Prince Valiant (Fantagraphics)
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''Prince Valiant'' is a series of hardcover books, published by
Fantagraphics Books Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and (formerly) the Erotic comics, erotic Eros Comix imprint. They have managed sev ...
, that collects the ''
Prince Valiant ''Prince Valiant in the Days of King Arthur'', often simply called ''Prince Valiant'', is an American 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 s ...
''
comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...
, written and drawn by
Hal Foster Harold Rudolf Foster, FRSA (August 16, 1892 – July 25, 1982) was a Canadian-American comic strip artist and writer best known as the creator of the comic strip '' Prince Valiant''. His drawing style is noted for its high level of draftsmanship ...
. The release of the series began in August 2009.


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 A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies, corporations or entities formed to transact some specific business, to pursue or promote a shared interest. Etymology The word ''syndicate'' comes from the French word ''syndic ...
King Features King Features Syndicate, Inc. is an American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editoria ...
.


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. These proofs were ones preserved by Foster himself and, after his passing, donated to
Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...
, 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 Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and (formerly) the Erotic comics, erotic Eros Comix imprint. They have managed sev ...
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.


Sizing

While the volumes of this book collection measure , the original newspaper publication of the comic strip were usually printed on a full
broadsheet A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of in height. Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper ...
page, where it appeared measuring . The largest reproduction of ''Prince Valiant'', yet, is in the Artist's Edition book: ''Fantagraphics Studio Edition: Hal Foster's Prince Valiant'', , also published by
Fantagraphics Books Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and (formerly) the Erotic comics, erotic Eros Comix imprint. They have managed sev ...
, measuring . Hal Foster originally drew a whole ''Prince Valiant'' Sunday page on paper stock measuring , which makes this collection series' area size equal to about 16 percent of the original art size.


Extras

The supplementary material features interviews with comic historians and with Hal Foster himself, original artwork, essays, biographical sketches by 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.


Recognition

* 2010 – Volume one of the series was nominated for the
Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are awards for creative achievement in American comic books. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred ...
in the category, " Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips". * 2012 – Volume three and four of the series were nominated for the Eisner Award in the category " Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips". * 2014 – The series was once again nominated for the Eisner Award, this time volume six and seven were the nominees, also this time in the category " Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips", as well as for "Best Coloring".


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.


Box sets


References


External links


Publisher's website – Fantagraphics Books – ''Prince Valiant''
{{Portal bar, Comics Prince Valiant Fantagraphics titles Comic strip collection books