Unorthodox Revisions

Abstract

This chapter examines three unorthodox revision practices through readings of three exemplary superhero narratives: sideshadowing, in which traditional tropes of superhero narratives are reimagined through the use of new characters that represent classic superhero archetypes, as inscribed in Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson’s ongoing Astro City series; excavation, the reintegration and reinterpretation of elements and influences from earlier texts that had been either deemphasized or written out of continuity, notably employed in Warren Ellis and John Cassaday’s Planetary; and homodoxy, the narrative coexistence of inconsistent elements culled from different versions of a character’s textual history, a strategy characteristic of Alan Moore’s collaboration with multiple artists on the Image Comics doppleganger of Superman, Supreme. These modes enact the ongoing negotiation between consistency and rupture that is at the core of the revising process, and offer new perspectives on key debates concerning revision.