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Cited by 6Comics and Graphic NarrativesDigital Games and MediaLiterature, Culture, and Aesthetics

Game-comics and comic-games

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Backe, Hans-Joachim·2020·Comics and Videogames
DOI 10.4324/9781003035466-6
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Abstract

The concept of hybrids is widely used in cultural studies and media theory. Cultural products at the intersection of digital games and comic books sometimes show distinct traits of both “conventionally considered distinct” media (Rajewsky 2005 ) and have consequentially been conceptualized in the definitive work on the subject (Goodbrey 2017 ) as a hybrid form. Continuing previous work (Backe 2012 ), this chapter critiques the application of hybridity in this context. Both digital games and comics are most commonly defined by following (even if implicitly) prototype theory. These definitions do not assume criteria that are necessary and sufficient but instead rely on family resemblances. This makes them unusable for conceptual hybridization, which presupposes clearly defined traits. Drawing on principles of knowledge organization and providing an overview of complex examples, this chapter argues that the intersection of digital games and comics is too incongruent to be approached as a coherent cultural phenomenon, and that there is little to be gained for analyses of particular examples by defining them a priori as hybrids.

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  • Comic games are video games that remediate the visual and semantic characteristics of comics and have a salient relation to digital comics because of shared digital mediation.

    “Comic games would be those that remediate (Bolter and Grusin, 1999) the visual and semantic characteristics of comics (the parameters that I discussed in the previous section), standing in a more salient relation with digital comics in reason of the common digital mediation.”

    From <i>All click and no play?</i> Game comics, comic games, and user agency (2025) · cites this paper as Backe, 2020

    In “Game-comics and comic-games as a hybrid genre?” (page unavailable), Backe describes digital games that evoke comics through visual style, including panels and sound words. “Hybridity and prototype theory” (page unavailable) discusses digital technology in relation to digital comics, but does not establish that comic-games have a more salient relation to digital comics because both are digitally mediated. (LLM, conf=0.82)

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  • Goodbrey's understanding of game comics is restrictive.

    “Goodbrey's understanding of game comics is rather restrictive (the difficulty of such an endeavour has already been discussed by Backe, 2020)”

    From <i>All click and no play?</i> Game comics, comic games, and user agency (2025) · cites this paper as Backe, 2020

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Authors
Backe, H.-J.
Affiliations
IT University of Copenhagen (DK)
Corresponding author
Backe, Hans-Joachim
ORCID
Backe, Hans-Joachim
Venue
Comics and Videogames
Publisher
Routledge
Published
2020-10-18
Pages
60-83
DOI
10.4324/9781003035466-6
OpenAlex
W3092013987
Cited by
6
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2021: 1
FWCI
9.20
Type
book chapter
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Routledge eBooks (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • IT University Of Copenhagen (IT University of Copenhagen) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Visual Arts and Performing Arts › Comics and Graphic Narratives
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Games and Media
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Museology › Literature, Culture, and Aesthetics
Keywords
hybridity, video games, comics, prototype theory, family resemblance, media hybridization, knowledge organization

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