Reading Alan Moore’s Thunderman by Alex Grand

American Comics – DC Comics

Massive Comics – Marvel Comics

Goliath Comics – Atlas Comics

Punctual Comics – Timely Comics

Banner Comics – Charlton Comics (?)

Sammy Blatz – Stan Lee

Jerry Binkle – Roy Thomas (?)

Brandon Chuff – Len Wein (?) or Nelson Bridwell (?)

Sherman Glad – Gardner Fox

The Streak – The Flash

Mr. Ocean – Aquaman

Moon Queen – Wonder Woman

Omnipotent Pre-Teen Militia – Teen Titans

Esme Martinez – Ramona Fradon

Pete Mastroserio – Dick Giordano

Mimi Drucker – Jenette Kahn

Dick Duckley – George Carragone

United Supermen – Justice League of America

Blinky Comics – Archie Comics

Tombstone Kid – Two Gun Kid

Abnormal Tales – Strange Tales

Journey Into Strange – Journey Into Mystery

Tales of Astonishing – Tales to Astonish

Ormazda – Thor

King Bee – Batman

World’s Best Adventure – World’s Best Comics

Exploit Comics – Action Comics

Thunderman – Superman

Peggy Parks – Lois Lane

Manhunt – Detective Comics

Alarming Adult Reverie – Amazing Adult Fantasy

Freak Force – X-Men

Julius Metzenberger – Mort Weisinger

Jim Lawes – Bill Gaines

Jim Lawes Sr – Max Gaines

SP Comics – EC Comics

Nutcase – MAD

Schuman and Kessler – Siegel and Shuster

Zando – Krypto

Demento – Bizarro

Thunderstones – Kryptonite

The Vindictives – The Avengers

Joe Gold – Jack Kirby

The Unrealistic Five – The Fantastic Four

Felix Firestone – Lex Luthor

Dr. Unrealistic – Mr. Fantastic

John Monster – Ben Grimm

The Tank – The Thing

Insubstantial Girl – Invisible Girl

National Guard – Captain America

Robert Novak – Steve Ditko

Beetle Boy – Spider-Man

David Moskowitz – Paul Levitz

Brothers Brothers – Warner Bros.

Bee Attitude – Batmania

Jimjon – Biljo White

Davis Burke – Dick Sprang

Hooded Vigilante – Alter Ego

The Massive Collector – Rocket Blast Comic Collector

Fishman – Sub-Mariner

Thundermite – Mxyzptlk

Professor Abnormal – Doctor Strange

Disturbing – Creepy

Inappropriate – Eerie

Shaw Magazines – Warren Magazines

margins – Witzend

Slim Whitaker – Wally Wood

Squack – Zap

Buzz – Robin

Caretaker – Guardian

Bee Buggy – Batmobile

Denny Wellworth – Archie Goodwin

Edward Hannigan – Jerry Robinson

Ron Blackwell – Bill Finger

Richard Manning – Bob Kane

Ralph Roth – Marv Wolfman (?)

Cosmax – Galactus

Corpse Clutcher, Necro-Filing Clerk, Morgue Minder – The Old Witch, Crypt Keeper, Vault Keeper

Unbelievable Stories – Amazing Stories

Albert Kaufman – Harry Donenfeld

Sidney Rosenfeld – Jack Liebowitz

Distance – Kinney

Sol Stickman – Julius Schwartz

Hector Bass – Robert Kanigher

Our Unshaven Army – Our Army at War

Thunderland – Krypton

Bernard Essler – Max Fleischer

Zoom Wilson – Flash Gordon

Flip Fraser – Buster Crabbe

Donald Adams – Kirk Alyn

Victor Richards – George Reeves

Zoron – Jor-El

Sir Laurence Olivier – Marlon Brando

Dirk Bogarde – Gene Hackman

Saul Richard – Christopher Reeve

Elaine Merchant – Lois Lane

Lord Varex – Zod

Macropolis – Metropolis

Val Guest – Dick Lester

Brian Ball – Dean Caine

Kate Porter – Teri Hatcher

Asher Tarrant – Tom Welling

Derek Danner – Michael Rosenbaum

Christopher Gent – Brandon Routh

Stephen Beacher – Henry Cavill

Ellie the Escort – Millie the Model

Jackie Berman – Martin Goodman

Frank Giardino – Vince Colletta

The Brute – The Hulk

Miniman and Minimaid – Ant-Man and Wasp

Wendy Dietrich – Flo Steinberg

Massive Pigsty – Marvel Bullpen

Andrew Donald – Alex Raymond

Roy Shaw – Jim Warren

Gene Pullman – Jim Shooter (?)

Glenfield – Riverdale

Bottleneck – Jughead

I couldnt figure out Dan Wheems, Milton Finefinger, and Worsley Porlock, however enough names are decoded to figure out where Moore is coming from in his overall critique with the professionals and fans that maintain the industry.  The journey of Moore’s disappointment with mainstream superhero comic books can be traced in a series of interviews from 1985 to 1991. Toward the end of his Swamp Thing run, Alan Moore was interviewed in 1987 about what he was trying to achieve with his literary approach to comics, and he displayed an excitement of depicting superheroes in a realistic manner.

He specifically points to the intrigue of how superheroes would behave if they were real people, as imperfect creatures who would not be noble paragons of virtue. In 1985, he was interviewed by another outlet and he specified working on his series Watchmen for Dick Giordano at DC Comics as an expansion of this concept.

As he developed the story with David Gibbons, he began to realize that he could push the boundaries of the comics medium as a serious storytelling device that can relay complex ideas and emotions, which he explains in 1989.

However, in 1991, he explains what he intended for the superhero genre with Watchmen versus what he ended up getting in this 1991 interview from Prisoners of Gravity.

He became disappointed with the fandom surrounding the post-1986 “postmodern” superhero comic book movement that resulted from his unintentional revitalization of the genre, which he explained again in 1997.

Alan Moore’s journey in the comic book industry, as depicted in his anthology Illuminations (2022) and interviews, illuminates the often painful tension between creative vision and commercial exploitation. His evolution from an enthusiastic creator keen on portraying superheroes realistically to a disappointed critic of the industry’s corporatization offers a poignant narrative of the trials faced by artists in mainstream success. His critique, while viewed by some as mean-spirited, raises essential questions about the comic book industry’s practices, its treatment of creators, and the unintended consequences of its rampant commercialization. Moore’s experience serves as a crucial reminder that industries like comics need to continually reassess their relationship with creators, to ensure the fostering of innovation and respect for artistic integrity, underpinning the necessity of his critique as a wake-up call to the industry.

Much of that disappointment is expanded upon in Thunderman, which a lot of readers would miss without knowing what exactly he’s referring to. Unfortunately, there are some fanatical Alan Moore fans who prefer to repeatedly reread his and Frank Miller’s comics ad nauseum while ignoring older works, and fall into the trap of preferring not to know who exactly he is talking about because they would rather ride along the artistic fairy tale that is presented in this novella. It is that hopeless adherence to the fantasy of a presentation which Moore is criticizing, because there also comes a blindness to the reality that inspired it in the first place. For example, how many Spider-Man fans are there that haven’t heard of Steve Ditko, the hero’s visual creator and conceptual co-creator? Or the phenomenon of what Moore observed in his novella, how fans consumed comic books more vigorously when the older generation of writers and artists who tried to start a union at DC for better pay and healthcare got replaced by younger talent who were superhero fans that settled for the status quo quality of living. Not identifying, at least mostly who is being referred to is a mistake because we can use that information to extrapolate what Moore is identifying and how he specifically feels about it. This enhances ones understanding of comic book history, and gives us an idea of what Moore has taken away from his study and experiences of it. That to me is the greater point to Thunderman, rather than enjoying another cone full of sweetness.