book name. ---
**Author:** ![Bakhesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Bakhesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bakhesh)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-names-in-real-life/584621/9 "2011-06-07T15:59:24Z")
what about people who actually share names with marvel characters? Such as the actor Sebastian Shaw (Darth Vader without his helmet in Return of the Jedi), or Kurt Wagner, lead singer of the band Lambchop? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-names-in-real-life/584621/10 "2011-06-07T16:03:44Z")
My favorite example of this is that the fastest man in the world is named [Bolt](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usain_Bolt). ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-names-in-real-life/584621/11 "2011-06-07T16:06:35Z")
Not actors, but from the “funny names list” I’ve compiled at work: Elvis Slaughter, captain of the sheriff’s police (yes, Captain Slaughter) Dr. Scott Denton Detective Kill (don’t have a first name) Tequila Patton (but for one letter…) Jack Genius William Sherlock, forensic scientist specializing in shoeprints (“Footfalls, Watson!”) My sister went to school with a Jennifer Perfect. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-names-in-real-life/584621/12 "2011-06-07T16:08:47Z")
Longtime Seattle Seahawks fullback [Mack Strong](http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/StroMa00.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-names-in-real-life/584621/13 "2011-06-07T16:09:04Z")
Come to think, I played in a Champions campaign for a while with a guy named Rick Jones. And then there’s [Jessica Sunshine](http://www.astro.umd.edu/people/jess.html), space scientist. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-names-in-real-life/584621/14 "2011-06-07T16:11:28Z")
Lance Armstrong. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-names-in-real-life/584621/15 "2011-06-07T16:12:33Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#): > > Elvis Slaughter, captain of the sheriff’s police (yes, Captain Slaughter) And perhaps some day Sheriff Slaughter. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-names-in-real-life/584621/16 "2011-06-07T16:28:35Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > There are a number of people with the surname Death, or variants, such as footballer Jason Death or actor Charles De’ath. Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey. Or is he a comic book character? ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-names-in-real-life/584621/17 "2011-06-07T16:30:30Z")
I don’t remember where I read it but I have read that one of the reasons Neil Armstrong was picked to be the first guy to step on the moon was that NASA knew whoever it was would go down in history and he had a name that sounded like a hero. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-names-in-real-life/584621/18 "2011-06-07T16:35:48Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > Lance Armstrong. Great pick! My sweetie’s boys are named Aramis and Logan; time will tell whether they live up to their namesakes. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-names-in-real-life/584621/19 "2011-06-07T16:46:05Z")
Cracked’s no 1 pick for ‘[manliest name in the world](http://www.cracked.com/article_14982_the-9-manliest-names-in-world.html)’, is perhaps too comic even for comics: Staff Sgt Max Fightmaster. Though Commander Flex Plexico, also on that list, works even better… Also not hard to guess his superpower. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-names-in-real-life/584621/20 "2011-06-07T16:51:14Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > I don’t remember where I read it but I have read that one of the reasons Neil Armstrong was picked to be the first guy to step on the moon was that NASA knew whoever it was would go down in history and he had a name that sounded like a hero. That or somebody was an Arthur Clarke fan. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-names-in-real-life/584621.md?page=2)