Bubble worlds of myth

Neat little piece on making a comic franchise thrive. [Link]

Myth. It's what superhero comics are made of. How to build on that Modern Myth can be the key to a successful comics franchise. After all, not every character is an island. Not every hero is what the Absorbascon calls a Dynastic Centerpiece. Building a dynastic model around a character is one way to solidy his or her myth, sure, and usually the way to go about it. Characters like Superman and Batman have had decades to build a supporting cast, a rogues' gallery and a contextualizing city (again, an Absorbascon term), and these all become part of the myth. Even the man on street knows the words "Lois Lane", "Lex Luthor" and "Metropolis".

But while the dynastic model and the exploration of a contextualizing city are fine "myth-building" methods, there is another I'd like to consider today, and that's building the world around the character. Green Lantern has recently done this with the addition of 6 new Corps, each based on a color of the rainbow (plus a 7th, the ominous Black Lantern Corps).

Any time a book can stand on it's own without needing Wolverine to guest star is good.