# Reaction to Superhero Alter-Ego Puns **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-books-manga\ **Created:** [November 29, 2022, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745 "2022-11-29T16:15:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2022, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/41 "2022-11-30T03:23:06Z")
A throwaway bit I recently touched on in another thread: the Squadron Supreme — Marvel’s knockoff version of the Justice League, who pretty much only exist to get outclassed by the Avengers — have alter-ego IDs that wouldn’t be seen as riffing on anything in their world, but that were nerdy in-jokes for comic readers. So instead of the aforementioned Arthur Curry, the Aquaman stand-in is ‘Kingsley Rice’. And instead of Hawkman being Carter Hall, try ‘Jimmy Dore’. And, faster than a speeding Kahlil Gibran, you could swap out Kal-El for ‘Zhib-Ran’… ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2022, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/42 "2022-11-30T05:40:29Z")
Comic books should be fun and silly names are fun. My favorite is Werewolf by Night’s alter ego; Jack Russell. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2022, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/43 "2022-11-30T06:19:10Z")
> [@Pavelb1](#): > > There was some old Action Comic I read recently that involved Superman and some half-ass prophecy involving LL. Dude was going nuts. Stuff like: > > “Could it be that ballplayer?? No, his name is just Sam Smith…wait!! BaLLplayer! Great Scott!” Actually, it was a [Little Leaguer.](http://supermanica.superman.nu/index.php/Little_Leaguer) ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2022, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/44 "2022-11-30T10:01:33Z")
> [@pianodave](#): > > Examples: Wolverine: James Howlett “howl at” the moon, obvious wolf reference, even though a wolf is different from a wolverine. In this case - I’ll just point out that Wolverine was originally a one-off opponent for the Hulk, and existed for a couple years as an X-man before we ever knew him as “Logan”, then still more years before it was revealed his original name was “James Howlett”. So _maybe_ there’s a connection between howl and “Howlett” but if so it was dreamed up decades after the character originally showed up. I don’t really think it holds up. > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Prior to that, he was always known as/referred to as “Logan.” Nope, as I noted, in the early years we didn’t even have that. > [@pianodave](#): > > Some of these just go for it: Doctor Octopus–Otto Octavius (reference to his octopus-like appearance.) Yeah, that’s a Stan Lee sort of thing right there. > [@pianodave](#): > > Maybe I’m overthinking it. Wonder Woman: Diana Prince (she’s a princess, right? Princess Diana reference?) You’re overthinking it. Wonder Woman was Diana Prince long years before Diana Spencer was born. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2022, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/45 "2022-11-30T10:20:27Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > If my name was Edward Nigma, I wouldn’t commit crimes based around riddles, puzzles, and “enigmas”. Within the last few years they’ve retconned his name into being Edward Nashton, presumably because “Nygma” was too silly to take seriously anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2022, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/46 "2022-11-30T13:32:42Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Within the last few years they’ve retconned his name into being Edward Nashton Seriously? Are they intent on sucking every last bit of fun out of the Batman franchise? It’s been half a century since Adam West; you would think they could stop overcompensating by now. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2022, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/47 "2022-11-30T13:35:48Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > (Also, how weird are those superhero trophy rooms in general and how creepy this example in particular?) Oh, that’s a whole other avenue of strangeness to think about. Back in the Silver Age, Superman’s Fortress of Solitude included tribute rooms for all of his friends\*, including Batman, Jimmy Olsen, and Lois Lane, each containing various mementos and souvenirs of their time together. The Lois room even had a life-sized, perfectly detailed statue of Lois. If you were at someone’s house and saw something like that, you’d politely excuse yourself at the first opportunity, then call the cops! - He even had a Clark Kent room, so as to maintain the fiction that Superman and Clark were two separate people who were good friends. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2022, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/48 "2022-11-30T13:36:38Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > Didn’t always work. See Bruce Banner becoming Bob Banner. > > Hence the later “revelation” that his full name was actually _Robert_ Bruce Banner. Sure, Stan. To me, he will always be David Banner. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2022, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/49 "2022-11-30T13:44:29Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > To me, he will always be David Banner. To me, David Banner will always be Eddie’s father. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2022, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/50 "2022-11-30T13:44:50Z")
> [@pianodave](#): > > Did creating such wordplay dilute the effectiveness of said superhero? I’m puzzled by the OP’s bafflement. Evocative names have always been part of human storytelling–Prince Charming, Snow White and Rose Red, Tom Thumb. “Beowulf” = “bee wolf” = “bee hunter” = “honey eater” = “bear” – Punning names in English literature go back to the very beginnings _of English_. This idea that storytellers are trying to create a “fake, real universe” is a new idea. In past millennia, we understood that storytelling was evoking something beyond the real. It doesn’t work by the rules of reality. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2022, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/51 "2022-11-30T13:48:15Z")
It dates back to the Golden Age. Green Lantern was supposed to be Alan Ladd, a play on “Aladdin”, but they thought that too obvious, so it became Alan Scott. Then the actor Alan Ladd came along . . . The Spirit’s sidekick was Ebony White, who was black. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2022, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/52 "2022-11-30T13:56:13Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > The Spirit’s sidekick was Ebony White, who was black. Dr. Mortal was supposedly killed at the end of each story by his niece and her boyfriend but inevitably always returned in the next issue of Weird Comics. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2022, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/53 "2022-11-30T14:01:47Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > Harley Quinn’s real name (“Harleen Quinzel”) just kind of annoys me, as it’s so obviously made up for the sake of the pun And “Harley” is a perfectly cromulent name (I know a guy with that name) > [@Pavelb1](#): > > “Could it be that ballplayer?? No, his name is just Sam Smith…wait!! BaLLplayer! Great Scott!” He was a **L** ittle **L** eaguer ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2022, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/54 "2022-11-30T14:01:55Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > It dates back to the Golden Age. Green Lantern was supposed to be Alan Ladd, a play on “Aladdin”, but they thought that too obvious, But the idea of having Doctor Mid-Nite actually be Doctor McNider, that was acceptable… ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2022, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/55 "2022-11-30T14:10:07Z")
Just a thought. Is it just a coincidence that these characters were often created and named by men who had given themselves more interesting (and less Jewish) names? ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2022, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/56 "2022-11-30T14:17:30Z")
[http://supermanica.superman.nu/index.php/Little\_Leaguer](http://supermanica.superman.nu/index.php/Little_Leaguer) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2022, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/57 "2022-11-30T14:22:02Z")
More puns from the _Spirit_: Silk Satin Sand Serif Darling O’Shea Mister Carrion Hazel P. Macbeth Silken Floss ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2022, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/58 "2022-11-30T14:34:34Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > More puns from the _Spirit_: One of the names I couldn’t figure out from _The Spirit_ was the _femme fatale_ **P’Gell.** What kind of name is that? It sounds more like the name you’d give an alien in 1940s pulp science fiction. Or 1960s Star Trek. It was recently pointed out to me that the name clearly comes from _Place Pigalle_, the famous public square in Paris (which became known to American servicemen as _Pig Alley_ during WWII). (Also the name of a restaurant at Seattle’s Pike Place market) ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2022, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/59 "2022-11-30T15:02:30Z")
Hilariously _thats not it_. I misremembered, its Supergirl and its the back-up feature of this comic. > **[Action Comics Vol 1 312](https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Action_Comics_Vol_1_312)** > > "Superman: "King Superman Versus Clark Kent, Metallo"": Clark Kent gets turned into a Metallo with a Kryptonite heart after he is mortally wounded by a policeman's bullet, only to find out that Superman's "tyranny" has been a ruse to prevent the... Even funnier is its a sequel of sorts to the issue you mentioned. And both feature the kind of LL obsession I was talking about. With HaLLeys comet, HoLLywood, and beLLe of the baLL all worrying Kara in the Supergirl Action Comics backup. I’ve never read the one with the Little Leaguer. I was just trying to give an example of the level of obsession the Supers have with LL and how far they will go to twist things. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2022, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/60 "2022-11-30T15:05:07Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > It was recently pointed out to me that the name clearly comes from _Place Pigalle_, the famous public square in Paris (which became known to American servicemen as _Pig Alley_ during WWII). In particular, known to them as a place to procure prostitutes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745.md?page=4)