Andrew J. Friedenthal's Books

The World of Marvel Comics

By: Andrew J. Friedenthal

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A detailed study of the history and long-lasting influence of Marvel Comics, this book explores the ways Marvel’s truly unique comic book world reflects real world issues and controversies alongside believable, psychologically-motivated characters. The book examines a decades-long dual focus on both tight-knit continuity and real-world fidelity that makes the Marvel Universe a unique entity amongst imaginary worlds. Although there have been many books and articles that analyze each of these aspects of the Marvel Universe, the unique focus of this book is on how those two aspects have interwoven over the course of Marvel’s history, and the ways in which both have been used as storytelling engines that have fueled the entire imaginary world of Marvel Comics. Andrew J. Friedenthal has crafted a groundbreaking, engaging, and thoughtful examination of how this particular story world combines intricate world-building with responsiveness to real world events, which will be of interest to scholars and enthusiasts of not just comics studies, but also the fields of transmedia studies and imaginary worlds.

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Page Count

135

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1000431118

ISBN 13

9781000431117

Retcon Game

Retroactive Continuity and the Hyperlinking of America

By: Andrew J. Friedenthal

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Retcon Game

Retroactive Continuity and the Hyperlinking of America

By: Andrew J. Friedenthal

The superhero Wolverine time travels and changes storylines. On Torchwood, there's a pill popped to alter memories of the past. The narrative technique of retroactive continuity seems rife lately, given all the world-building in comics. Andrew J. Friedenthal deems retroactive continuity, or “retconning,” as a force with many implications for how Americans view history and culture. Friedenthal examines this phenomenon in a range of media, from its beginnings in comic books and now its widespread shift into television, film, and digital media. Retconning has reached its present form as a result of the complicated workings of superhero comics. In comic books and other narratives, retconning often seems utilized to literally rewrite some aspect of a character's past, either to keep that character more contemporary, to erase stories from continuity that no longer fit, or to create future story potential. From comics, retconning has spread extensively, to long-form, continuity-rich dramas on television, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Lost, and beyond. Friedenthal explains that in a culture saturated by editable media, where interest groups argue over Wikipedia pages and politicians can immediately delete questionable tweets, the retcon serves as a perfect metaphor for the ways in which history, and our access to information overall, has become endlessly malleable. In the first book to focus on this subject, Friedenthal regards the editable Internet hyperlink, rather than the stable printed footnote, as the de facto source of information in America today. To embrace retroactive continuity in fictional media means accepting that the past itself is not a stable element, but rather something constantly in contentious flux. Due to retconning's ubiquity within our media, we have grown familiar with narratives as inherently unstable, a realization that deeply affects how we understand the world.

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Page Count

191

Publisher

Univ. Press of Mississippi

Published Date

ISBN 10

149681133X

ISBN 13

9781496811332

The World of DC Comics

By: Andrew Friedenthal

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The World of DC Comics

By: Andrew Friedenthal

The first sustained study of the DC Comics Multiverse, this book explores its history, meanings, and lasting influence. The multiverse is a unique exercise in world-building: a series of parallel and interactive worlds with a cohesive cosmology, developed by various creators over more than 50 years. In examining DC's unique worlds and characters, the book illustrates the expansive potential of a multiverse, full of characters, histories, geographies, religions, ethnographies, and more, and allowing for expressions of legacy, multiplicity, and play that have defined much of DC Comics' output. It shows how a multiverse can be a vital, energizing part of any imaginary world, and argues that students and creators of such worlds would do well to explore the implications and complexities of this world-building technique. Andrew J. Friedenthal has crafted a groundbreaking, engaging, and thoughtful examination of the multiverse, of interest to scholars and enthusiasts of not just comics studies, but also the fields of media studies and imaginary world studies.

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Page Count

134

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1351248936

ISBN 13

9781351248938

The World of DC Comics

By: Andrew Friedenthal

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The World of DC Comics

By: Andrew Friedenthal

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

134

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1351248936

ISBN 13

9781351248938

Book's by Andrew J. Friedenthal

The World of Marvel Comics

The World of Marvel Comics

Retcon Game

Retcon Game

The World of DC Comics

The World of DC Comics

The World of DC Comics

The World of DC Comics

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