Paint Monk's Library

  • Welcome to the Library!

  • Language

    en English
    ar Arabiczh-CN Chinese (Simplified)nl Dutchen Englishfr Frenchde Germanit Italianpt Portugueseru Russianes Spanish

  • INTO THE KNIGHT PODCAST

    A great podcast that talks about all things Fist of Khonshu. Worth checking out!

  • Weirded Wonder

    Our friends who host the Conan Podcast! Check out their other podcasts here.

  • COMIC BOOK GRADING

    The Paint Monk uses CBCS to grade all of his key comics. Check out their prices - lower than CGC and just as good.

  • Golden Age Podcast

    A podcast featuring titles from the Golden Age of comics.

  • Robert E. Howard News

    Keep up-to-date on all the comics coming out that are based on the works and worlds of Robert E. Howard!

  • WRITER JIM ZUB’S BLOG

  • ARTIST TIM TRUMAN’S SITE

  • Atlas Comics Archives

    All you ever wanted to know about the short-lived Atlas Comics of the 1970s and its equally short-lived revival in 2011-2013.

  • “Groovy” Comics Blog!

    Our friends at "Diversions of the Groovy Kind" take a look at many different Bronze Age comics! Check them out.

  • THE DEFENDERS FAN SITE

    Do you enjoy Marvel's beloved superhero "non-team?" This is a nice blog for Defenders fans!

  • MARVEL UNLIMITED

    Get Marvel Unlimited - and access to over 20,000 of the best comic books in the industry - for only $9.99 a month!

  • COMIXOLOGY

    Digital INDY comic subscription service with some Marvel and DC Comics, too.

Written on July 15th, 2018 by Wally Monk

Fans of Sci-Fi & Pop Culture: What’s In A Name?

Posted in Uncategorized Tags: ,

“Dweezil” and “Moon Unit” Aren’t The Only Unusual Names Out There

By DEAN PLAKAS – PM Library Writer

What’s in a name? How do you name something or someone? After a loved one? After a historical figure? A biblical figure? A mythological figure?  How about after a character from a franchise whose fans are sometimes labelled “geeks” or “nerds?”


If only infants could speak…

Fans of comic books, science fiction, science fantasy and even video games have been known to name their pets, prized possessions, and loved ones after a comic book character or other fictional hero. They name their boats after vehicles from favorite franchises. Fans have named their children after celebrities too: actors, sportstars and singers. So who do celebrities name their children after? Take solace, celebrities are no different than the rest of us.

Years ago I worked with a gentleman who named his son Xavier Logan after Professor Charles Xavier and an alias of the character Wolverine, two characters in Marvel Comics’ best selling title The X-Men. I didn’t think it odd; I’ve heard stranger names. Musician Frank Zappa named his daughter Moon Unit and one of his sons Dweezil.  Kanye West and Kim Kardashian named their child after a compass point. Then there’s Gwyneth Paltrow who named her son with the biblical name Moses, and her daughter, Apple, after a fruit (but then again, there is mention of an apple in the Bible!) There once was an NFL football player for the Chicago Bears named Dick Butkus. Going through life with a name like that would surely make one tough enough to be a pro-linebacker! The other ones I’ve mentioned might need (or perhaps have already gone through) therapy sessions to deal with their monikers.

Writer, Actor and Director Kevin Smith with
his daughter, Harley Quinn. (SOURCE: Zimbio)



Take actor/writer/director Kevin Smith, for example. He named his daughter Harley Quinn, after the DC character who is in love with Batman’s nemesis, the Joker.  Smith and his daughter are tremendous fans of the character Harley Quinn, the character who was portrayed in film by actress Margot Robbie in Warner Brothers’ Suicide Squad  Mr. Smith hosted the Dawn of Justice League TV special on The CW, owned by Warner Brothers. As a thank you gesture, WB sent the movie bat prop used by Robbie to Smith who in turn gifted it to his ecstatic daughter (who allegedly cried for hours.) Ah, a father’s love….


Smith is not the only celebrity father to have enjoyed a geek moment with his daughter. The beloved, talented comedian and Academy Award winning actor Robin Williams was a big fan of the video game The Legend of Zelda; so big a fan that he named his own daughter after Princess Zelda. In 2011, they starred in a commercial together for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, the Nintendo 3DS game. A great moment shared between father and daughter – sadly, just three short years later Robin Williams’ suicide shocked the world.

The late Robin Williams with his daughter, Zelda.
(SOURCE: ABC News)


Girls are not the only ones to have a celebrity father who is a “geek” and/or “nerd.”
Academy Award winning Actor Nicolas Cage is the nephew of Academy Award-winning director Francis Ford Coppola, Cage is also the nephew of Academy Award nominee Talia Shire, and the first cousin of Academy Award winning Sofia Coppola. Cage was born Nicolas Kim Coppola, but when he didn’t want to ride the coattails of the influential Coppola name, he decided to take a stage name – from a Marvel superhero! “Cage” comes from Marvel Comics’ Power Man himself, Luke Cage. When he fathered a son, Cage struck again! He took to comicdom once more and named his son Kal-El, the Kryptonian identity of DC Comics’ Superman. Not only did he name his son after a DC Comics muscle-man, but he did so after taking on the name of a Marvel Comics muscle-man for himself. Well done, Nick.

Ironically, the literal Superman came to the rescue of actor Cage when he got into severe IRS trouble and debt. This financial emergency prompted the actor to sell his copy of Action Comics #1 at online auction in 2011. Cage had purchased the Holy Grail of comic books for $110K in 1997. At the auction, it sold  for $2.16M, besting the previous world record of a mere (!) $1.5M.

Thus the father of the real-life namesake of a literal superhero was saved.

Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Comments are closed.