A heavily tattooed man stands in the doorway of a tattoo and piercing studio, Rue du Fort de Vaux, Angoulême, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. In the city, art and life merge: some people prefer to wear comics on their skin rather than hang them on their walls. The man, in shorts and a striped shirt, is busy with his mobile phone on the top step. Decorative windows and signs advertise the studio's services, the window lettering reads "French Tattoo Collectif". A street sign in the shape of a speech bubble names the square as Place du Palet. The city has been a UNESCO Creative City of Literature sin