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PRINCE VALIANT

Prince Valiant in the Days of King Arthur, or simply Prince Valiant, is a long-run comic strip created by Hal Foster in 1937. It is an epic adventure that has told a continuous story during its entire history, and the full stretch of that story now totals more than 3700 Sunday strips. Currently, the strip appears weekly in more than 300 American newspapers, according to its distributor, King Features Syndicate.

Edward, the Duke of Windsor called Prince Valiant the "greatest contribution to English literature in the past hundred years."^[1] Generally regarded by comics historians as one of the most impressive visual creations ever syndicated, the strip is noted for its realistically rendered panoramas and the intelligent, sometimes humorous narrative. The format does not employ word balloons. Instead, the story is narrated in captions positioned at the bottom or sides of panels. Events depicted are taken from various time periods, from the late Roman Empire to the High Middle Ages, with a few brief scenes from modern times (commenting on the "manuscript").^[2]

While drawing the Tarzan comic strip, Foster wanted to do his own original newspaper feature, and he began work on a strip he called Derek, Son of Thane, later changing the title to Prince Arn. King Features manager Joseph Connelly eventually renamed it Prince Valiant. In 1936, after extensive research, Foster pitched his concept to William Randolph Hearst, who had long wanted to distribute a strip by Foster. Hearst was so impressed that he gave Foster ownership of the strip.^[1]

MORE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Valiant

It all began when Hal Foster, who had spent several years drawing the popular "Tarzan" feature, was asked by William Randolph Hearst to create a strip for Hearst's chain of newspapers. Thrilled by tales of chivalry, Foster returned to the rich literary tradition of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table and created "Derek, Son of Thane." Hearst was enchanted by everything about the strip except the hero's name, rechristening him Prince Valiant.

MORE: http://www.kingfeatures.com/features/comics/pvaliant/about.htm

Val was a small child when the strip began, and the first several stories told of his boyhood exploits in the British fens where his father, the deposed king of Thule, had made a home in exile. In one memorable 1937 episode, he met an old hag named Horrit, who prophesied a life of adventure for him, but never contentment. To lend credence to her pronouncement, she added that great sorrow lay in his immediate future; and when Val arrived home, he found his mother had died. Horrit's prophesy was to haunt Val all his life.

MORE: http://www.toonopedia.com/val.htm

HAROLD FOSTER’S LEGENDARY MEDIEVAL EPIC, FINALLY IN ITS DEFINITIVE EDITION

Universally acclaimed as the most stunningly gorgeous adventure comic strip of all time, Prince Valiant ran for 35 years under the virtuoso pen of its creator, Hal Foster. (Such was its popularity that today, decades after Foster’s death, it continues to run under different hands.)

The giant Sunday-funnies pages (Valiant ran only on Sundays) gave Foster a huge canvas upon which he was able to limn epic swordfights, stunning scenes of pomp and pageantry, and some of the most beautiful human beings — male and female — ever to appear in comics. And he matched his nonpareil visual sense with the narrative instincts of a born storyteller, propelling his daring young hero from one crisis to another with barely a panel to catch one’s breath.

Prince Valiant has previously been widely available only in re-colored, somewhat degraded editions (now out of print and fetching collectors’ prices). Thanks to advances in production technology and newly available original proof sheets, this new series from the industry leader in quality strip classics is the first to feature superb restored artwork that captures every delicate line and chromatic nuance of Foster’s original masterpiece. Comic strip aficionados will be ecstatic, and younger readers who enjoy a classic adventure yarn will be bowled over.

Volume One is rounded out with a rare, in-depth classic Foster interview previously available only in a long out-of-print issue of The Comics Journal, as well as an informative Afterword detailing the production and restoration of this edition, which you can read in its entirety right here on our website.

TRIUMPHANT RETURN

by Cullen Murphy

I was a college student in the early 1970s, majoring in medieval history, when I began submitting story ideas for “Prince Valiant” to the comic strip’s creator, Hal Foster. My father, John Cullen Murphy, had taken over the illustration from Hal some years earlier, and I would eventually take over the writing; we worked together on the strip for more than 25 years. But my first tryout did not go well. Hal delivered his characteristically blunt assessment over dinner at a restaurant. He waited for my father to leave the table, then looked at me and said, “No good.” I remember that he was eating lobster thermidor. Hal went on to explain that in a strip like “Prince Valiant,” words and pictures have to deliver a one-two punch. “The words can’t be captions. Words and pictures have to drive the story forward in different ways.” I took the lesson to heart, but the words “lobster thermidor” still make me cringe.

MORE: http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2009/10/prince-valiant200910

MORE: http://www.picsearch.com/pictures/books%20and%20comics/comics/comics%20po-r/prince%20valiant.html

Hal Foster

(Harold Rudolf Foster)

(16/8/1892, Canada - 25/7/1982, USA)

Before Hal Foster started his illustration and comics career, he held several jobs in Nova Scotia, from newspaper boy, woodchuck and hunting guide, to a stint as a gold prospector. In 1921, he finally chose to explore the fine arts, and cycled 1,000 miles from Manitoba to Chicago to study at the Chicago Art Institute, and later, at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. Working as a successful illustrator, Foster was asked in 1928 to make 300 illustrations for the 'Tarzan' comics. Although Harold Foster hated the Tarzan character, he nevertheless agreed to do a Sunday page of 'Tarzan' when the 300 illustrations he made were enthusiastically approved.

MORE: http://lambiek.net/artists/f/foster_hal.htm