Most of us grew up surrounded by stories about princesses. Disney gave us stories about beautiful girls in beautiful dresses that are saved by handsome princes. In these stories the princess is the protagonist, but isn’t always the hero. These stories usually have a man that plays a big part in saving the day. Whether he wakes the princess with a kiss or saves her from her evil stepmother, the good guys prevail and the princess gets her happily ever after because of the aid of a male lead.
Jeremy Whitley puts a very interesting twist in the traditional princess tale in the graphic novel series Princeless. Whitley's Princeless is about a princess named Adrienne who takes her story into her own hands. Adrienne is the hero of her own story.
Without giving too much away, in the first volume, Princeless: Save Yourself, her father, the king, locks up Adrienne and her sisters in guarded towers so that they may be rescued by a brave knight and get their happily ever after. Unfortunately for the king, Adrienne does not see this fate as her happily ever, so she decides to rescue herself and go on an adventure to help the other princesses live the life they want to, instead of what their kingly fathers have decided for them.
In Princeless, there is plenty of social commentary presented in a hilarious and engaging way. This series addresses how there is often a stark difference between female and male armor in medieval fantasy settings. Whitley also addresses how princesses are often “fair,” both in terms of beauty and skin tone, with the majority of the princesses in his world having darker skin than can be seen in Disney’s princess line. But it isn’t a series that takes itself too seriously, providing plenty of light-hearted humor as well.
Another great thing about Princeless is that Whitley includes LGBT+ representation. There is a princess who is more interested in other princesses than finding a prince. She even gets her own spin-off called Raven: The Pirate Princess in which she leads an all-girl pirate crew on a quest to take control of the pirate kingdom she deserves. I’ve only read the first volume of the spinoff, but so far I’ve enjoyed it and I feel like it has an engaging, loveable, and diverse cast of characters.
There are currently five volumes available of the main series and three volumes of the spin-off. I strongly recommend that you give this series a try. You can find the series here.
