Aliens Are Just Like Us: Personal Names in The Legion of Super-Heroes. (2nd April 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sutton, Laurel
• Is Part Of: Names. Volume 64:Number 2(2016:Jun.)
• Page Start: 109
• Page End: 119
• Publication Date: 2016-04-02
• Subjects: Laurel Sutton -- superhero names -- Legion of Super-Heroes -- DC Comics -- Superman -- Batman -- aliens -- Silver Age -- science fiction -- personal names -- code names; Onomastics -- Periodicals; Names -- Periodicals; 929.9705
• DOI: 10.1080/00277738.2016.1159446
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0027-7738

Abstract

Abstract : Names created for alien comic-book characters in the 1960s provide an insight into cultural naming norms of the time; personal names had to be structurally familiar, so that readers could relate to them, yet different enough to seem other-worldly and/or futuristic. This analysis focuses on the personal names of The Legion of Super-Heroes, a team of super-powered teenagers from the thirty-first century. Their invented names conform sharply to English-speaking US American norms in terms of gender marking through syllable count and phonetic choice. The names of the future are very much like those of mid-twentieth-century American comic-book readers.