Alliterates

This has been some week. I've had multiple meetings, multiple side projects, and multiple multitasking. Being the new guy, I'm not turning down any assignments that come my way, and working directly with our VP on the invitation to the company's holiday party seemed like a good move. It's been a fun project, albeit challenging, but after numerous revisions, I think I'm getting close to getting a final design approved. I've been getting a feel for the core workflow and learning efficient ways of getting more done in less time, but you can never account for every variable. I'm exhausted, and looking forward to letting my brain slow down and shrink over the weekend.

Last weekend when I was also unwinding, I learned an interesting fact about how some other workers made their jobs easier. On one of the commentary tracks to Spider-Man 3, producer Avi Arad reveals that in the earliest days of Marvel, the creators intentionally gave a lot of characters alliterative names, because it would be easier for them to remember someone if his or her first and last names began with the same letter. I realized this was no random segue, as the scene he was speaking over featured four alliterative characters whose origins date back to the ‘60s. The more I thought about it, the more I realized alliteration shows up a lot for secret identities, supporting cast, and superhero names. Here are as many Marvel-ous examples as I can think of:

1) Betsy Braddock
2) Betty Brant
3) Big Bertha
4) Black Bolt
5) Brian Braddock
6) Bruce Banner
7) Bucky Barnes
8) Devil Dinosaur
9) Green Goblin
10) J. Jonah Jameson
11) John Jameson
12) Matt Murdock
13) Otto Octavius
14) Peter Parker
15) Red Ronin
16) Reed Richards
17) Reynaldo Reynoso
18) Richard Rider
19) Robbie Robertson
20) Robert Reynolds
21) Rocket Raccoon
22) Rocket Racer
23) Scott Summers
24) Silver Samurai
25) Silver Surfer
26) Stephen Strange
27) Susan Storm
28) Victor Von Doom
29) Wade Wilson
30) Warren Worthington III
31) Wyatt Wingfoot

I'm sure there are more fantastic fictional mighty Marvel creations I've missed, but if even Stan Lee could forget, I'm sure I can be forgiven. And I've only scratched the surface of one major comic book company; I could write a thesis on Superman and the plethora of “L.L.” characters in his supporting cast. What's the deal with that tradition?