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Joss Whedon: The Complete Companion
by
PopMatters
HE ESSENTIAL UNOFFICIAL GUIDE TO THE WHEDONVERSE
Joss Whedon’s importance in contemporary pop culture can hardly be overstated, but there has never been a book providing a comprehensive survey of his career as a whole – until now. The Complete Companion covers every aspect of the Whedonverse through insightful essays and interviews, including fascinating conversations with...more
Joss Whedon’s importance in contemporary pop culture can hardly be overstated, but there has never been a book providing a comprehensive survey of his career as a whole – until now. The Complete Companion covers every aspect of the Whedonverse through insightful essays and interviews, including fascinating conversations with...more
ebook
Published
May 1st 2012
by Titan Books
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Jun 03, 2012
Scotchneat
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
non-fiction,
vamps-faeries-weres-and-supes
While it is "complete", in that it covers every TV show, the movies and the comics, the book is largely a rehash of essays from other sources.
Though I think the bigger bleh is maybe to do with the reader. The further away I am from my grad school days, the less I care to read academic analysis of pop culture. Some of the essays give different readings on Joss' work (whether the stories are feminist, Xander's symbolism, what the Reavers are...), but the essays that are more interesting are the on...more
Though I think the bigger bleh is maybe to do with the reader. The further away I am from my grad school days, the less I care to read academic analysis of pop culture. Some of the essays give different readings on Joss' work (whether the stories are feminist, Xander's symbolism, what the Reavers are...), but the essays that are more interesting are the on...more
(Review originally posted on my blog.)
As you might guess from that mouthful of a title, Joss Whedon: The Complete Companion spans the creator’s biggest productions and a number of smaller topics, such as his foray into comic books and his (returning) screenwriting days. It’s also a mammoth book. A good whack with this thing will knock a vampire right out.
Anyone who plucks down $18.95 or less will be getting exactly what they pay for: a whole lot of Joss Whedon, presented as a series of essays …...more
As you might guess from that mouthful of a title, Joss Whedon: The Complete Companion spans the creator’s biggest productions and a number of smaller topics, such as his foray into comic books and his (returning) screenwriting days. It’s also a mammoth book. A good whack with this thing will knock a vampire right out.
Anyone who plucks down $18.95 or less will be getting exactly what they pay for: a whole lot of Joss Whedon, presented as a series of essays …...more
I didn't get a lot out of this collection, although I probably would have enjoyed it more if I was as into Whedon's comic book writing as I was his tv series and movies. If you do like his comic book work, this collection provides a previously-lacking (that I'm aware of) review of that aspect of his career -- but I simply flipped past.
That said, I was not particularly impressed by the essays on his television and film work. They lacked the insight of many of the other collections. Because this w...more
That said, I was not particularly impressed by the essays on his television and film work. They lacked the insight of many of the other collections. Because this w...more
Grabbed this off the New Arrivals shelf duirng my weekly trip to the library on Saturday and dove in, puting aside the other books in process. Nice collection of articles on the entire Whedonverse. I sometimes find the academic examination of popular culture tiresome but most of these articles were both well grounded in the academic theory they were approaching the topic from (psychology, philosophy and linguistics to name a few)and were also clearly written by people who enjoyed the entertainme...more
Prelim Review: This is more of a 3.5 for me, but having following Whedon's career for the last 15 years of my life I knew a lot of what was contained in the book. That being said the interviews, essays by people outside of his Circle of Friends and Associates and writers was certainly intriguing. It was interesting to see how things I took for granted (like Illyria in Angel) could be seen differently or how some people really didn't like some aspects of Buffy.
Full review to be posted at Night Ow...more
Full review to be posted at Night Ow...more
An essay compilation touching on topics across the Joss Whedon oeuvre. About half of the essays were quite engaging, but the other half were either wikipedia style summaries of shows and movies or poorly written, fairly incoherent essays. The book would have been better served by harsher editing, parrying the essays down to the choicest ones. Perhaps I shouldn't have expected to be able to read it straight through.
The Angel and Dollhouse essays were the most engaging. The Buffy essays felt quite...more
The Angel and Dollhouse essays were the most engaging. The Buffy essays felt quite...more
I chose not to review this in a typical review fashion. Instead I am posting "Best of..." posts to correspond to the shows I watched.
For "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" visit: http://tsukibooks.blogspot.com/2013/0...
For "Angel" visit: http://tsukibooks.blogspot.com/2013/0...
For "Dollhouse" visit: Under Contruction
For "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" visit: http://tsukibooks.blogspot.com/2013/0...
For "Angel" visit: http://tsukibooks.blogspot.com/2013/0...
For "Dollhouse" visit: Under Contruction
May 18, 2013
Meredith
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Whedon fans
If you love Joss Whedon as much as I do - as in, a lot - you would be happy to read 400+ pages of scholarly papers examining his work.
Some of the papers aren't as good as others (Dr Shandley Q I'm looking at you).
Overall, it's a great book examining Whedon's work. In reading about the shows, it almost feels like re-watching them at warp speed.
Some of the papers aren't as good as others (Dr Shandley Q I'm looking at you).
Overall, it's a great book examining Whedon's work. In reading about the shows, it almost feels like re-watching them at warp speed.
This companion/compilation aspires to great things, but really does fall short. I began reading it hoping to find a good balance of loving, fan-made articles and more critical analysis of Whedon's work and was disappointed in both regards. It lacked the insight and depth that I had hoped for, and so I'll be researching other analyses of Whedon's work that might slake the thirst.
If you seek an examination of Joss Whedon’s career I would be shocked if you could do better.
Click below for full review
http://wherethedeadfeartotread.blogsp...
Click below for full review
http://wherethedeadfeartotread.blogsp...
A tutor with whom I work has a chapter included in this new collection and we've just had a good discussion about 'Cabin in the Woods'.
I'll probably purchase a copy next week when I get paid.
I'll probably purchase a copy next week when I get paid.
1 like · like · see review
view all 8 comments
A mixed bag of essays, both in content and quality. Some are entertaining and insightful, others read like a college essay by a student who believes big words equal brilliance. I would have liked a more even tone and consistency.
As an enormous Whedon fan, I'm finding it difficult to get through this. It's not what I expected... It's a collection of essays by scholars. Blech.
This is a must read for any whedon fan. These essays and interviews are a great insight into his creative genius.
The book is a nice mix of general introductions, academic papers and more mainstream magazine pieces. It was nice to get filled in on the seasons of Buffy I never got around to watching and to learn about Whedon's comics. I particularly enjoyed the section about Dollhouse, including an article that looks at the show as an allegory for television production.
A group of excellent, thought-provoking essays on all of Joss' works.
Joss Whedon is a genius.
I mean, I already knew that, but this book reveals new depths of TV narrative & screenwriting brilliance. Feeling so pro-Whedon right now.
I mean, I already knew that, but this book reveals new depths of TV narrative & screenwriting brilliance. Feeling so pro-Whedon right now.
I adore Joss Whedon and already own a few books about his series. This one was written just before Cabin in the Woods and Avengers came out so I wish there was more on those. I do recommend the book however if you haven't read/watched everything by Joss Whedon I would be wary since there are spoilers galore, even in other sections.
Full review on HorrorTalk.com: http://www.horrortalk.com/book-review...
Full disclosure: I wrote an essay in this book!
I would give my essay 5 stars, of course, but otherwise I feel I must give the book only 4 ;)
I would give my essay 5 stars, of course, but otherwise I feel I must give the book only 4 ;)
I love all things Joss Whedon. It's a nice compilation of all his work he has done thus far. Makes me nostalgic for Buffy and Angel!
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