Why all the L.L's

[Will44]

Does anyone know why so many characters in the Superman Universe have L.L. initials?

Thanks

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Lucky Letters.

[Lorendiac]

As far as I've heard . . . it started out as a coincidence. When "Lois Lane" was invented, nobody intended her to be the beginning of a long line of Double-L people in Clark Kent's life.

But at some point it became a deliberate running gag as the people at DC tried to see how many variations they could come up with . . . Lex Luthor, Lana Lang, Lara Lor-Van (the name of Clark's biological mother), Lori Lemaris, Linda Lee (the original "secret identity name" of the Silver Age Supergirl), and so forth.

By now it has acquired the stature of a Sacred Tradition! You wouldn't want to upset a Sacred Tradition, would you? :eek:

[Beacon]

I’m pretty sure I once read somewhere that Stan Lee said he tended toward alliterative names because he had a bad memory (though I really think he just likes alliteration). Maybe there was some similar reasoning behind the characters in the Superman cast. Then again, I’d have thought that giving everyone the exact same initials would make the actual NAMES of the individual characters harder for Siegel and Shuster to remember (“Which one is the mermaid? I know it starts with an ‘L’”).

[Will44]

Cool, thanks for all the possible answers. I wasn't sure if there was an official one.

And yes, I'd like to mess with the sacred tradition.

[DonC]

It's almost like Superman is from The House of L.


Wait a second....

[Retro315]

Can't forget Lucy Lane ...

[Solaris01]

As far as I've heard . . . it started out as a coincidence. When "Lois Lane" was invented, nobody intended her to be the beginning of a long line of Double-L people in Clark Kent's life.

But at some point it became a deliberate running gag as the people at DC tried to see how many variations they could come up with . . . Lex Luthor, Lana Lang, Lara Lor-Van (the name of Clark's biological mother), Lori Lemaris, Linda Lee (the original "secret identity name" of the Silver Age Supergirl), and so forth.

By now it has acquired the stature of a Sacred Tradition! You wouldn't want to upset a Sacred Tradition, would you? :eek:

hahaha, awesome post on an awesome thread. :biggrin:

[marshal99]

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/superman/images/f/fc/LL.jpg

Linda Lee, the original secret identity for Supergirl, Superman's cousin.
Lana Lang, Superman's first girlfriend.
Lois Lane, Superman's main love interest and current wife.
Lucy Lane, Lois' sister.
Lex Luthor, Superman's archnemesis and frequent foe.
Lena Luthor, Lex's sister Pre-Crisis; Lex's daughter Post-Crisis.
Lionel Luthor, Lex's father on Smallville
Lenny Luthor, Lex's nephew in Superman IV
Lori Lemaris, Superman's college sweetheart.
Lenora Lemaris, Lori's sister.
Lyla Lerrol, Superman's love affair on Krypton.
Letita Lerner, Superman's babysitter.
Lara Lor-Van, Superman's biological mother.
Luma Lynai, one of several characters to have used the name Superwoman
Linda Lake, a reporter appearing on Smallville
Lesla Lar, a Silver Age foe of Supergirl
Liri Lee, member of the Linear Men (uses the pseudonym Liesel Largo)

[dupersuper]

Mxyzptlk mentioned once that the Krponese letter L when repeated form the symbol for infinity...make of that what you will.

[herogirl]

Linda Lee, the original secret identity for Supergirl, Superman's cousin.
Lana Lang, Superman's first girlfriend.
Lois Lane, Superman's main love interest and current wife.
Lucy Lane, Lois' sister.
Lex Luthor, Superman's archnemesis and frequent foe.
Lena Luthor, Lex's sister Pre-Crisis; Lex's daughter Post-Crisis.
Lionel Luthor, Lex's father on Smallville
Lenny Luthor, Lex's nephew in Superman IV
Lori Lemaris, Superman's college sweetheart.
Lenora Lemaris, Lori's sister.
Lyla Lerrol, Superman's love affair on Krypton.
Letita Lerner, Superman's babysitter.
Lara Lor-Van, Superman's biological mother.
Luma Lynai, one of several characters to have used the name Superwoman
Linda Lake, a reporter appearing on Smallville
Lesla Lar, a Silver Age foe of Supergirl
Liri Lee, member of the Linear Men (uses the pseudonym Liesel Largo)

Lillian Luthor - Lex's mother on Smallville
Laura Lang - Lana's mother on Smallville
Louis Lang - Lana's 'father' on Smallville, though it was later revealed that her father was Henry Small.

[Mat001]

I’m pretty sure I once read somewhere that Stan Lee said he tended toward alliterative names because he had a bad memory (though I really think he just likes alliteration). Maybe there was some similar reasoning behind the characters in the Superman cast. Then again, I’d have thought that giving everyone the exact same initials would make the actual NAMES of the individual characters harder for Siegel and Shuster to remember (“Which one is the mermaid? I know it starts with an ‘L’”).

Lee was writing multiple books in the 60's. As a result, in order to keep track, he named many of his characters the way he did. Peter Parker, Reed Richards, Scott Summers and so on. In the Superman books, it wasn't because of that. It was intentional after a while. By the time Lyla Lerrol was created, it became a running gag. Lois, Lex, Lara and Lana were all coincidental. I think Lori would fall under that catergory as well.

[Lorendiac]

Lee was writing multiple books in the 60's. As a result, in order to keep track, he named many of his characters the way he did. Peter Parker, Reed Richards, Scott Summers and so on. In the Superman books, it wasn't because of that. It was intentional after a while. By the time Lyla Lerrol was created, it became a running gag. Lois, Lex, Lara and Lana were all coincidental. I think Lori would fall under that catergory as well.

I believe I once read (somewhere?) that the first name of "Lex" was only created for the Silver Age version of "Luthor, the mad scientist" sometime around the early 1960s. Although the basic idea of a villain named "Luthor" had already been around for about two decades at that point.

The "Sacred Tradition" of Double-L names was definitely well-established as a running gag by the late 1950s, so if what I read about the late introduction of the name "Lex" was correct, then it was probably no coincidence at all that it gave the well-established villain the initials of L.L.!

I remember that Lana Lang was introduced in the late 40s; don't know if the repetition of Lois Lane's initials was coincidental at the time. If it was completely unplanned, then it may have been one of the things which later caused someone at DC to say, "Whoa! These Double-L names in his life are piling up! Gee, I wonder how long we can get away with introducing more and more of them as a running gag?" :smile:

I don't know when it was first established that Superman's biological mother's full Kryptonian name was "Lara Lor-Van." I wouldn't be surprised if naming her "Lara" was a coincidence in the Golden Age, but later giving her a surname also beginning with L was a deliberate example of the running gag in the Silver Age. However, that's just conjecture at the moment! :smile:

[CBikle]

The "Double L" thing was also a running theme in the silver-age Jimmy Olson stories with the letters "LL" always serving as an omen of good luck for Jimmy.

[Mat001]

Well, Lana was created as a place holder for Lois, more or less. So it might've been intentional with the initials.

[Retro315]

Mxyzptlk mentioned once that the Krponese letter L when repeated form the symbol for infinity...make of that what you will.

Ah, "S" is similar to 8, yeah. (I used an 8 there, because frankly, I don't have a key for "Infiniti" on my keyboard ... just imagine it sideways and more shapely).

LL ... LL ... I'll be the first to add "Cool J" to the thread ...

And just to get a little broad in the LL theorizing ... Livewire's real name is Leslie Willis. Sure, her initials aren't LL, but both her first name and her last both have 2 L's in them.

[Joe Acro]

Ah, "S" is similar to 8, yeah. (I used an 8 there, because frankly, I don't have a key for "Infiniti" on my keyboard ... just imagine it sideways and more shapely).
More importantly, if you have two Ss, you can make an 8.

[herogirl]

Ah, "S" is similar to 8, yeah. (I used an 8 there, because frankly, I don't have a key for "Infiniti" on my keyboard ... just imagine it sideways and more shapely).

LL ... LL ... I'll be the first to add "Cool J" to the thread ...

And just to get a little broad in the LL theorizing ... Livewire's real name is Leslie Willis. Sure, her initials aren't LL, but both her first name and her last both have 2 L's in them.

What about all the heroes whose codenames are LL's?

[Joe Acro]

What about all the heroes whose codenames are LL's?
I'm having trouble thinking of non-Legion examples. Could be my drowiness, though.

Who did you have in mind?

[Hypestyle]

why has LL Cool J not been introduced to the comics yet?