The purple thread: The reception of Prince as a fictional character in graphic narratives

The goal of this article is to analyse how graphic narratives creators can incorporate transmedial fictional characters such as celebrities, and what features these character types contribute to these narratives. Our target character is ‘Prince’, the celebrity alter-ego of Prince Roger Nelson. This character had an ambiguous and complex identity, an eclectic approach to art, a strong determination in achieving one’s goals, and a keen drive to be kind and realize the emancipation of his companions, especially women. These four traits pervade receptions of Prince as a fictional character across different graphic narratives, though they are interpreted in partial and often contrasting manners. We discuss the import of this intertextual and transmedial reception of Prince as a fictional character, and how this reception is mediated via these four key traits. We suggest these traits have inspired creators to develop characters that may refer to the ‘Princian purple thread’ to differing degrees, but constantly change across cultural, genre and thematic boundaries. For instance, most receptions of Prince interpret this fictional character as a kind, supportive individual with a fluid, non-binary identity, but express these aspects in culturally informed manners. We conclude by suggesting that our analysis informs theoretical views on graphic narratives in at least two aspects. First, the analysis sheds light on how characters can shape the creation of graphic narratives, modulo genre norms and constraints. Second, the analysis sheds light on what cultural and philosophical themes they can contribute to these narratives.