Synopses & Reviews
As this fourth volume begins, Prince Valiant, haunted by Aleta, seeks Merlin's wise counsel. This brief episode segues into one of Hal Foster's patented epics, "The Long Voyage to Thule," which ran for seven straight months and featured Valiant's return to his birthplace and reunion with his father. Of course, Foster's astonishingly detailed and evocative depictions of Val's homeland contribute greatly to this sprawling epic. After a series of shorter adventures including "The Seductress," "The Call of the Sea," and "The Jealous Cripple," Val finally decides he can stand it no more and sets out to find his long-lost love. Long-time fans know that his quest will eventually be successful, but Foster throws so many obstacles in the way of true love that the saga "The Winning of Aleta" would end up stretching a full year and a half, well into the next volume. With its stunning art reproduced directly from pristine printer's proofs, Fantagraphics has introduced a new generation to Foster's masterpiece, while providing long-time fans with the ultimate, definitive version of the strip.
Review
". Medieval swordplay and adventure have never been as glorious as in Foster's Sunday-only comic strip. This edition has been reproduced from pristine printer's proofs to give the gorgeous artwork its crispest version ever.... is one of the best-drawn comics ever, and this new edition does ample justice to its achievement." Publishers Weekly
Review
"... remains a hugely enjoyable action strip, as Valiant battles a variety of ne'er do wells on a quest to find his true love, Aleta." Chris Mautner
Review
"The star of what is arguably the twentieth century's best-drawn newspaper comic strip, Hal Foster's Prince Valiant is all hero, through and through, for his age and ours. The first four volumes of Fantagraphics' collected reveal young Foster's creation as both the sum total of the heroic ideals that preceded his debut in 1937 as well as a source of serious inspiration for all the heroes that have followed him, in all media formats, in the decades since." Alan Scherstuhl
Review
"Rendered in a simply stunning panorama of glowing visual passion and precision, Prince Valiant is a non-stop rollercoaster of stirring action, exotic adventure and grand romance; blending human-scaled fantasy with dry wit and broad humour with shatteringly dark violence." Matt Seneca The Comics Journal
Review
"...[T]he mastery Foster brings to bear on his every panel may have been equaled both before and since his prime, but it's never been surpassed." Robot 6
Review
"One of the greatest comic strips of all time and a peak in visual splendor and breath-taking adventure, the story of Prince Valiant's 30+ year odyssey is getting a marvelous presentation in Fantagraphics' series of books... The strip is violent, sexy, serious, droll and above all eye-catching.... It's a worthy presentation for one of the most important and entertaining works in comic strip history." SF Weekly
Synopsis
After a series of shorter adventures including "The Seductress," "The Call of the Sea," and "The Jealous Cripple," Val finally decides he can stand it no more and sets out to find his long-lost love. Long-time fans know that his quest will eventually be successful, but Foster throws so many obstacles in the way of true love that the saga "The Winning of Aleta" would end up stretching a full year and a half, well into the next volume With its stunning art reproduced directly from pristine printer's proofs, Fantagraphics has introduced a new generation to Foster's masterpiece, while providing long-time fans with the ultimate, definitive version of the strip.
Synopsis
Haunted by his long-lost love, Prince Valiant journeys back to the land of his birth.
About the Author
Hal Foster (1892-1982) created Prince Valiant in 1937. Though remaining involved with the strip until his death in 1982, Foster handed the bulk of the scripting and art chores over to his longtime assistant, John Cullen Murphy, in 1971.Brian M. Kane is the author of Hal Foster: Prince of Illustrators and James Bama: American Realist. He teaches in the Illustration Department at the Columbus College of Art & Design, Columbus, Ohio. He has a Masters Degree in History of Art from The Ohio State University where he is currently working on his Ph.D. in Art Education with an emphasis in Visual Culture.