Friday, March 24, 2006

The Magic of Shazam!
I am considering titling the Scion of Shazam's attempt to establish an empire in Central Asia neither "The Great Khan" nor "The Wrath of Khan," but "The Golden Horde." Historically, the Golden Horde was the name of the Tartar state (quasi-Mongolian) that ruled large swaths of European Russia and Central Asia for a few centuries following the Mongol conquests of the 13th century.. Now, the Golden Horde's dominion was substantially weakened by Tamerlane's depredations, among others; so, "The Golden Horde" doesn't really make sense as a title in that the Scion's name is Xia Timur, after Tamerlane, a dread foe of the real Golden Horde. On the other hand, an argument could be made that in a work of fiction historical accuracy is less important than producing a work that is both true to the creator's vision and entertaining to the audience. On the gripping hand, I would never make that argument, believing historical truth to be nearly sacred. And yet, I am still tempted by "The Golden Horde."

Quite the conundrum... surrounding the title of a fictional story in a comic book that is completely theoretical.

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