I seem to recall people using “brainiac” in the early 70s or thereabouts (though memory plays tricks that way). It’s probable that it did come from the comic-book reference, but that people misrepresented the source–liking pop culture only really became “cool” starting in the early 1980s. Recognizing comics, TV, and such was reason for academic ostracism before that.
It still goes on, to a degree. I’ve noticed that both Salman Rushdie and Tom Wolfe like to make comic-book and -strip references, yet seem always to get some detail wrong. I suspect it’s deliberate, a kind of default by which they can distance themselves from the “lowbrow” source should that tactic become necessary.
[Incidentally, she spelled it “Bettie.”]
I was wondering the same thing, but if so, Bettie Page’s current popularity is due to her use as the model for a character in Dave Stevens’s Rocketeer comic book.
(And I should point out that as early as 1973, “Betty” was being used as a quintessential name for a 1940s-era girl.)
Not quite, according to this:
Never heard that, but in the early days of the Beatles they were often referred to as wearing Prince Valiant hairdos.
Poindexter is still commonly used in*** The Simpsons.***
Cite
http://www.vcreporter.com/cms/story/detail/?id=4967&IssueNum=134
Any big dumb jock can be called “Moose.” Is that from Archie Comics, or did Archie Comics borrow the usage from popular culture?