Tag: antonym ray

G. Brett Williams # 7 – The Black Synonym

| November 7, 2011 | 0 Comments

Here’s a quick departure.  The story behind this is pretty funny, actually.  When trying to come up with an appropriately dark and mysterious name for Caliginous without using something that had previously been used in comics (eventually I gave up and went with Caliginous), I found that almost all synonyms for the words “black” and “darkness” have been used to name comic book characters.  I posted my frustration over this to my Facebook wall and sparked a hilarious discussion with friends wherein they kept suggesting things and I kept informing them that I’d already exhausted their suggested options.  In response to this, my friend made a comment about the vocabulary avenger, The Black Synonym.  The Black Synonym gave birth to other characters such as Antonym Ray and Thaddeus T. Saurus, the dinosaur linguist.

I’m really not sure what to say about the Black Synonym.  I envision him being right at home in a superhero lampoon such as The Tick.  A sort of jovial Batman analogue who gets fed up with the complete lack of spooky things to call himself with out infringing copywright and decides to refer to himself as The Black Synonym.  He is joined by a crusading bunch of word enthusiasts who take to the streets in an attempt to stamp out the poor education that leads so many to a life of crime.  The Black Synonym is of course annoyed by this, as his name is meant to be a joke, not a linguistic call to arms.  Nevertheless, he fights crime alongside the tenured professor of English and anthropology at the local university, who happens to be a half man/half dinosaur, Thaddeus T. Saurus and the scientist and entomologist Ray Antz, who through a freak accident of Kafka-like proportions is transformed into the educationally crusading ant scientist, Antonym Ray.  Antonym Ray has a raygun that turns people into their exact opposite for a few hours, the effects of which can be quite hilarious.