For as long as stories have been told, fairy tales have been a source of delight, fear and inspiration for children and adults alike. This is especially true for the LGBTQ+ community, who often find solace in their themes of transformation, true love and happy endings. Some LGBTQ+ creators have even gone on to create their own queer fairy tales. One such person is Mira Ong Chua, a transgender comic book creator currently running a Kickstarter for their new 18+ queer fairy tale graphic novel The Prince in the Basement.
According to the Kickstarter’s story summary, the graphic novel tells the story of a princess who learns a secret on the day of her coronation: There is an imprisoned prince in the basement who looks identical to her. Deciding to claim the throne for himself, the prince exiles the princess and sentences her husband-to-be to death.
After the prince steals her throne, the princess decides to take it back and rescue her beloved. Meanwhile, her beloved starts to fall for the prince while awaiting his fate due to his belief that the prince and the princess are the same person. When they finally reunite, the prince and the princess learn their fates are intertwined in unexpected ways.
For those not familiar with their work, Mira Ong Chua has created all ages and 18+ queer romance comics such as Roadqueen and Vampire Blood Drive. The Prince in the Basement will be their third 18+ queer romance comic after their previous works My Lover Is a Merperson (I Think) and Vampire Blood Drive. Also, The Prince in the Basement is their third fairy-tale inspired comic after Goodbye Battle Princess Peony and its sequel, Goodbye Battle Princess Peony -eternal spring-.
As a queer comic book fan, I first got into Mira Ong Chua’s work via Goodbye Battle Princess Peony after noticing its influences from magical girl anime such as Sailor Moon and Revolutionary Girl Utena. When I reviewed it for Gayming Magazine a few years ago, I couldn’t help but appreciate its fairy tale influences as well. Its story showed that the binaries of good and evil and light and darkness are often more complicated than what we are taught and acknowledging that helps us grow as a person.
In addition to blurring moral binaries, many of the characters I’ve enjoyed in Mira Ong Chua’s past work defy gender binaries as well. My absolute favorite character in Mira Ong Chua’s work is Milo from 24/7 Magical Maiden Mimi. As the titular Magical Maiden Mimi, Milo goes through the process of gender questioning while figuring out whether it is worth sacrificing who he is in order to be liked as a magical girl. Without spoiling anything, the result is beautiful, cathartic and genderqueer in a way I’ve rarely seen explored in a magical girl comic.
Another example of genderqueer themes in Mira Ong Chua’s work occurs in Goodbye Battle Princess Peony. Its antagonist Lady Silkrose looks genderqueer as fuck in a princely gothic suit and cape and shoulder-length black hair. In fact, the sequel, -eternal spring-, confirms at the end of the book that all of the characters are neither men nor women.
Even though I have yet to read The Prince in the Basement, I look forward to seeing where the characters end up and how the story unfolds. It looks to be as intricate as Goodbye Battle Princess Peony and as sensual as Vampire Blood Drive.
As of this posting, the Kickstarter for The Prince in the Basement has 24 days to go and will run until Feb. 14. While its goal has been met, further pledges will unlock extras for physical versions of the book, including matte and silver foil treatment, bookmarks and keychains. There also are different rewards for each pledge that range from a digital copy of the book to a retail tier for folks who want to get the book into libraries.
Support The Prince in the Basement here.
Latonya Pennington is a freelance contributor whose comics criticism can be found at Women Write About Comics, Comic Book Herald, Newsarama and Shelfdust, among others.
