Monday, July 21, 2008

Now Doctor Horrible is Here

J. Whedon kinda name-checked me. Or my book. Not actually. New York Magazine pretty much made him say something. And he didn't actually read the book, except for the title. Not that he should, he's probably busy.

Still, huzzah.

(thanks to Jim for the tip)

10 comments:

praveenboss said...
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Jim who is slightly balding said...

This post has been removed by Dr. Flatline for use in his heart-stopping ray! Mwah ha ha!

Jim who is slightly balding said...

It's hard to come up with original names for supervillains... turns out "Dr. Flatline" has already been used as a character on some Discovery Channel show.

Jim who is slightly balding said...

Okay, so here's what I have done in the past to come up with original hero and villain names. I'd think of a good, multi-syllabic word, and then find a way of switching the letters around until I've got a word that flatly does not exist.

For example, I was playing in a new Champions RPG campaign, and I wanted a character with a 100% completely new and original name. So I started with a real word, "lackluster," and swapped out some letters until I came up with "Flakduster," and then based the hero's powers on the name. I pictured the character surrounded by a black dust that he can direct to various purposes, such as a percussive sonic attack (his "Flak Attack") and a protective force wall, among others.

I was very happy to find that "flakduster" did not exist on any page listed in Google at the time.

Austin Grossman said...

Turns out, when you put a celebrity's full name in a post, weird comments arise.

Austin Grossman said...

My approach, btw, is to assume the space of possible original superhuman names is absolutely full - someone's used it, somewhere. So you just pick one you like and make the character work.

Jim who is slightly balding said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jim who is slightly balding said...

I tried that approach and everyone kept asking "Is your character the real Wolverine?"

I like the names of the villains at the end of Dr. Horrible, like "Fake Thomas Jefferson" and "Tie-Dye."

But I don't get the "Dead Bowie" gag. I know there's a joke or pun in that name somewhere, but it eludes me.

Austin Grossman said...

Well you have to love Bad Horse.

Jim who is slightly balding said...

The Thoroughbred of Sin!