ABSTRACT
The concept of transmedia storytelling demonstrates an inclusive narrative storyworld whereby issues of canon and continuity become central modes of franchise management in the twenty-first century as opposed to traditional expanded universes that do not constitute “fact” in an imaginary world. The approach frames the discussion using “franchise narratology” as well as economic considerations related to transmedia storytelling as an industrial strategy that stimulates the “cash nexus” of profitability and “spreadability” (Jenkins 2013). This chapter explains how transmedia storytelling works with Star Wars comics as a case study. It also lends itself to queries about hierarchies within storyworld canonicity and the way in which comics can operate as a form of “continuity patching,” that is, picking up incomplete or contradictions in cinematic texts in order to repair and resolve them in fannish locations.
