LEGO Studies

<p>Since the Automatic Binding Bricks that LEGO produced in 1949 and the LEGO System of Play that began with the release of Town Plan No. 1 (1955) LEGO bricks have gone on to become a global phenomenon and the favorite building toy of children as well as many an AFOL (Adult Fan of LEGO). LEGO has also become a medium into which a wide number of media franchises including <i>Star Wars</i> <i>Harry Potter</i> <i>Pirates of the Caribbean</i> <i>Batman</i> <i>Superman</i> <i>Lord of the Rings</i> and others have adapted their characters vehicles props and settings. The LEGO Group itself has become a multimedia empire including LEGO books movies television shows video games board games comic books theme parks magazines and even MMORPGs.</p> <p></p><i> <p>LEGO Studies: Examining the Building Blocks of a Transmedial Phenomenon </i>is the first collection to examine LEGO as both a medium into which other franchises can be adapted and a transmedial franchise of its own. Although each essay looks at a particular aspect of the LEGO phenomenon topics such as adaptation representation paratexts franchises and interactivity intersect throughout these essays proposing that the study of LEGO as a medium and a media empire is a rich vein barely touched upon in Media Studies.</p>