On this week’s special epsiode we take one last look at this year’s Popular Culture Association conference in Chicago with a look at papers from one of the panels in the Comics Studies group. Mav is joined by Joseph and John Darowski who will be appearing with him in the upcoming book Adapting X-men from McFarland Press to present scaled down versions of their chapters from that book. Joe begins by discussing how storytelling franchises, like the X-Men, spread their narratives beyond the original comic book medium with a detailed analysis of the 1992 Uncanny X-Men trading card series, highlighting the complexities and artistic considerations in transitioning comic book narratives into trading cards. Then, Mav discusses the TV show ‘The Gifted’, examining its portrayal of Otherness and its approach to racial allegory within the X-Men universe. Finally, John presents on the crossover between Star Trek and X-Men in the novel ‘Planet X’, exploring the novelty of such a crossover and the implications of combining these two distinct franchises in a novel format.
Together, these presentations offer insights into the challenges and intricacies of adapting and expanding narratives across various media, showcasing the X-Men franchise as a case study. They also give you a pretty good taste of what it’s like to be at an academic conference like PCA. At least we think so, listen and let us know if you agree in the comments.
Citations and Links:
- Thank you to Maximilian’s thoughtForm Music for our theme
- Listen to Joe (and occasionally John) on The Protagonist Podcast and follow Joe on Twitter: @jdarowski
- Follow Mav on Twitter: @chrismaverick
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