The Royal-Wedding Graphic Novel
Love is tender. Love is kind. Love is ... having your romance recounted through colorful doodles and bubbly writing? That's the vision held by English political satirist Rich Johnston, who created Kate & William: A Very Public Love Story, a comic book that charts the lives of the duo from childhood all the way to their lavish Westminster Abbey wedding. Johnston doesn't mind that some folks have written off his idea as tawdry. "There is kitschness to it. But I love doing things that sound ridiculously kitsch, then surprising the audience with something deeper," he told the Guardian. In mining those depths, he even tackles the 1997 death of Princess Diana, with scenes depicting a young William at his mother's funeral and Kate reacting to events while watching news reports. Later, as Kate flees from the same photographers who stalked Diana, Johnston says he touches on the "idea of mortality and dangerousness" entering her life.