“A Royal Affair” by Christianne Goudreau & Taneka Stotts is a mini-comic about the brief encounter of space pirate Captain Naideen Alleyne and Ri’an Chiarthi gol Rune the VI, Regent of Calofi. This mini-comic is featured in Beyond: The Queer Sci-Fi & Fantasy Anthology, edited by Sfé R. Monster.
How are new gender dynamics established without resorting to an info dump?
Just like a traditional, narrative short story, “A Royal Affair” has a limit to what it can establish in order to tell the story at hand. A mini-comic, such as this, must rely on its illustrations to carry the narration and descriptions of the story, and dialogue is confined to the limits of speech bubbles. One could argue either way as to whether mini-comics are more limited than short stories in terms of storytelling, but the fact of the matter is that both require skill, particularly sucinctness and brevity. For some, the medium may be counterproductive when working with science fiction, a literary tendency that is well-known for its rich, detailed descriptions of the new worlds it depicts. In many science fiction stories, some creators rely on “info dumps,” large portions of text that describe or explain the world to the reader either through direct narration or by proxy through a character by means of dialogue. “A Royal Affair” does neither.
Credits: Christianne Goudreau & Taneka Stotts
A three-panel page.
In all three panels, groups of people in elegant clothes are gathered for a masquerade. They stand close together, whispering about what’s to come. In the third panel, Captain Alleyne is standing inconspicuosly next to a roped-off entrance away from the crowd. The panels are sprinkled with anonymous speech bubbles.
Speech bubble 1: The hour is growing near.
Speech bubble 2: I wonder which the Regent will announce.
Speech bubble 3: We’ve not had a Queen for some time.
Speech bubble 4: Rumors say the new crown will reflect the Regent’s choice.
Speech bubble 5: The Regent has always done what’s best for the people.
Speech bubble 6: Why don’t the people have a say in the matter?
Speech bubble 7: I remember when the last king was crowned.
The world that “A Royal Affair” presents is one where the young Regent of planet Calofi, upon a certain time, must choose to fulfill the role of either King or Queen for the rest of their life. As there is no “fish out of water”character — a character new to the world — the comic cannot inform the reader by means of lengthy explanations to that proxy character. Similarly, due to the textual limitations of comics, expository paragraphs are out of the question, as well. As a result, the comic cleverly employs the devices it has to provide snippets of information for the reader to put together. This creates a more engaging text that doesn’t underestimate the reader and fosters imagination to fill in the blanks. The reader thus becomes another guest at the party depicted in the panels above, overhearing the whispered gossip of the other guests.
Credits: Christianne Goudreau & Taneka Stotts
A two-part panel.
Inner Panel: A close-up of Captain Alleyne as she removes her mask.
Alleyne: Only my friend’s call me Naideen. And I don’t remember ever making your acqaintance.
Outer Panel: Regent Ri’an bows gracefully to introduce themselves.
Ri’an: Forgive me. I am Ri’an Chiarthi gol Rune the VI, current Regent of Calofi, and the crowned heir to the throne.
Alleyne (off-panel): Fancy.
For many science fiction creators, it is very easy to give into the temptation of explaining every detail of the world to the readers, and it is very understandable why. Creators are rightfully proud of the world they’ve imagined, and they want their readers to enjoy the fullest experience possible. However, regardless of how thorough a creator might be, it is impossible to account for every detail in the imagined world. We are all limited by our experiences, our knowledge, the medium we choose, and the time we have to create. By minding those limitations, time and focus can be placed into the more fundamental elements of the story at hand. By presenting Calofi’s gender dynamics through snippets of overheard casual conversation, and by then depicting Regent Ri’an as a genderqueer character, the readers can easily fill in the gaps using their own knowledge. This frees the narration from cumbersome info dumps, and the exploration of Ri’an’s experience with their world’s gender dynamics can be explored more effectively.