Cartoonist’s mission to immortalise your love story in comic

Now one Napier design student believes he has the perfect way for modern-day romantics to document their love stories – by converting them into an online cartoon strip.

Michal Klimczyk, 27, creates four-panel sketches chronicling relationships that have been ignited or enriched by visiting Edinburgh, then uploads them to a Facebook page and YouTube channel.

His project “Edinburgh, I Love You” has already captured the romantic experiences of five couples, including his own, but Michal hopes to complete many more.

The Pole, who has lived in the Capital since 2008, was inspired to collect the city’s love stories after reading Young Romance, a comic book by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, which claimed to recount true-life courtships.

“So far I have done five stories about couples from different countries and different cultures,” said Michal. “I want to show that we live together here and have to respect each other.”

In one of Michal’s first cartoon panels he turned to his own relationship with girlfriend Karolina and their arrival in Edinburgh to study at art college.

“It all started as a university project,” he said. “Instead of carving names in trees people can post names and stories on the Facebook profile I created and we will change it into a comic strip.”

Michal is urging couples to send him their romantic Edinburgh experiences so he can share it with the world via his cartoon strips. He said: “If a comic is about superheroes it is going to have a smaller audience but love stories are universal.”

The budding designer hopes to take his project to the streets by pasting posters promoting his website in eye-catching locations.

Despite Michal’s passion for the city’s love stories he does not regard himself as a particularly romantic soul. He added: “My main comic is a series about a Polish heavy metal band called Acid Drinkers.”

• You can visit Michal’s page at: www.facebook.com/pages/Edinburgh-I-Love-You/234573059965698