Prince Valiant (Fantagraphics)

Last updated
Prince Valiant
Publication information
Publisher Fantagraphics Books
FormatHardcover
Genre Adventure
Historical fiction
Action
Publication dateAugust 2009
Main character(s) Prince Valiant
Creative team
Created byHal Foster
Written by Hal Foster
Artist(s) Hal Foster

Prince Valiant is a series of hardcover books, published by Fantagraphics Books, that collects the Prince Valiant comic strip, written and drawn by Hal Foster. The release of the series began in August 2009.

Contents

Background

Prince Valiant, written and drawn by Hal Foster, was a Sunday newspaper comic strip published weekly in full color from February 13, 1937, to the early 1970s when the strip saw a change of writer and artist. The strip itself has continued to the present day and has since its start belonged to the comic syndicate King Features. [1]

Format

The series are collected in hardcover volumes with matte paper stock and sewn binding. A single volume includes two years of Sunday strip pages as well as some supplementary content, such as interviews and introductions. In total this amounts to about 120 pages per book.

Reproduction

All comic strip content in this series is reproduced from Foster's original engraver's proofs, in full original; and the original coloring has been restored in a reproduction for the first time. Previous collections of Prince Valiant have never had such good material as a base for reproduction. [2] [3] [4] These proofs were ones preserved by Foster himself and, after his passing, donated to Syracuse University, which provided Fantagraphics with scans of these proofs for this collection. Recent advancements in digital color technology now permit a better and more faithful reproduction compared to previous Prince Valiant collections, e.g. the Nostalgia Press' collection from the 1960s and Fantagraphics Books previous trade paperback collection published between 1984 and 2004. These earlier collections did recolor the comic strip but not accordingly to the appearance it had in newspapers when first published. The line work of these older collections also appear subpar to that in this latest Fantagraphics' Prince Valiant collection. [5]

Sizing

While the volumes of this book collection measure 10.25 by 14 inches (260 mm × 356 mm), the original newspaper publication of the comic strip were usually printed on a full broadsheet page, where it appeared measuring 15 by 22.75 inches (381 mm × 578 mm). The largest reproduction of Prince Valiant, yet, is in the Artist's Edition book: Fantagraphics Studio Edition: Hal Foster's Prince Valiant, ISBN   978-1-60699-897-7, also published by Fantagraphics Books, measuring 17 by 23.25 inches (432 mm × 591 mm). [6] Hal Foster originally drew a whole Prince Valiant Sunday page on paper stock measuring 26 by 35 inches (660 mm × 890 mm), which makes this collection series' area size equal to about 16 percent of the original art size. [7]

Extras

The supplementary material features interviews with comic historians and with Hal Foster himself, original artwork, [8] essays, [9] biographical sketches by[ clarification needed ] Hal Foster, as well as galleries of dropped panels (those deemed too risqué or violent). In the fourth volume, spanning the years 1943 to 1944, the comic strip tale The Medieval Castle, a separate strip Foster drew, is included. This strip was a tale he drew when he split up the page he was allowed for the Prince Valiant strip during the Second World War, due to a paper shortage and newspaper space being at a premium, splitting his full one-page spread between three-quarters of a page for Prince Valiant and one-quarter for The Medieval Castle, in order to make it easy for editors to remove the non-Prince Valiant strip to free-up space for something of greater importance in wartime. The plot of The Medieval Castle revolves around the childhood and life of two young princes in a medieval castle. [10]

Recognition

Volumes and box sets

The volumes are sold separately as well as in box sets. The suggested retail price of a volume was $29.99, at the beginning of the publication; but the price was later raised to $34.99 per volume. The suggested retail price for a box set is $99.99. [14] [10] [15]

Volumes
VolumeRelease dateTitleAuthorISBN
12009-08-18Prince Valiant Vol. 1: 1937–1938Hal Foster 978-1-60699-141-1
22010-07-20Prince Valiant Vol. 2: 1939–1940Hal Foster 978-1-60699-348-4
32011-03-21Prince Valiant Vol. 3: 1941–1942Hal Foster 978-1-60699-407-8
42011-10-03Prince Valiant Vol. 4: 1943–1944Hal Foster 978-1-60699-455-9
52012-07-02Prince Valiant Vol. 5: 1945–1946Hal Foster 978-1-60699-484-9
62013-02-13Prince Valiant Vol. 6: 1947–1948Hal Foster 978-1-60699-588-4
72013-09-07Prince Valiant Vol. 7: 1949–1950Hal Foster 978-1-60699-645-4
82014-02-15Prince Valiant Vol. 8: 1951–1952Hal Foster 978-1-60699-699-7
92014-07-19Prince Valiant Vol. 9: 1953–1954Hal Foster 978-1-60699-735-2
102014-12-09Prince Valiant Vol. 10: 1955–1956Hal Foster 978-1-60699-800-7
112015-07-04Prince Valiant Vol. 11: 1957–1958Hal Foster 978-1-60699-828-1
122015-11-23Prince Valiant Vol. 12: 1959–1960Hal Foster 978-1-60699-876-2
132016-06-21Prince Valiant Vol. 13: 1961–1962Hal Foster 978-1-60699-925-7
142016-11-15Prince Valiant Vol. 14: 1963–1964Hal Foster 978-1-60699-970-7
152017-07-11Prince Valiant Vol. 15: 1965–1966Hal Foster 978-1-68396-025-6
162018-01-09Prince Valiant Vol. 16: 1967–1968Hal Foster 978-1-68396-064-5
172018-06-12Prince Valiant Vol. 17: 1969–1970Hal Foster 978-1-68396-104-8
182018-11-20Prince Valiant Vol. 18: 1971–1972Hal Foster 978-1-68396-144-4
192019-06-27Prince Valiant Vol. 19: 1973–1974 John Cullen Murphy 978-1-68396-202-1
202019-11-19Prince Valiant Vol. 20: 1975–1976John Cullen Murphy
+
Hal Foster		 978-1-68396-247-2
212020-05-05Prince Valiant Vol. 21: 1977–1978John Cullen Murphy
+
Hal Foster		 978-1-68396-328-8
222020-10-06Prince Valiant Vol. 22: 1979–1980John Cullen Murphy
+
Hal Foster		 978-1-68396-378-3
232021-05-18Prince Valiant Vol. 23: 1981–1982John Cullen Murphy
+
Cullen Murphy
+
Hal Foster		 978-1-68396-427-8
242021-12-07Prince Valiant Vol. 24: 1983–1984John Cullen Murphy
+
Cullen Murphy
+
Hal Foster		 978-1-68396-489-6
252022-06-28Prince Valiant Vol. 25: 1985-1986John Cullen Murphy
+
Cullen Murphy
+
Hal Foster		 978-1-68396-574-9
262023-01-31Prince Valiant Vol. 26: 1987-1988John Cullen Murphy
+
Cullen Murphy
+
Hal Foster		 978-1-68396-673-9
272023-12-05Prince Valiant Vol. 27: 1989-1990John Cullen Murphy
+
Cullen Murphy
+
Hal Foster		 978-1-68396-886-3
282024-04-02Prince Valiant Vol. 28: 1991-1992John Cullen Murphy
+
Cullen Murphy
+
Hal Foster		 978-1-68396-929-7
292024-12-10Prince Valiant Vol. 29: 1993-1994John Cullen Murphy
+
Cullen Murphy
+
Hal Foster
979-8875000027
302025-08-05Prince Valiant Vol. 30: 1995-1996John Cullen Murphy
+
Cullen Murphy
+
Hal Foster
‎979-8875001055

Box sets

Box sets
VolumeRelease dateTitlePeriodISBN
12017-12-19Prince Valiant Vol. 1-3 Gift Box1937–1942 978-1-68396-072-0
22018-12-18Prince Valiant Vol. 4-6 Gift Box1943–1948 978-1-68396-145-1
32020-12-01Prince Valiant Vol. 7-9 Gift Box1949–1954 978-1-68396-248-9
42021-12-07Prince Valiant Vol. 10-12 Gift Box1955–1960 978-1-68396-490-2
52022-12-06Prince Valiant Vol. 13-15 Gift Box1961–1966 978-1-68396-672-2
62023-12-05Prince Valiant Vol. 16-18 Gift Box1967–1972 978-1-68396-885-6
72025-11-18Prince Valiant Vols. 19-21: Gift Box Set1973-1978
9798875000829

References

  1. ↑ Kane, Brian M. (March 13, 2017). "Comics' sweeping graphic novel 'Prince Valiant' turns 80". Deseret News. Archived from the original on March 13, 2017. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  2. ↑ Markley, Wayne. "Markley's Fevered Brain: Fantagraphics – Comics' Greatest Publisher?". Westfield comics blog!. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  3. ↑ Murphy, Cullen (September 21, 2009). "Triumphant Return: An insider expounds on 'Prince Valiant'". Vanity Fair . Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  4. ↑ Clabaugh, Rich (July 27, 2010). "Prince Valiant: 1939-1940 (Vol. 2)". Review. The Christian Science Monitor . Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  5. ↑ Harvey, R. C. (November 17, 2010). "Prince Valiant". Rants & Raves. GoComics . Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  6. ↑ VanderPloeg, Scott (February 14, 2019). "Fantagraphics Studio Edition: Hal Foster's Prince Valiant". Artist's Edition Index. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  7. ↑ "Past Auction: Prince Valiant Sunday Comic Strip #241 Original Art dated 9-21-41 (King Features Syndicate, 1941), 1941". Artnet . Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  8. ↑ "'Prince Valiant' is captivating, countercultural". Review. Catholic Sentinel . Catholic News Service. February 6, 2014. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  9. ↑ "Prince Valiant Vol. 1: 1937-1938". Review. Read About Comics. July 20, 2009. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  10. 1 2 Giltz, Michael (October 19, 2011). "Books: Prince Valiant's Glorious Return". Review. Huffington Post. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  11. ↑ MacDonald, Heidi (April 8, 2010). "2010 Eisner Award nominations announced". The Beat. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  12. ↑ CBR Staff (April 4, 2012). "Nominees Announced For 2012 Eisner Awards". Comic Book Resources . Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  13. ↑ CBR Staff (April 15, 2012). "2014 Eisner Award Nominees Announced". Comic Book Resources . Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  14. ↑ VanderPloeg, Scott (August 21, 2013). "Prince Valiant Vol 7: 1949-1950". Review. Comic Book Daily. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  15. ↑ "Prince Valiant Vol. 1, 1937-1938". Foreword Reviews. November–December 2009. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
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