Medievalism, Joan of Arc, popular culture, film, comics, Transformers
Guest blog post for Boydell & Brewer where they pitch it as "avid fan and medievalist Scott Manning argues how the cult classic, The Transformers: The Movie, is a retelling of the Grail quest and explores why that medieval echo helps explain the film's enduring legacy."
One day, while reading The Quest for the Holy Grail, I came across a statement by Sir Gawain that made me chuckle: I have slain more than ten knights already, the worst of whom was more than adequate, and still have met with no adventure. In what world does someone trek through the wilderness, kill […]
7 June 2026 This bibliography is up to 70 entries and growing. If you have any suggested additions, please do not hesitate to reach out. In 2026, The Transformers: The Movie (1986) celebrates its 40th anniversary. Although it was originally a film made with the intention to market toys to children, it has had a […]
This essay examines the Shakespearean-inspired rise and fall of Starscream, one of the many robots killed off in the 1986 animated film The Transformers: The Movie. Originally released with the intent to market toys to children, Hasbro saw death in the film as a practical approach to write off characters of discontinued toys. This essay examines […]
Publisher DetailsTable of Contents Publisher Details Edited by Kevin J. Harty and Scott Manning (Jefferson: McFarland, 2024) Pages: 386Bibliographic Info: 73 photos, notes, bibliography, index Purchase: McFarland | Amazon This collection of original essays presents new scholarship on nearly three dozen feature-length films, including silent films, animated films, films in black and white, and…
This page builds on my essay published in The Year’s Work in Medievalism 33 (2018) titled “Warriors ‘Hedgehogged’ in Arrows: Crusaders, Samurai, and Wolverine in Medieval Chronicles and Popular Culture” (open access!). The basic thesis is that the image of a living warrior covered in arrows was once relegated to medieval chronicles on the Crusades, […]
One of the most common inspirations I've seen for Joan of Arc book covers is Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres's 1854 painting entitled Jeanne d'Arc au sacre du roi Charles VII, dans la cathédrale de Reims (Joan of Arc at the coronation of King Charles VII, in the Reims Cathedral). This piece is displayed prominently at the Louvre […]
In Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), Strange and America Chavez are on the run from the Scarlet Witch, and they naturally seek refuge at the Kamar-Taj. This fictional place in Katmandu, Nepal is where Strange and other sorcerers trained. There is plenty to look at in the set, which is a hodgepodge […]
In 1913, Al Ringling kept Joan of Arc as the theme for the 45-minute spectacle that preceded each Ringling Bros. circus show. That meant that targeted towns saw a lot of Joan of Arc-related advertising like this one in the Taunton Daily Gazette (June 7). Ads like these appeared in newspapers all over America in […]