World Building in A-Force

The way that A-Force does world building is very interesting. Usually in a comic you are not given a large amount of detail all at once, such as where they live and what is exactly going on. In A-Force the first four pages set up the world that they live in through images and caption boxes as well as
straight text. On the first page, the images and the words in the caption boxes don’t line up exactly. The caption boxes are describing the island that they live on while the images are showing the main characters that will be important in the comic. Due to this the reader is getting two difference sets of information that are both important but also do not exactly connect with each other. (Wolk  128).  The next two pages in the comic are a splash page, which shows the entire island of Arcadia with the main heroes flying over it. The 4th page has text that lets the reader know that this work is apart of the Secret Wars and how the rest of the universe is constructed.

On the first page you also begin to get the notion that there are other superheroes that live on the
island that are not truly that important to the story line. For example, in the 3rd panel, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage can be seen, but they are not shown as superheroes, like the main characters, but rather in a very domestic way, grocery shopping.  If the reader has not read Jessica Jones’ series Alias, the inference would not be all that obvious. This is an example of intertextuality, in this case intertextuality adds another layer of interest, making the reader want to try to find other familiar characters, but it also does detract from the work if the reader does not catch the reference.  (Bauman 5)

Truly the only additional information beyond the first four pages, that the reader needs to fully understand the world (if they have not extensively read the Secret Wars line) is given about half way through the first issue. This information is that Doom is a god like ruler and that the Thors (more than 5 are shown) are the keepers and enforces if the law. A-Force does a good job of introduces this information so that readers who have not read the Secret Wars are able to understand what is happening.

A majority of the world building that is done in A-Force is done within the first four pages with some additional information that is picked up about half way through the first issues.

By: Kaitlyn Renaud

Genre and Intertextuality in A-Force

Genre and intertextuality as Bauman defines it greatly affects the way that A-Force is read. These two factors give a framework as to how the piece could be interpreted. Genre is determined by a reader’s relationship with previous texts. This causes expectations for the reader that they assume will be followed.  Intertextuality as defined by Bauman is “the relational orientation of a text to other texts”. Therefore genre and intertextuality are connected.

A-Force could fall into a few distinct genres: superhero, science fiction, fantasy and dystopian.  All of these genre, specifically superhero, allows the reader to not be surprised when the main characters start to fly or are walking around in costumes.  Once the reader learns that A-Force also falls into a dystopian genre this also creates more expectations on top of the previous. For example, it is not surprising that there is an omniscient absolute ruler who reigns over the world and has a secrete police force. What is surprising is who these people are. This plays with the reader’s expectation and creates intrigue. 

Intertextuality also gives expectations for the reader. If the reader has even a basic understanding of Marvel and the Avengers, any variations there of, they have certain expectations.  A lot of these expectations are broken within this work. First off we get the first all female Avengers, which can change what they can do and opens up the cast to a number of different heroes who may have been excluded before.  Since this work comes at the end of the Secret Wars, with the parallel universes have already collided and breaking down, if the reader has not read a majority of the pervious Secret Wars material or does not have a large knowledge of the Secret Wars and only knows the basics of Marvel, many things will break their expectations.  This could include the role of the Thors, Doctor Doom, and Loki as well as the treatment of certain characters such as Ms. America. This is not necessarily a bad thing it just changes the reading experience.

Genre and intertextuality shapes how the comic is read and what a reader will get out of the comic. It sets up certain expectations depending on what the reader has read before as well as what they know about the characters and the worlds.  Sometimes these expectations are kept and sometimes they are broken. It is interesting as to which expectation is kept.