Prince Valiant Day!

Hal Foster was born on this date in 1892. It's impossible to overstate Foster's influence on the field of comic art. His Tarzan of the Apes pages helped define what an adventure would be, and his creation Prince Valiant is still being published and offers fans an incredible saga of a one brave man and his family. 

Hal Foster's Prince Valiant has proven over the decades to be a sturdy and popular adventure comic strip across the world.  So prevalent was the strip, a weekly visitor in many if not most homes, that in the early 50's Hasting House adapted the story of Valiant and his friends into lavishly illustrated children's books. Hal Foster's wonderful artwork became blended with text by Max Trell and later by James Flowers. Nostalgia Press reprinted some of these volumes in the 60's. 

I'm lucky now to own most of these handsome volumes. My local store got in an incomplete collection (missing the second volume) some months ago and I've been looking at them glowingly since. The price asked was very fair, but not insubstantial. I picked up the first volume, an example of the Nostalgia Press reprint because it was a bit cheaper and because I didn't want to let all of these slip through my fingers. It's beautiful.

Using some accumulated store credit, I was able to finally bring home the remaining five volumes. I wanted to wait and try to get a bit more credit accrued, but I became fearful the volumes would disappear before that ideal situation presented itself. Now my mission is to find the elusive second volume. These are very pretty books, all but one with slipcover and blessed with some of Foster's most attractive work throughout. Below is a look at the other covers in this charming series.

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A Minnesota Woody In King Arthur's Court!

I cannot know, but likely Wally Wood's dream job was drawing the comic strip Prince Valiant. I might be wrong and the answer is Flash Gordon, but the strip Wood had a chance to draw was in fact Valiant. Hal Foster was nearing the end of his tenure on the massive successful comic strip he'd created decades before and was casting about for new talent to take the artistic helm while he continued to write. The call went out and two comic book favorites -- Wally Wood and Gray Morrow were selected to prepare sample pages, pages which actually ran in the strips longstanding continuity. Above is Wally Wood's effort.

Here it is in glorious black and white. Wood was able to mimic Foster's style quite effectively here, thereby hiding his own distinctive flourishes. While not a ghost the new artist was expected to maintain the look and feel of the strip and Wood does a stellar job here. Neither Morrow nor Wood got the gig, which went to John Cullen Murphy. 

Wood of course was no stranger to Prince Valiant in print, having done the definitive spoof of the comic for MAD magazine many years before in a little effort called "Prince Violent". Read the full effort here. 

He'd turn his hand to spoofing the strip again in the Marvel Mini-Comic Prince Violet. But he wasn't done yet. 

Some years later for the Nuance porn comic Gang Bang #2 Wood once again visited Camelot and gave Foster's Prince a distinctively naughty turn in "Prince Violate". Notice he Wood makes specific use of the very designs used some years before in his try-out for the official strip itself. In fact those are the best panels in this effort which produced at the end of Wood's career sadly show his diminished talents. It's a raunchy and sometimes funny spoof featuring an abundance of fellatio, but not prime Wood sadly. To see more check it out here, but make sure to clear away the kiddies. 

Note: This post originally appeared at Rip Jagger's Other Dojo. I will be transferring some of those posts over here as the month goes on. 

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The Sunday Funnies - Prince Valiant 1973-1974!

In Prince Valiant Volume 19: 1973-1974 by Foster and Murphy from Fantagraphics we have the first full volume not drawn completely by Hal Foster the creator of Prince Valiant in 1936. He is still writing the strip and laying it out, but John Cullen Murphy has taken over the primary art chores. In the volume begins with a reminiscence of Murphy by fellow comic strip maven Jerry Dumas

The saga picks up where it left off with the budding romance of Jacques the troubadour and the young acrobat Joan. They are married off post haste and the story quickly turns to Prince Arn who has found a friend in Boltarson, the son of Boltar, Prince Valiant's longtime ally and husband of Tillicum who was Arn's nurse. They head North and meet up with various adventures in which Boltarson questions Arn's bravery but quickly learns he has mistaken guile for guts. The duo make for Thule and soon Arn is sent on a mission to help install the new king of Holvik, who it turns out doesn't want the job. The heir Heidmar arranges to take the place of an ill-fated serf and rides off escaping his duties. The job of king goes to the untrustworthy Grimner and his chosen wife Princess Frieda. After that Arn encounters Lydia who stakes a firm claim on his young heart. When he is ordered to check on Grimner he is reluctant but does the job and helps to settle down the area which has been invaded by Wanderers. He is wounded and returns to Camelot where he convalesces thanks to Lydia while his father finishes his mission in Holvek. There is much treachery and both Grimner and Frieda end up dead and another is selected to be king, who it turns out is Lydia's brother. But when Arn sees Lydia meet her brother at the docks with much affection his tender affections are wounded so much he leaves Camelot without a word. Arn provisions a ship of Vikings but soon leaves them when they desire raiding over trade. He then grows up a bit and loses his fathers tunic design to fashion his own in red. He becomes a knight errant and soon has a clever squire in a loquacious fellow named Paul. They have adventures and even end up in a castle under siege. Seeing it is hopeless they escape but do rescue a lost young girl who they named "Squirrel". Paul becomes attached to her and eventually he marries and becomes a happy father of many. Arn then encounters Sir Gawain and the two go to fight jousts, some not fair at all. Meanwhile Lydia's brother is searching for Arn and eventually finds him and tells him the truth. Overcome with joy Arn is breathless to get to Thule. The two stalwarts find a hidden valley in which the people have been protected from invasion for two hundred years and later a castle in which the reluctant queen has been dead behind a locked door for over fifteen years while her mad lover waits for a word. Soon after and Arn  and Gawain part company when the latter heads home to Camelot. Arn encounters more Vikings, helps two young lovers find themselves and then when he gets to Thule he is reunited with Lydia at last. Prince Valiant becomes the focus when he goes to stop a giant warrior form terrorizing the district. He overcomes this threat with his usual cleverness and bravery. As the tome ends we are treated to the daydreams of young Galen and later yet another siege on a castle. But that story will be next time. 

The extra treat in this volume is a classic Hal Foster piece from 1942 -- The Song of Bernadette which was a Book-of-the-Month Club offering. The complete piece is here. This installment wraps up "The Sunday Funnies" for at least the next month or more. Hopefully I'll be able to get back to it in November and bring more Prince Valiant to the Dojo. Until then. 

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The Sunday Funnies - Prince Valiant 1971-1972!

The year 1971 saw the momentous shift in the venerable history of the Prince Valiant comic strip -- it's creator and artist Hal Foster at long last stepped away as the primary artist on the strip after thirty-five years or more in that post. He had searched for a successor and had found one in experienced comic strip artist John Cullen Murphy. The changing of the guard is showcased in Prince Valiant Volume 18: 1971-1972 by Foster and Murphy from Fantagraphics. 

(The last regular Prince Valiant by Hal Foster)

The stories in this volume begin with Prince Valiant searching for something to take his mind off his feud with his beloved Aleta. He finds distraction trying to protect a castle from some enemies fighting over a lovely damsel. Later he catches sight of Aleta's ship on the way to the Misty Isles but his pride stops him from calling out. He rambles around he at last meets a wise man in Merlin's cave who gives him the mission to win Aleta all over again. He finds Prince Arn soon after and the two of them sail to the Misty Isles. But it's a short voyage and they must travel overland where they meet Ben Ziara who can take them to North Africa. It is as they travel with Ziara when they find they must avoid invading Goths that Foster draws his final full Prince Valiant (with one exception... more later). Meanwhile Aleta and her family land in the Misty Isles where she enounters Ortho, a noble who appears at first helpful. Valiant and Arn are helping others protect themselves from the Goths but eventually get to the deserts where they encounter yet more strife.  While Aleta is trying to navigate her relationship with the attentive Ortho, Valiant and Arn see the utter destruction of a desert city which is first invaded and plundered then suffers from an immense earthquake. On the coast at last they encounter a ship sent by Ortho but whose captain has been given orders to kill Valiant by Ortho. Valiant soon figures this out and takes precautions which not only save his life and Arn's but put him into position to defend against the treacherous Ortho, who alas meets his end in another way. Valiant and Aleta are at long last reunited and the story leaves them to enjoy their rekindled romance. The twins Valeta and Karen trifle with love and marriage of an ignorant noble lad and end up making a happy couple but not the one everyone expected. Prince Arn then goes with a friend who is the new king of Dondaris. He proves essential in this new king being able to keep his fractious kingdom together when rebels with good cause rise up in the hinterlands. Dondaris is a land gone soft and Arn sees that only fair play and justice can save it from destruction. Valiant appears and then suffers the loss of the Singing Sword. He soon finds it and the thief finds due justice. But then Valiant comes to the kingdom of Atheldag where visitors must have stories to entertain a king who cannot sleep. Soon Val meets King Dashad who is a wastrel and knows little of the suffering of his people. Val takes him in hand and soon has toughened him up and instilled in him a sense of empathy for the common people. Then the story turns to a troubadour named Jaques who is  all too ready to woo women with his tender words and lovely songs. He too finds trouble and learns a lesson when he meets a young woman who becomes his wife after some trouble. 

This book starts with an essay by Brian Walker about his memories of both Foster and Murphy. It ends with an outstanding collection of incidental and advertising art by Foster of Prince Valiant for various folks and institutions. Lovely and some very funny stuff with our stalwart hero. The endpapers in this particular volume also feature some art used in the Hasings House volumes which told the Valiant saga in prose. All in all another handsome installment. Foster will continue to write and layout the strip for some years to come, but his signature disappears from the strip and some thought the strip might end. It didn't of course and is still going strong. 

More next time as the Prince Valiant saga continues. 

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The Sunday Funnies - Prince Valiant 1969-1970!

Prince Valiant Volume 17: 1969-1970 by Hal Foster from Fantagraphics is a notable volume in this venerable series in that it marks the beginning of the end of Hal Foster's connection to the strip. Now there is still a decade of Foster directing the series but as this tome closes out we see examples of three artists who were considered as viable candidates to take over these singular adventures in Camelot. More on that later. 

Gray Morrow

The saga picks up with the Valiant clan on the way back to Camelot from the Misty Isles and with the budding romance between Katwin and a rough and gruff sea captain named Helge who lost an arm fighting to save the aforementioned Katwin. After some coaxing the dour seaman is lured into romance and eventually marriage. Then we turn our attention to Sir Gawain who made his way to Camelot on land and who had much to explain as to why he turned up in King Arthur's court atop a mule. He relates several tales of woe but in most of them he prevails until the end when he is hoodwinked by a false magician and his lovely companion. Then Valian is sent to check up on the Saxons who after the Battle of Badon Hill have settled peaceably in the lands with Arthur's permission as long as they build no forts. They claim to be put upon by Vikings and since Val is a Viking it is thought he might be handy to solve the situation. With considerable cunning he turns back the threat of Thoric, a raider who was banished by Val's father King Aguar. Then he must put down a rogue Saxon who is hiding a hoard of weapons and preparing for war. We follow the Valiant family as young Galan seeks a unicorn (a goat) and the twins Valeta and Karen confront the confusions of chivalric romance. A young woman named Adele turns up and seeks to keep a promise made in childhood to be the wife of Geoffrey the poet and scholar, and Prnce Arn is useful in helping out. Arn then gets into trouble and is made a slave of a rogue named Llanwick  but he is able to turn the tables and burn Llanwick's castle down and Valiant shows up in time to help Arn out. Then King Arthur is miffed that his royal deer are diminished and blames Hugh the Fox, but later changes him mind and makes Hugh his warden. We then follow the adventures of a young knight named Dale MaKinnie who seeks to become a knight of the Round Table and gets a chance when he is sent to assist Lady Marvyn tabilize her hold on her territory. The situation becomes complication when a young woman named Matilda turns out to be a more worthy mate and becomes just that when Lady Marvyn accidently poisons herself. Prince Arn falls into the clutches of Moragan Le Fay who seeks revenge for Prince Valiant's victory over her nearly twenty years before. After Arn is saved Val and Aleta have a spat which causes them to have separate sleeping quarters for a time and as this volume ends with Val seeking to help a beautiful damsel in a castle tower their tiff is left unresolved. 

Wally Wood 

This volume begins with an essay by Brian M. Kane on the humor in the Prince Valiant strip and ends with a glimpse of Hal Foster's childhood sketchbooks. As mentioned above the most notable events in this book are sample strips by Wally Wood (one), Gray Morrow (three) and John Cullen Murphy (three) used by Foster to select a successor. We know that Murphy will win the prize though I must say that Morrow's efforts were especially tremendous. Wood's outing is excellent but falls just short of the other magnificent examples in capturing that Foster flavor. 

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The Sunday Funnies - Prince Valiant 1967-1968!

Prince Valiant Volume 16: 1967-1968 by Hal Foster from Fantagraphics is one of the more action-filled editions of the run in a while. 

The saga begins with Valiant trying to keep a kingdom together by convincing a young prince to do his duty. A tragedy convinces him he should and becomes a worthy leader. Then Valiant seeking some fun pals around with an acting troop though trouble comes when he and another young noble named Reynolde switch roles when they realize they look alike. It's all in good fun until a seedy actor tries to run a scam on a noble princess. Valiant is playing matchmaker a bit with the help of Aleta and Reynolde gets girl as does another young but dull-witted warrior named Bala. There is a great hunt in Camelot and Prince Arn runs up against a Berserker and his Mother, two deadly enemies. Then it's time to head to the Misty Isles yet again as Aleta is alerted to possible trouble. Valiant though has another mission along the way, to try and rescue Sir Gawain who is being held for ransom by a slave master named Balda Han. Valiant himself is made a slave though when he is reunited with Gawain it's not for long when uncover an ancient sword in a hidden tomb. Valiant and Gawain free the slaves and set them up in their own society but it falls apart soon after they leave because the slaves seem to know little about how else to live. Then it's off to the Misty Isles where Valiant and Gawain help Aleta with her problems. When she was last there she arranged for lucrative trade deals but that wealth has been hoarded by a few nobles and not shared with the populace at large. The navy has become slack and in general the people are weak and ripe for plunder. Valiant takes steps to toughen the nave and Aleta hands down edicts that make the nobles responsible to the rest of the population which made their wealth possible. Prince Arn is instrumental in laying waste to a hostile fleet of ships using the same savvy as his father had done so many times. The Valiant clan head back to Camelot, all of the kids growing up. Along the way home Aleta and the twins Valeta and Karen are kidnapped by a Mullah and Valiant and Arn fight ferociously to save them. Katwin, the children's nurse is also saved by the ship's captain who loses an arm in the process. But as he heals Katwin and he find they care for one another. 

In the extras this time there is a short essay by Greg Hildebrandt discussing Hal Foster's influence on his artwork. And there is a lengthy section about Hal Foster and  Prince Valiant's influence on Mardi Gras with lots of neat photographs of some resplendent floats and costumes. Next time changes are in the air as Hal Foster begins his search for an artist to take the helm of the strip as it enters a new decade. 

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The Sunday Funnies - Prince Valiant 1965-1966!

One thing which is missing from most of Fantagraphic's Prince Valiant Volume 15 -1965-1966 by Hal Foster is..er...well. Prince Valiant. As it turns out it's been fourteen years since Valiant followed the kidnapped Aleta to the New World and rescued her there only to have to spend a year among the Native Americans before heading back to Camelot. While there Aleta was held in high regard by the Indians and in fact there was a prophecy that her child born there would return and make great changes in the society. This is the story of how that prophecy was fulfilled. 

Prince Arn is the focus as he and his friend Hatha, the son of Boltar and Tillicum (a native from America) decide it's time they'd like to see their other homeland. So to that end Arn arranges a ship, a crew, and he and Hatha with Tillicum begin the crossing of the Atlantic. They go by way of Iceland and Greenland and eventually make landfall in the New World and Arn has many adventures there attempting to bring his version civilized ways to this new people. In ways he is successful and in others not so much. Foster treats Native American culture with a great deal of dexterity and respect, certainly more than most popular entertainments of the time and before. Eventually Arn is able to bring about changes in the Indian society which leads to the a time of relative peace and cooperation between the various tribes of the region and eventually even what is called the "Algonquin Nation". Then after over a year of adventures they head back to Thule in time for us to follow Prince Valiant's mission for King Arthur to find the reason for a potential threat from the Celts and the Caledonians beyond Hadrian's Wall. He finds that Mordred is the root of the problem and is skillful in undermining his efforts. Later we see Modred save himself with King Arthur with his skillful tongue. There are also a few vignettes about Valiant's very daughters and their first naive dalliances with chivalric romance. The volume ends with Valiant taking measures to see that a missing prince is found and a peaceful transition of power is made from his dying father. 

This volume is especially nifty in that it features an interview with Bob Fujitani (from Alter Ego no less) about his work on Dell's Prince Valiant comics in the Four Color run. The book also features a very handsome gallery of books which have over the years reprinted or adapted the Prince Valiant stories. Included are the Hastings House volumes, the amazing ad from Warren Comics for those books as well as the stunning artwork by Mike Kaluta for the covers of Marvel's short-lived Prince Valiant comic from the 1990's. 

More to come of course. 

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The Sunday Funnies - Prince Valiant 1963-1964!

Fantagraphic's Prince Valiant Volume 14 - 1963-1964 by Hal Foster is an action-filled tome. The book features many personal conflicts between Valiant and various villains as well as the run-up to and presentation of the Battle of Badon Hill in which King Arthur leads his Knights of the Round Table against the invading Saxons and defeats them in a manner which will bring peace to Britain for thirty years. 

The ongoing saga picks up in the Misty Isles as Queen Aleta and Prince Valiant are heading back to Camelot after an extended trip. They must quickly rescue young Prince Arn who has been kidnapped and then head quickly to Camelot where King Arthur charges Valiant with keeping tabs on King Cidwic of Wales who leads an attack on Camelot but who is turned away quickly. After much struggle Valiant ends up defeating Cidwic in Arthur's name and the kingdom Cidwick's son Cuddock becomes King and develops a friendship with Arn who helps save Cuddock when his life is threatened by traitors. We briefly get the stories of three rustic knights who are trying to stay solvent as they scheme to participate in tournaments and win. They all end up poorer. Finally Valiant and Arn return to Camelot and find a new home which is immediately threatened by the plots of Sir Modred. He is defeated and then Arn finds himself captive of invading Saxons led by Hengist and is able to fool these enemies that he is the son of Boltar. He is rescued after much derring-do when a Count Brecy shows up at Camelot and plots to make Aleta his next wife and to do that he schemes to kill Valiant. That fails of course but then other random matters of romance strike the kingdom.  Soon the threat of the Anglo-Saxons becomes even more pressing and Valiant and Arn ride out to gather allies for the great Battle of Badon Hill. That victory secured the stage is set for Valiant's next great adventure. 

This volume contains a nifty section highlighting Hal Foster's fine art work with many of his oils displayed. Also there is a foreword by Roger Stern discussing Foster's influence on a myriad of comic book artists who went on to both swipe images and become major influences themselves in the area of comic art. Among the artists discussed are Bob Kane, Shelly Moldoff, Charles Gothkopf, Everett Raymond Kistler, Frank Frazetta, Wally Wood and Jack Kirby. Lots of delightful examples are shown to prove the points made. The Foster scholar Brian Kane offers up a nifty piece comparing Valiant with heroes such as Captain America. 

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The Sunday Funnies - Prince Valiant 1961-1962!

Fantagraphic's Prince Valiant Volume 13 1961-1962 begins with the family of Valiant and Queen Aleta of the Misty Isles in her kingdom tending to trade issues and attempting to set up a series of trade arrangements which will serve the kingdom well while Aleta is gone with her family and Val to Camelot. But before much can be done Prince Arn and two of his friends are kidnapped though it takes a fearsome Valiant not long to find them and to deal with the kidnappers as they deserved. He returns home to find a new son soon to be named Galen. Then it's off to the mainland to find more trade opportunities and this time Aleta suggests that Prince Arn is of an age to accompany his father. Soon the matters of business overwhelm the good knight and he finds an advisor who is less than trustworthy in the end. Also making things sticky is the arrival of a striking and ferocious girl from the steppes who has been banished from her tribe. She soon finds suitors but that leads to tragedy and Foster ends her story before we discover her fate claiming that history had lost track of her. After confronting dishonest tradesmen Valiant eventually returns to the Misty Isles where he is soon tasked by a messenger from King Arthur to look for a trade road from Rome to Camelot. This mission falls on hard times as Rome is falling apart and the barbarians are taking the place apart. But Valiant and Arn do find allies along their path as well a strange monastery where seeming monsters dwell though they turn out to be a product of a eccentric artist. Later a cruel despot is laid low by Valiant's efforts when the villain holds Arn captive and threatens him with torture. The family is reunited and sail for Camelot  where Valiant works to retrain his great horse Arvik. A devout monk and missionary named Wojan causes much trouble in the land of Briton when his zealous followers become too numerous to feed or control and his counselors turn to be dishonest. But in the end Valiant works to bring justice and to build a church. The story closes with Valiant telling Arn about his boyhood in the swamps and then rescuing Arn when the latter tries to emulate his father.    

Hal Foster's storytelling is lean and effective. Gone for the most part are the grand visions that often showed up, but we are treated to a few such as the splendor of the church when Galen is christened and later the vision of a giant "monster" inside a monastery. Arn becomes a much more able partner to Valiant and the duo are together through many of the adventures in this volume. Alas when Valiant and Arn stand together the fact they wear similar tunics makes them look a little like some superhero and his sidekick, but the visual cues are rock solid nonetheless. Despite having a child in this volume Aleta fades a bit into the background, making room for Arn, but nonetheless Foster does periodically remind the reader of the great romance which stands at the root of this comic strip. The story leaves you wanting to see more of Taloon and it seems that in more recent years Tom Yeates as delivered on the promise of that story. 

This volume also has an excellent essay by Charles Vess as he discusses the influence of Foster and Prince Valiant on his own work. He goes on to speak of his turn at the character in Marvel's 90's handling of the character. He even talks about how he turned down an opportunity to take over the strip. 

More to come. 

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The Sunday Funnies - Prince Valiant 1959-1960!

The eleventh volume of Prince Valiant Sunday strips from Fantagraphics gets the vintage series into the 1960's, a heady journey from the depths of the 30's. The strip having completed its first story has been telling of the aftermath really of the joining of Prince Valiant of Camelot and Queen Aleta of the Misty Isles, and this tome is no different. 

The focus is definitely on Valiant though as we pick up the tale of him posing as a minstrel to help free his longtime friend and former mentor Sir Gawain from a somewhat hapless minor King holding him for ransom. This is done and the pair intentionally take a more hazardous route back to Camelot and during this they help bring together a young couple of lovers who have more stars in their eyes than sense in their heads, and they help defeat a dangerous bully knight or two along the way. Once back in Camelot Valiant is quickly dispatched again to discover why some outlaws have taken Camelot's tax money and he finds no outlaws but merely put upon men and corrupt nobles. When he returns he and Aleta have a falling out which results in Valiant giving her a spanking. 

He leaves again on a second mission to discover information on the Holy Grail. This takes him into some far regions where he encounters an ogre who is not an ogre, and holy men attempting to build a cathedral at the site of the first Christian chapel in all Briton. He is forced to battle an evil noble named Timmera the Terrible who proves without his warriors to be not so terrible after all. He ultimately learns from Saint Patrick that the Holy Grail is a symbol and that the knights who go in search of inspire those who seek the faith. Upon returning to report his findings, Val and Aleta still are cold to one another and this makes Valiant a most ferocious warrior until he is seriously wounded and the couple make up at last. 

It is just in time for Aleta and her family to return to her kingdom of Misty Isles to attend to matters there. Arn returns from his foster home and the whole family head South assisted by Boltar the Viking chief. When they arrive in Aleta's kingdom they find it under threat but using cunning to forestall that threat and strengthen the land overall. 

There is a soft change in the storytelling it seems in these strips with the relationshp between Val and Aleta becoming somewhat more realistic (if that's possible) and less ideal. The family feels more real in many ways. It will be interesting to see what the 1960's bring. 

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The Sunday Funnies - Prince Valiant 1957-1958!

The eleventh volume of Fantagraphics Prince Valiant covers the years of 1957 and 1958, so for the very first time I am reading strip by Hal Foster created in my own lifetime. The venerable strip is more than twenty years old and it has already told the classic tale of a hero who finds himself and then his love and now we follow along as we discover just what "happily ever after" exactly means. Well as we discover in this tome, happy is not something that just pops up and stays. 

The tales here seem to be about identity. The volume begins with Valiant going undercover as it were as "Sir Quintas" to ferret out the misdeeds of an evil Cornish king named Och Synwyn. He's a proper villain so we might forgive Valiant pretending to be his loyal knight in the pursuit of a greater good, but Valiant feels he has behaved without honor, though he knows it was necessary. Ultimately it takes King Arthur and the Knight of the Round Table to impart some portion of their honor to Valiant to make him feel that his actions were acceptable. 

Then Valiant discovers and makes his own the mighty red horse Arvak. It is a mighty struggle to tame the beast which has already killed one man who tried to tame it with cruel and vicious means. Valiant must even fight a duel for possession of the mighty beast, but in the end he has a mount worthy of his mettle. On his return to Thule, Valiant finds his family has grown, his twins Karen and Valeta have become mischievous young girls and Arn has become a young lad on the verge of becoming a page. the beautiful Aleta is anxious to see her beloved and their playful hijinks make for fun reading. Arn is then sent away in exchange, as was the custom, to the house Hap-Alta whose own son Sven becomes foster in the Valiant household at Vikingshold. Arn is best by Sven's sister Frytha who Sven dubbed the "Monster" for her constant pranks. She continues to prank Arn, though he does fight back in clever ways. 

Valiant is then sent to the "Council of Kings" in his father's place when King Aguar is injured in a horse accident. Valiant anticipates and finds trouble and brings many warriors to help defend him after the meeting, but he ends up stranded and alone and must cross a deadly glacier to get to safety. He finds a forgotten den of loyal and deluded Romans must battle brutal warriors in the house of Sigurd Rolf, all the while keeping his true identity secret. Eventually he is found by his men and his mighty Singing Sword returned to him. Later still he is summoned to Camelot where pass some few happy days until Valiant is again charged with a mission warrior parties of Saxons and Danes. He takes along two young eager squires named Edwin and Claudius, the former proving to a headstrong young fellow who does in fact end up getting captured and killed. His death strikes Valiant hard and the great knight seeks a terrible vengeance, one so terrible that he in a fit throws the Singing Sword into the sea. But soon enough he finds it again in time wreak more damage to the enemy. Later he outwits the cruel tradesmen of London who are making profits on the backs of the people. In the court Queen Guinevere looks on the popular Aleta with some mote of jealousy but the twin terrors Karen and Valeta win her over with their hijinks. 

The volume ends with Prince Valiant in search of a missing Sir Gawain and encountering a haggard Merlin at the ruins of an ancient Celtic temple and on Merlin's advice he assumes yet another disguise as a minstrel to enter Oswick Castle where he hopes to find his friend and mentor. 

In these strips we see a Valiant who is beginning to feel the sting of time as he tutors younger warriors and a Valiant who has a fury which is difficult at times to check. Foster puts him in situations where he is alone and must struggle mightily to survive, and always his family waits for him to return, though Aleta does reflect that maybe eventually he won't return. The strip is by no means melancholy but the ebullience which warmed earlier times does seem to be flagging somewhat. 

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The Sunday Funnies - Prince Valiant 1955-1956!

The tenth  Prince Valiant collection from Fantagraphics covering the Sunday pages from 1955 and 1956 are about transitions. The saga picks up as Valiant and his family consisting of with wife the Queen of the Misty Isles herself Aleta, and their children Arn and the twins Karen and Valeta. The family along with their retainers have just left the Misty Isles were Aleta has set things right again and staved off a revolt. Now it's off to home but they find the sea lanes proving too dangerous as well as the trek through Western Europe. So paying heed to Aleta's handmaiden Katwin they decide to cross the Aegean Sea and go up the Bosporus through Constantinople where they gather a crew of Northmen to head further up into Eastern Europe. They have many harrowing misadventures and are attacked many times as they are forced to struggle against long portages. But finally and at last they succeed. 

Along the way Valiant is injured more than once and during his rehabilitation he regales his children with tales of his own youth and we are treated to modern retellings of the earliest Prince Valiant yarns where the young prince find Sir Gawain and eventually Camelot and must save the day by dressing up as a demon. After he's healed the focus of the strip shifts slightly to Prince Arn who has become a sturdy young boy eager to prove himself to his accomplished parents. Eventually they come home to Thule and there they rest for a brief time. 

Valiant's father sends his son on a mission to find new territories for the growing population to inhabit as famine looms. Valiant does so and it give Arn a chance alongside the reliable and venerable hunter Garm to climb his first mountain alone. He learns though that every accomplishment only brings on new challenges when from his summit he spies even greater peaks. There is an uprising in the settlement of a friend and invaders threaten Aleta and Katwin and pillage. Valiant is instrumental in putting down these criminals and attempts to right this powerful wrong. Arn and Garm go on another mission to find a safe passage through the mountains for a proposed road and are forced to suffer through a massive snowstorm which challenges Garm's woodcraft to the maximum, but they survive and Arn learns more lessons and moves ever so slightly away from the protection of his parents into the greater world. 

The saga comes to a close with a tale of Camelot and a young knight named Lord Vernon who is coming into his inheritance but before he can do that and wed his beloved bride a snag pops up in the form of a servant named Alfred who it turns out is the first-born heir. In an act of great charity and noble self-sacrifice Alfred gives up the evidence of his claim to save the life of the woman he loves, the woman destined to become his younger brother's bride. Instead he chooses to become Prince Valiant's squire.  

And that wraps the year. Both Valiant and Aleta move away from the center of the story for many many weeks. The strip has settled into a steady rhythm with mixes of humor and danger, though the latter always seems less than crucial to the status quo. The stories of others become the places in which we see real change, though change does steadily develop as the children continue to grow. 

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Movie Knights - Prince Valiant!

Just watched (again) the classic film Prince Valiant starring Janet Leigh, Robert Wagner and James  Mason. It's been a long time, not since I first picked up my copy. Here is my review from that time.

"Believe it or not, I've never ever seen the 50's Prince Valiant movie. For whatever reason it's never ever played TV around me, and the few times I remember seeing the VHS I never popped for it. But reading the original Hal Foster strips recently got me in the mood and I ordered up a copy of the DVD from Amazon. I got around to viewing it several days ago. 

"Now I watch movies on a smallish TV, and that clearly wasn't what this Cinemascope flick was meant to be seen on. In a wonderful letterbox, this looks fantastic. It's a wonderfully rich visual movie and coming fresh off the Foster originals, it's easy to see that they really worked to keep the look and feel of the comic strip intact on the movie. Robert Wagner is Valiant and he looks the part well enough. Hayden Sterling is Gawain and Janet Leigh is Aleta. The acting by this trio is pretty okay most of the time, but Wagner is uneven, while Sterling is really broad. Leigh is beautiful as is Debra Paget as Ilene her sister, and they both do adequate jobs. James Mason as "Sir Brack" is clearly though the best actor in this thing and he dominates the screen every time he shows up. The only actor on par with him is Victor McLaglen as Boltar who has few scenes, but choice ones. Aside from the indifferent acting, though the setting is magnificent and the epic scale of the storytelling really works most of the time. The sprawling battle in the Viking castle with Sligon is outrageous and captures the feel of the comic strip perfectly, with Valiant bouncing around with is creative battle techniques.

"This ain't a great movie, but it's a really lavish and crisp adaptation of the comic. I'd have to say it's one of the best and most accurate adaptations of a comic I've ever seen and I've seen nearly all of them. Highly recommended."

Now my updated opinion. I was very harsh on this film when I first watched it nearly a decade ago. No doubt because it failed to live up to my expectations in some way. When I watched it this time, armed with a bit more information about its making I came away much more impressed with both the staging and the acting. The most difficult thing to ignore is Robert Wagner in that "page boy" haircut, it's one of those visual elements that works on the illustrated page that fails apart a bit in the real world, but it is a key element of visually cueing the character of Valiant.  I appreciated the performances of Janet Leigh and James Mason much more this time, each bringing a reality to some larger than life roles. As much as I admire Sterling Hayden in other roles, his turn as Sir Gawain is still in my opinion a bit too broad to fit in with is colleagues.  What really popped for me on this viewing was the magnificent settings and the successful realization of Hal Foster's images from the famous comic strip. This movie did indeed look like the comic strip come to life in most respects and that's an exceedingly difficult thing to pull off. 

Generally I was much better pleased with this classic flick. Highly recommended. 

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The Sunday Funnies - Prince Valiant 1953-1954!

Christianity! If I had to choose one thing which dominated the themes of the Prince Valiant comic pages in the early 1950's it would be Christianity. No doubt a comic strip about a pagan Viking noble who in his earliest days dressed up like a "Demon" and who roamed the wide world of the later Roman Empire in the never-never land surrounding Camelot might be a target for Conservative voices looking for a new target to pillage in a crusade to cleanse the American zeitgeist. If comic books were destroying the soul of the American child is it too much to imagine that the Sunday color sections were likewise up to no good. But when they might look at Hal Foster's venerable Sunday page there would be little to argue about. 

This collection begins with Camelot under siege by pagan Anglo-Saxons and in the course of defending against this savage horde we have the scene above in which Prince Valiant destroys a pagan idol. Valiant had recently brought missionaries to the region to bring Christianity to his father's kingdom and as it turns out King Arthur's knights were god-fearing lads. So pushing back the shadows of the older religions and faiths is consistent with this new way forward. The people need not just physical freedom offered by Camelot but also spiritual freedom brought by the word of Jesus Christ. 

Later Prince Valiant heads to Ireland to take up arms against another pagan king. His wife Aleta heads off to the Misty Isles with his children to follow up on rumors that the land she rules from afar has fallen on difficult times. She finds a land being militarized by the consort of her sister the regent and takes a number of wily steps to bring back the calm peaceful ways of the islands who have long lived in in accord with their neighbors. Valiant and Sir Gawain soon join her and help to bring back the old civil order. 

This collection spends much time on a pilgrimage made by Val and Gawain to the holy sites of Christianity in the territories in which the Roman rule is beginning to end. The match wits with both Arab and Syrian leaders who want to kidnap and later merely kill them. But it's important they become what are called "Palmers", those who have shown their fidelity to the faith by seeing the holy sites. All this time Valiant's children keep  growing, especially Arn who makes friends and mischief in equal measures. The collection ends with the Misty Islands restored and the family united on the way back home. 

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