prince-problems
Explanation
This comic features a prince explaining to someone why he wears a mask (or visor). He argues that a prince never knows when he might be forced to kiss someone due to fairy tale logic: "Suppose I accidentally touch lips with a bird and the fairy godmother says I gotta marry a princess who spent her whole life sitting in the woods and drinking swamp water."
He continues with another scenario: "Suppose I trip and fall at a funeral, accidentally kiss the corpse, and the whole village says 'Gotta honor the dead' -- maybe things are an accident and please, madame, would you go be sad elsewhere?"
The final panels reveal that this is actually about a prince who uses these elaborate fairy-tale scenarios as excuses. When told "Not for me, marry this fair maiden," the prince's true colors show -- he's using fairy tale tropes as an excuse to avoid an arranged marriage. The maiden is described as "lower-class and embarrassing."
The comic satirizes fairy tale conventions by having a prince who is genre-savvy enough to recognize how absurd fairy tale obligations are, while also revealing the less romantic reality behind royal marriages -- classism and political convenience rather than true love or magical destiny.