What are the names of some fictional cities?

December 28, 2007 10:14 AM

I'll phrase this as succinctly as I can - I'm looking for fictional US cities featured in comic books. Can you help?

Ok, I employ a particular naming scheme with my home computers. How I settled on this scheme, I couldn't really say, it just sort of came to me one day when I was trying to give all my devices unique identifiers that weren't totally pedestrian (like, you know, "MY LAPTOP", "MY DESKTOP", etc..)

Because I used to read comic books when I was a kid, and a teenager, and, ok, I still kind of read them today, I settled on the fictional cities that I remembered being featured therein.

For example, my laptop is named Metropolis (Superman) and my desktop is named Gotham (Batman). However, I took out a piece of paper and a pen last night to write a more complete list of possible monikers (because Christmas has gifted me with a couple new devices) and I found, much to my astonishment, that the list was actually pretty short.

In fact, the only other city I could come up with is Coast City. Hal Jordan lived there for awhile when he was the Green Lantern, and then it blew up.

So, I come to you, hive mind, to look for more of these, because, honestly, I know there have to be more, and I must be suffering some sort of immense brain blockage. Maybe I'm having an stroke, but that's another AskMe question altogether.

If my recollection serves, this wasn't big in the Marvel Universe - I think most of their heroes tended to reside in real places. Spider-Man, for example, kicks around NYC.

So, that said, I think there may be more a more plentiful bounty in the DC and (maybe) Dark Horse universes.

The only criteria I have is that there be a remote possibility I have heard of said places - I mean, I appreciate your friend self-published his own comic for two issues twenty years ago, but it would be encouraging to me if I'd actually heard of the fictionalized residence before.

US cities would be preferable, just because it would fit the Gotham City, Metropolis, Coast City mold, but if the list is too short to be useful, go hog wild.

And, while we're at it, if I have wildly over-estimated, and the list of fictionalized cities used in comic books is just not that long, feel free to expand your scope to pop culture in general - TV shows, books, movies, things like that.

I hope this makes sense. Maybe the stress from the holidays has finally taken its tool.

posted by kbanas to media & arts (41 comments total)

TOLL!

Toll!

*sigh*
posted by kbanas at 10:15 AM on December 28, 2007

star city
posted by phil at 10:19 AM on December 28, 2007

Star City
posted by John Kenneth Fisher at 10:20 AM on December 28, 2007

Archie, Jughead, Betty, Veronica, Moose and Midge live in Riverdale.
posted by mds35 at 10:20 AM on December 28, 2007

Oh, curses.
posted by John Kenneth Fisher at 10:20 AM on December 28, 2007

See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:DC_Comics_towns_and_cities
posted by John Kenneth Fisher at 10:20 AM on December 28, 2007

Have you seen this wikipedia page already?
posted by box at 10:20 AM on December 28, 2007

Richie Rich lives in Richville.
posted by mds35 at 10:21 AM on December 28, 2007

basin city
posted by phil at 10:23 AM on December 28, 2007

Also, I've sold monorails to Brockway, Ogdenville and North Haverbrook, and it put them on the map.
posted by box at 10:23 AM on December 28, 2007

DC Comics Towns and Cities

There's not a corresponding Wikipedia entry for Marvel, probably because Marvel was never as big on fictitious cities. (There are some Fantastic Four references to Central City, but that also names a DC city.)

Fictional towns and cities in the US has more, but the majority aren't from comics.
posted by Zed_Lopez at 10:23 AM on December 28, 2007

Simpsons: Springfield, Shelbyville, Ogdenville, Capitol City
Family Guy: Quahog
South Park: South Park
posted by bitteroldman at 10:24 AM on December 28, 2007

Smallville!
posted by almostmanda at 10:25 AM on December 28, 2007

You could go with GTA cities

Liberty City
Carcer City
Vice City
Los Santos
San Fierro
Las Venturas
posted by utsutsu at 10:26 AM on December 28, 2007

Besides the DC lists, there's also Astro City from the comic of the same name. Marvel, as you mention, is mainly set in New York, so the place names are tied to particular buildings, such as the Baxter Building or Four Freedoms Plaza (both home to the Fantastic Four) or Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters or The Pit (for GI Joe).
posted by Slothrop at 10:31 AM on December 28, 2007

I poked around through Wikipedia, thinking their might be a list, and I totally could not find it, because I am dumb. Thank you for that.
posted by kbanas at 10:31 AM on December 28, 2007

Kim Possible lives in Middleton and their high school rivals are Upperton and Lowerton

:)
posted by legotech at 10:32 AM on December 28, 2007

The Mystery Men [try to] defend Champion City!
posted by aubilenon at 10:36 AM on December 28, 2007

Bedrock.
posted by essexjan at 10:44 AM on December 28, 2007

Metropolis was based on Toronto (not a US city, I know) and I believe Gotham was based on Detroit.
posted by survivorman at 10:53 AM on December 28, 2007

Duckburg
posted by briank at 10:53 AM on December 28, 2007

Sunnydale. (Well, graphic novel, but certainly superheroish.)
Raccoon City might also fit in, although not a comic (that I know of?).
posted by anaelith at 10:54 AM on December 28, 2007

Oh, and Gotham? Definitely based on NYC. Gotham was a nickname for NYC well before Batman, and according to Wikipedia the first Batman comics were actually set in NYC--although obviously Gotham City (DC Comics version) has diverged a lot from NYC since then, enough that I think you can call it a fictional city in its own right.
posted by anaelith at 10:59 AM on December 28, 2007

Yeah, I think I had a comic or a book or an article (or I had a dream) that discussed how Gotham has diverged from New York City over the years to become a kind of fictionalized place in its own right.

I think, really, that Gotham and Metropolis are the "heavies" - they've been around the longest, and have more history than plenty of *actual* places.
posted by kbanas at 11:12 AM on December 28, 2007

Another thing I was thinking about was cities from the Dark Tower series - You've got Lud, and Tull (which was a town, but hey) and Gilead.. Hrm.
posted by kbanas at 11:14 AM on December 28, 2007

The Flaming Carrot lives in and patrols the Palookaville neighborhood of Iron City.
posted by nicwolff at 11:15 AM on December 28, 2007

Marvel does have some fictional cities: e.g Doomstadt.

Say it with me. DOOOMstadt!

--Chris
posted by Maastrictian at 11:17 AM on December 28, 2007

Londinium from Batman (tv series, anyway)
New New York from Futurama, which has comic books
Also Simpsons: North Haverbrook and Brockway.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 11:31 AM on December 28, 2007

If you want to stick with the DC Universe, it might be easier to use the names of fictional planets:

Earth Prime

Krypton

Apokolips

Thanagar

etc...

posted by blue_beetle at 11:45 AM on December 28, 2007

Central City (the Flash)

Argo City (Where Kara/Supergirl is from)

Kandor (Kryptonian city-in-a-bottle stolen by Brainiac)
posted by sandra_s at 11:48 AM on December 28, 2007

The Powerpuff Girls protect the city of Townsville, and the Tick is the defender of the aptly named The City. Patriot City is the home to Freedom Force. And who can forget Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average?

--Chris
posted by Faint of Butt at 11:51 AM on December 28, 2007

Sabrina, the Teenage Witch lives in Greendale.
And Harvey Pekar lives in Cleveland.

What? That's not a fictional city? I refuse to believe that until somebody proves otherwise.
posted by Opposite George at 11:51 AM on December 28, 2007

From the Judge Dredd Comics:

Mega-City One
Mega-City Two
EastMeg One
EastMeg Two
Texas City
Hondo City
Undercity
Umar
Simba City
Luxor
New Jerusalem

Also, Gibson likes to reference The Sprawl in his novels a lot, I always thought it was a cool name.
posted by tracert at 12:38 PM on December 28, 2007

Adding to the Judge Dredd cities, the full list is on Wikipedia.
posted by idb at 2:14 PM on December 28, 2007

The City from Transmetropolitan.
posted by Zarkonnen at 2:33 PM on December 28, 2007

America's Best Comics represent:

Indigo City from Greyshirt
Neopolis from Top Ten
Millennium City from Tom Strong
Queerwater Creek from Jack B. Quick
Coffeeburg from Splash Brannigan
posted by Zed_Lopez at 3:01 PM on December 28, 2007

Arkham from Batman
posted by martinX's bellbottoms at 3:52 PM on December 28, 2007

Bah, you guys (and Wikipedia) are only naming the easy ones.

Waymore, Nebraska -- hometown of the Elongated Man (near Blue Valley)
Calvin City, Connecticut -- home of the Golden Age Atom
Civic City -- original base of the JSA
Elmond, VA -- Hawk & Dove
Fairfax, Maine -- Dial H for Hero (the 2 kids)
Littleville, Wyoming -- Dial H for Hero (the 1 kid)
Middleton, Colorado -- home of the Martian Manhunter
Farmville, Missouri -- birthplace of Barry Allen (the Flash)
New Carthage -- were Robin went to college (and Amethyst of Gemworld lived on Earth)
Pittsdale, Iowa -- birthplace of Lois Lane

There's a lot more if I bother to dig into the boxes of JSA/Earth-2 comics I have lying around. There were a lot of throwaway city names (used once and then forgotten) in the 1940s -- I seem to recall Cosmopolis and Riverton.

Getting away from DC Comics: The Mask was set in Edge City, and Barb Wire is from Steel Harbor. Sin City's "real name" is Basin City.

Also, nobody mentioned Atlantis. Hello?
posted by faster than a speeding bulette at 7:24 PM on December 28, 2007

What, no love for the X-Men? Xavier's Institute, a.k.a. the X-Men school and mansion, is located in Salem Center, Westchester County, New York, but there's no real town in Westchester County by that name. There is a North Salem, though, and it's approximately where the school would be. Presumably Stan Lee picked the name because of the associations with the Salem (Mass.) witchhunts, making a point of how the X-Men are similarly feared/hunted for baseless reasons.
posted by Asparagirl at 7:53 PM on December 28, 2007

Looks like you have lots of choices, but The Dictionary of Imaginary Places is totally cool.
posted by lukemeister at 9:02 AM on December 29, 2007

Lovecraft:
R'Lyeh

Tolkien:
Rivendell, Osgiliath, Minas Tirith, Minas Morgul, Hobbiton, Edoras, Isengard, etc.

Lot 49:
San Narciso

WoW:
Stormwind, Ironforge, Darnassus, Exodar, Ogrimmar, Undercity, Thunder Bluff, Silvermoon City, Shattrath
posted by Doctor Suarez at 10:00 AM on December 29, 2007