What's his name again?

What's in a name? that we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet

Sound familiar?

William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet

Today I share a daunting experience in writing that, like most of my peers, have endured during the process. Character names. When I started writing my graphic novel, I didn't have a clue as to how to pitch my project to a comics publisher and which writing group can look at my work. Hell, I didn't know where I get my character names from.

I stumbled upon up to several naming websites and found behindthename.com which has information on every name across the planet. What blew my mind was how my protagonist, Rhea Ortiz, has a unique meaning behind her name. According to the website Rhea's a latinized form of Greek. In Greek mythology she was a titan, the wife of Cronus, and the mother of Zeus, Hera, Hades, Demeter and Hestia. Also, in Roman mythology Rhea Silvia was the mother of Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome.

And with that I chose Behind the Name as my source for naming characters.

Where do you go for naming your "children"?

Interesting Characters, Part 2-Talon

And we're back with another edition of my Interesting Characters series. Today I discuss another character I came across in recent years...Calvin Rose-Talon.

Calvin Rose made his comics debut in Talon #0, created by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV and Guillem March in 2012. Not possessing any superhuman powers (accelerated healing at the time of his resurrection in Talon #8), Rose is a gifted escapologist trained as an assassin by the Court of Owls. Like all Talons before him, Calvin was recruited from Haly's Circus as a child. 

Rose was eight years old when his father locked him in a dog kennel on a stormy night, literally throwing away the key. He kept hitting the chain at the gate for three night with no progress. On the third night he found the chain's weak spot and hit it with all his strength and ran as far away from the house. He soon discovered an old man who performed at Haly's Circus, who took him in and trained him in escapology until his death. At thirteen, Calvin was set to become a star at the Gotham Spectacular. However, Mr. Haly took him to a private performance for the secret cabal the Court of Owls. After performing his usual act, the Owls had found their new Talon.

Years after training to become a new Talon, Rose was sent on a mission for the Court to kill his target but he saw that it was an innocent family which opened his eyes to the truth. After his disobedience he fled the Court who want him back...dead or alive.

What makes Calvin Rose an interesting character is that he's relatable in a fashion. A loner by nature but he's willing to do good after the what he's been through with his former masters. Being an escapist has come in handy in the most dangerous situations for him when he's facing the Court of Owls. For me on another level is how he's able to think ahead and improvise on the situation. That's what makes him a likable character.