I didn’t realize that Marvin the Martian was never named in the original shorts:
He was referred to as the Commander of Flying Saucer X-2 in The Hasty Hare in 1952. However, in 1979, once the character attracted merchandising interest, the name “Marvin” was selected for The Bugs Bunny Road Runner Movie.
Isn’t that lovely?
I also failed to realize that his Roman armor was meant to evoke Mars, the god.
This makes me very angry, very angry indeed.
I didn’t realize it went back to 1979- I first remember hearing him called that in the mid 90s.
The Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies were full of sly jokes about music, art, science, and so on, where now cartoons have sly jokes in the form of innuendo and so on, but Marvin was the source of my favourite- the idea that he had to destroy the Earth because it obstructed his view of Venus.
Also, every new weapon I read about is immediately recorded in my mind as the latest heir of the Illudium Q-35 Explosive Space Modulator.
Marvin the Martian is my favorite cartoon character. Not for any deep reason. He just looks cool. I have a 2′ plaster cast statue of him I ran across at a flea market. It’s on a shelf over me right now. I also, somewhere, have a key ring with him on it.