'Wild child' Prince Harry makes comic book debut

Wild child-turned-military man Prince Harry of Wales is almost as colorful as a superhero. So perhaps it’s only fitting that an American publishing company is set to give him his very first comic book treatment.

Vancouver, Wash.-based publisher Bluewater Productions offers “The Royals: Prince Harry” in a 32-page comic book and 40-page graphic novel format August 24, following its spring release of a look at newlyweds Prince William and Kate Middleton.

While Harry’s carrot top and distinct facial features alone make him a perfect candidate to be captured in comics form, the publisher notes there is a gold mine of a story to go along with it. “From his upbringing with his mother Princess Di and his father Prince Charles, to his wild partying and his military experience, all doors are opened and all parts of his life are on display,” Bluewater said in a release.

Bluewater Productions has carved out a niche publishing biographical comics, previously releasing titles on Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and David Beckham. Now the company is betting that America’s thirst for all things royal wasn’t sated by William and Kate’s April wedding.

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“As Americans, we are fascinated by the British royals,” said the Harry comic’s author, CW Cooke. “They fit within our construct of a celebrity-fueled popular culture. But more than that, they represent an air of pomp and circumstance that we just don’t have.”

And while Harry won’t be flying faster than a speeding bullet or wielding the magical hammer of a Norse god, his life largely lived out in public is plenty enough to fill the frames of an illustrated title.

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Third in line to the throne (behind dad Charles and older brother William), the 27-year-old was dubbed the “Wild Child” by the British tabloids for doing, well, what many kids without a royal title do. In his teens, he was spotted smoking illicit herbs, wore a costume of questionable taste to a Halloween party, and engaged in underage drinking with his pals. Thanks to his royal fame, nearly all of it was captured in London newspapers — and a few dust-ups between Harry and the paparazzi who hounded him resulted.

But he’s grown up to be a respected serviceman. Eschewing a university education, Harry instead enrolled in the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 2005. Now a six-year veteran of Britain’s military, he served on the frontlines in Afghanistan for 77 days in 2007 and is now a trained Apache helicopter pilot.

“The Royals: Prince Harry” will also delve into his romantic life. While the British press, somewhat wishfully, has linked Harry to his sister-in-law Kate Middleton’s younger sister Pippa, Harry himself described himself earlier this year as “100 percent single.”

So those waiting for another British royal wedding may have to wait until the next comic book comes out.