Brian and I beat this to death over lunch. We concluded that you have two schools of group heroic storytelling: Trapped on a Boat, and Not Trapped on a Boat. Trapped on a Boat storytelling covers those stories where Our Heroes are forced to stick together by circumstance, resulting in an ensemble story, from the Argonauts to WWII to Star Trek to X-Men. Not Trapped on a Boat storytelling is that in which the characters all do their own thing, and periodically get together at the Round Table Smoking Club to discuss their exploits, like Arthurian tales, the Founding Fathers, the great pulp crossovers, etc.
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Date: 2006-03-17 05:10 pm (UTC)