Tuckerization

This page is written from the Real World point of view

Tuckerization is the act of using a person's name or image in an original story as an in-joke. The term is derived from Wilson Tucker, a science fiction writer of the 1940s-80s, who made a practice of using his friends' names for minor characters in his stories. A tuckerization can also be the use of a person's character or personal attributes with a new name as an in-joke. [1]

In Legion publishing history, the names of creative staff, fans, and friends have been used in story since the early days. Tuckerization seems to have gone in waves of use and non-use. Early appearances were mostly the names of creative staff. Tuckerization saw a rise in the early to mid 1970s when writers Jim Shooter and Cary Bates were members of Legion fandom (such as the fanzine Interlac), and then years later in the late 1980s/early 1990s when Tom and Mary Bierbaum, who had also been active in early Legion fandom, became writers. Later, in the mid to late 1990s when the creative staff became active on various online forums (such as Compuserve and Usenet), their interaction with fans there and at conventions led to similar appearances in the comics.

Some examples:

Tuckerization	Appearance	Derived from	References
The element Sigellian	Adventure #267	writer Jerry Siegel
Planet Pasnic		fan Nick Pasquale
Weisinger Plaza		former editor Mort Weisinger
Character Flynt Brojj	Superboy v1 #209	fans Mike Flynn and Harry Broertjes
Field Marshall Lorca	Superboy v1 #217	fan Carol Strickland	[2]
The planet Cyrem	Superboy v1 #219	fan Mercy Van Vlack	[3]
The planet Vanvlack		fan Mercy Van Vlack	[4]
Unnamed characters in the wedding scene	All-New Collector's Edition #C-55	depictions of writer Paul Levitz and artist Mike Grell
Crystal Kid's real name Bobb Kohan	LSH v2 #272	creator Robert Cohen (originally suggested in Amazing World of DC Comics #14
Lamprey's real name Tayla Skott	LSH v2 #272	creator Scott Taylor (originally suggested in Amazing World of DC Comics #14
Nightwind's real name Berta Harris	LSH v2 #272	creator Robert Harris (originally suggested in Amazing World of DC Comics #12
Gigi Cusimano		Paul Levitz's wife, the former Jeanette Cusimano	[5], [6]
The Weisinger Chambers		former editor Mort Weisinger
A character named Wechsler	LSH v4 #37	fan Elayne Wechsler-Chaput
Andromeda's home Ricklef II		fan James Ricklef
Magno's real name Dyrk Magz		writer and radio adapter Dirk Maggs
Daxamite Obin Der	Legionnaires #23	former Legion writer and co-creator Otto Binder
Atom'X	LSHv4 #82	then-LSHv4 co-plotter and colourist Tom McCraw's AOL screen-name (ATOMC) (although McCraw was unaware of the new name for a character changed from Atmos (due to Lee Moder drawing a completely different character) while colouring the issue.	[7]
Science Police officer Tro Yesq	Legionnaires #34	fan Troy McNemar's email address, which included "troyesq"
Saturn Girl's parents Sydne and Bertor, and sister Jancel	Legionnaires #38	fans Sidne Ward and Robert Dobiesz, and colorist/writer Tom McCraw's sister Jan	[8], [9]
various fans in the magnoball stadium	Legionnaires #38	various fans that artist Jeff Moy met at conventions in 1995
Athramites		DC staffer and online poster Martha Thomases
Temple of Al'Kaugh	Legionnaires #40	fan Lev Kalman, whose email address included "LKOW"
a person raising the flag on the cover	Legionnaires #43	visual depiction of then-editor K. C. Carlson
Science Police officer Reyep	Legionnaires #51	writer Tom Peyer
Science Police officer Almo	LSH v4 #69	fan Greg "Elmo" Morrow
Goldfarb's Asteroid	LSH v4 #78	fan David Goldfarb (for suggesting to writer Mark Waid that the discs on Cosmic Boy's chest could be removed and thrown, as seen in Legionnaires #70)
Thunder's real name Cecebeck	Power of Shazam! Annual #1	C. C. Beck, co-creator of Captain Marvel and the Marvel/Shazam! Family
Thunder's home planet Binderaan	Power of Shazam! Annual #1	Otto Binder, co-creator of Captain Marvel and the Marvel/Shazam! Family as well as the Legion
Name "Sprouse" on Lori Morning's shirt		former artist Chris Sprouse
Planet Plevitz	LSH v4 Annual #6	former writer Paul Levitz
Planet J'ff'n	LSH v4 Annual #6	former writer/artist Keith Giffen
A character named S'tern R'og	LSH Secret Files #2	writer Roger Stern
Warnabros, home base of the post-Zero Hour Legion Academy		Warner Bros., the parent company of DC Comics