ABSTRACT

This book offers the first comprehensive study of the many interfaces shaping the relationship between comics and videogames. It combines in-depth conceptual reflection with a rich selection of paradigmatic case studies from contemporary media culture.

The editors have gathered a distinguished group of international scholars working at the interstices of comics studies and game studies to explore two interrelated areas of inquiry: The first part of the book focuses on hybrid medialities and experimental aesthetics "between" comics and videogames; the second part zooms in on how comics and videogames function as transmedia expansions within an increasingly convergent and participatory media culture. The individual chapters address synergies and intersections between comics and videogames via a diverse set of case studies ranging from independent and experimental projects via popular franchises from the corporate worlds of DC and Marvel to the more playful forms of media mix prominent in Japan.

Offering an innovative intervention into a number of salient issues in current media culture, Comics and Videogames will be of interest to scholars and students of comics studies, game studies, popular culture studies, transmedia studies, and visual culture studies.

chapter 1|14 pages

Introduction

Comics and videogames
Size: 0.58 MB

part I|111 pages

Hybrid medialities

chapter 2|12 pages

Of Pac-Men and Star Raiders

Early mutual representations between comics and videogames (1981–1983)
Size: 0.58 MB

chapter 3|16 pages

Interfacing comics and games

A socio-affective multimodal approach
Size: 6.16 MB

chapter 4|15 pages

Game comics

Theory and design
Size: 0.59 MB

chapter 5|24 pages

Game-comics and comic-games

Against the concept of hybrids
Size: 0.63 MB

chapter 6|12 pages

Building stories

The interplay of comics and games in Chris Ware’s works
Size: 0.58 MB

chapter 7|17 pages

Homestuck as a game

A webcomic between playful participation, digital technostalgia, and irritating inventory systems
Size: 2.30 MB
Size: 0.58 MB

part II|128 pages

Transmedia expansions

chapter 9|20 pages

Many Spider-Men are better than one

Referencing as a narrative strategy
Size: 0.60 MB

chapter 10|15 pages

The not-so Fantastic Four franchise

A critical history of the comic, the films, and the Disney/Fox merger
Size: 0.60 MB

chapter 11|22 pages

The road to Arkham Asylum

Batman: Dark Tomorrow and transitional transmedia
Size: 8.51 MB

chapter 12|15 pages

When rules collide

Definitional strategies for superheroes across comic books and games
Size: 0.59 MB
Size: 0.66 MB

chapter 14|18 pages

Creating Lara Croft

The meaning of the comic books for the Tomb Raider franchise
Size: 1.21 MB

chapter 15|15 pages

Beyond immersion

Gin Tama and palimpsestuous reception
Size: 0.64 MB