MAD's Wally Wood does "Prince Violent!" (1954)

The Art of Frank Hamilton (Part 7)

Comic Gallery: PRINCE VALIANT

 1957

 1957

1958

1954

Comic Gallery: PRINCE VALIANT

 1941

 1955

1956

1956

Prince Valiant Vol. 6: 1947-1948

I've reached Volume 6 (1947-1948) of Fantagraphics' best yet reproduction of Prince Valiant. This one starts in Thule (Val's home), where a rogue Viking snatches Aleta and spirits her off to the west. Val chases him past Iceland and Greenland all the way to Niagra Falls, where they spend the winter with some noble early Americans. Hal Foster did a ton of research into how those folks lived, and poured it into these pages. 

Val's hosts in the New World are the fun-loving Tillicum Indians. They think Aleta is a Sun Goddess, and act like a bunch of godfathers when she gives birth to Prince Arn. 

Foster gives us a look at what Niagra Falls might have looked like 1500 years ago. Erosion, he says, shortens the falls by three feet per year.

Val teaches the wife-snatcher a lesson by treating him to the Big Swim. In the Spring, he finds his way across the ocean to Camelot, where there's more trouble afoot. And there are many more adventures ahead, because the series is now up to Volume 11.

Prince Valiant Vol. 3: Pirates, Vikings and Mythical Beasts

I've been savoring my way through Fantagraphics new series of Prince Valiant reprints, and Volume 3: 1941-1942, is another stunner. Val has gone exploring, and here journeys through the Holy Land, Africa and parts of Europe before heading back to Camelot.

Of special note, he meets Queen Aleta, his future bride, is captured by pirates, goes a'roving with good-natured Viking and battles an ogre (gorilla), a unicorn (rhino) and a dragon (elephant). Feast thine eyes.

Prince Valiant Vol. 2: 1939-1940

Volume 2 of the new Fantagraphics series begins with Val battling the Vikings to win back his father's kingdom. It's a real smackdown, but once over, peace ensues, and Val is soon bored. In search of adventure, he heads for Europe, where the rest of this volume takes place.

Foster weaves a lot of real history into these stories. While rescuing peasants and villagers from the onslaught of the Huns, Val and his friends unknowingly assist in the founding of Venice. On a visit to Rome, they witness the assassination of Rome's last great general (and are blamed for it), then witness the retaliatory assassination of the last Emperor, Valentinian (and are blamed for that too).

Amazing as the artwork in Volume 1 was, it just keeps getting better. I would love to see some of this original art. Anyone know a museum with pages on display?

Prince Valiant, Vol. 1: 1937-1938

 

After nearly six years drawing Sunday Tarzan pages, Hal Foster grew tired of doing someone’s else's character, and following someone else's script.

So he created a character of his own, called at first called Derek, Son of Thane, and later Prince Arn. But by the time the strip premiered on Feb 13, 1937. a savvy King Features exec changed the name to Prince Valiant.

This new reprint series from Fantagraphics is a new opportunity to read the strip from the beginning, and hopefully follow it at least until 1971, when Foster laid up his pen. (He did continue to write the script, though, until 1980).

The reproduction here is crisper than that in Fantagraphics earlier reprint set (1984-2004), and for the first time, the colors match those seen in the original Sunday papers.

Volume 1 reveals how Val’s father, the King of Thule (now Norway), was driven from his kingdom into the wild fens of Britain, how Val went to Camelot as a squire for Sir Kay and earn the respect of King Arthur and the Round Table gang. By the end of this volume, he’s an accomplished warrior and ready to return to his family and help his father retake his throne. 

Foster’s art is amazing from day one, but grows more sophisticated as the weeks progress. I’m now reading Volume 2, and good as these Volume 1 samples are - the work in Volume 2 is even better.

You won’t see Val wearing his trademark blue tunic and red stallion logo in this book, because he’s not yet a knight. He earns that rank early in Volume 2, so he’ll look more familiar in my next review.