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Welcome to the place where I plan to share many of Blackjack’s news, thoughts, behind the scenes peeks, and mission details.
Alex Simmons
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From the dispatch.
A. MY NAME IS ARRON
How I Named Blackjack, Arron Day
Names have power.
Not just celebrities, or those with historical significance.
I mean that names often speak to the origin of a character. They can reflect the culture, country, era, religion, mindset of the parents, personality, reputation, and so much more.
When my writing students are creating characters for their stories, I strongly urge them to come up with a name somewhere in the process. Even if they change it later.
Yes, I know that writers don’t always have a name in mind, fresh out the gate. Sometimes it takes weeks, or months to come up with just the right moniker for a character.
We might name them after a relative, or some prominent figure. There’ve been times a sign (literal or symbolically) catches our eyes as we travel, and we instantly know – That’s it!!!
Regarding my Blackjack series, the lead character’s first name, Arron (spelled with 2 “r”) came to me out of nowhere.
I originally had intended to make his professional nom de plume, The Dark Angel. That’s what I called him when I made my first presentation to Dick Giordano at DC Comics, all those years ago.
Dick was a VP at the time, but I’d met him when I was a teenager, years before. Over those years I’d run into him at comic cons, and through my buddy, the relentless writing machine, Don McGregor.
Dick was always a great listener and a gentleman, and in the months following my presentation, I learned he was an excellent mentor.
As I worked to learn the comic book scripting tricks he taught me, and strengthen the story, I changed Dark Angel to Blackjack, and locked on to Matthew as the name of Arron’s father. And — I chose Arron Day, as the civilian name of my hero.
Of course, you’ve noticed I didn’t go with the usual spelling of his name. And I remember when I came up with how he’d explain that spelling to anyone in the stories.
The first mini series, BLACKJACK: SECOND BITE OF THE COBRA, had done well and I was busy working on the script for the second issue of the next story arc, BLACKJACK: BLOOD & HONOR.
Set in the 1930s, I knew that Arron and Tim Cheng (his butler) arriving at the airport in Tokyo, would draw attention.
As it unfolded in my mind, I remember thinking, “The men checking his passport are going to ask him why he spells his name this way … NO … They’re going to ask why he spells his name wrong?” And depending on their attitude (racially motivated or not) they’re going to make it seem like he might be illiterate.
The character of those men grew out of that one thought. And the need to explain why I spell Aaron, Arron, came to me about two days later.
Here’s where what you know about your character’s backstory come in handy.
I went back to who named him. In those days, his parents might have talked about it, but his father, Matthew Day, would have had the last word.
And still thinking through the backstory moments, I came up with … Matthew would have chosen a name, and he would have either misspelled it, or changed it for a reason.
Which?
Up until that moment I had never decided if Blackjack’s father was illiterate. I knew his mother read the bible to her children, so she had some schooling, somehow. But Matthew … it was highly unlikely.
Remember, the series takes place in the 30s. And our hero is an adult male. So his father would have lived in the late 1800s – to early 1900s. Matthew would probably have learned certain words, symbols, necessary for his work. But his up bringing did not include schooling.
Still, I didn’t want Arron’s name to be a mistake. His mother wouldn’t have permitted that. So it was deliberate … but why?
Then it came to me. The father was a fighter, a solider for all intents and purpose, and thus would think in those terms. He’d been raised to be strong and would want his son to be even more so. He’d want him to be strong, and tall, and straight … straight as an arrow. Arrow … Arron.
And so the name was born, as was the child, the character. People in and out of the stories have trouble with the spelling, but that’s all right. We’ve got plenty of time to learn the how and why.
Just another of the things that makes the craft and processes of a wordsmith an ongoing adventure.
See you next time!
Best,
Alex Simmons
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About Me
BLACKJACK was created by Alex Simmons.
“It started in my imagination…a vision, a daydream. Then slowly it grew into a full-blown thought. See, I grew up watching movies from the 30s and 40s on TV. I knew the heroes, fictional and otherwise. I also knew — though we were conspicuously absent – that Black people were part of that era and not just as domestics and laborers. So I took what I knew, mixed it with what I imagined … and Blackjack was born.”
*The series and its creator have won several awards.
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