The Early History Of Prince

Rock N Roll Comics was one of those rarities in the comic book industry. A sort of hybrid between a music tabloid and a proper comic, it's sole claim to fame was in telling biographies of popular artists, sometimes adapted from other magazine articles, but also incorporating gossip and various rumors associated with said artists. They usually got the 'facts' down pretty accurately, but when they veer off into the 'behind the scenes' sequences, it's anybody's guess what's true or just speculation.
This issue featured both Prince and George Clinton, but this time around we're only looking at the first story.

by Todd Loren and Stuart Immonen
from ROCK N ROLL COMICS #21, January 1991








This next part I totally believe. If there ever was anyone who'd come up with the most risky pseudonym for the lead singer of his girl group, it would be Prince.



It was at this point that Prince might've been reduced to being behind the scenes forever, writing and producing for Vanity and Morris Day, but wait....a breakthrough is on it's way.







If you've ever followed any musician's career ever, you know there's only one way to go after you reach the top...



Despite the fact that Prince And The Revolution was a very hot property at this point, the band dissolves and goes their separate ways. That doesn't stop Prince from continuing on regardless.



And that pretty much set the precedent for the rest of Prince's career, alternating between being either loved or hated by the critics.






That last statement there is oddly prescient. The 90s would be the strangest decade in Prince's life. What with suing Warner Bros. over the rights to his own name and music rights, contemptuously changing his name to a symbol, paying off George Clinton's legal bills, crossing over into a more jazz-influenced style of music, becoming more of a hermit, and then being one of the first artists to sell his music as direct for download; yeah, he always is a fascinating character.
And what's next? Does he have another chart topping album left in him? Who knows? Whatever he puts out will definitely sell a lot of copies, but the question remains whether or not he's even interested in mass market appeal anymore.

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