On sale date: August 18, 2009
Nominated for a 2010 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award: The most stunningly gorgeous adventure comic strip of all time finally returns in its definitive edition, the first to boast superb testored artwork that captures every delicate line and chromatic nuance of Foster's original masterpiece.
Universally acclaimed as the most stunningly gorgeous adventure comic strip of all time, Prince Valiant ran for 35 years under the virtuoso pen of its creator, Hal Foster. (Such was its popularity that today, decades after Foster's death, it continues to run under different hands.)
The giant Sunday-funnies pages (Valiant ran only on Sundays) gave Foster a huge canvas upon which he was able to limn epic swordfights, stunning scenes of pomp and pageantry, and some of the most beautiful human beings—male and female—ever to appear in comics. And he matched his nonpareil visual sense with the narrative instincts of a born storyteller, propelling his daring young hero from one crisis to another with barely a panel to catch one's breath.
Prince Valiant has previously been widely available only in re-colored, somewhat degraded editions (now out of print and fetching collectors' prices). Thanks to advances in production technology and newly available original proof sheets, this new series from the industry leader in quality strip classics is the first to feature superb restored artwork that captures every delicate line and chromatic nuance of Foster's original masterpiece. Comic strip aficionados will be ecstatic, and younger readers who enjoy a classic adventure yarn will be bowled over.
Volume One is rounded out with a rare, in-depth classic Foster interview previously available only in a long out-of-print issue of The Comics Journal, as well as an informative Afterword detailing the production and restoration of this edition.
Nominated for a 2010 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award (Best Archival Collection/Project: Strips).
Prince Valiant Vol. 1: 1937-1938 is part of the Prince Valiant series.
Praise
"Prince Valiant was a comics-page colossus…one of the most celebrated of all comics…the presentation does justice to Foster's classic creation." — Gordon Flagg - Booklist
"The release... of Prince Valiant, Vol. 1: 1937-1938, the first in a new series of gorgeously printed, hardcover Valiant collections from Fantagraphics Books, served as a bittersweet reminder of the century-long rise and eventual decline of a great American art form, the comic strip." — Tirdad Derakhshani - Philadelphia Inquirer
"This is one of the greatest works of American art of the past century…one of the greatest comics of all time…the greatest adventure comic…[Foster's] drawings are heartbreakingly beautiful. He understands powerful forms and delicate lines…Prince Valiant has been reprinted before, but this book uses his color engraver's proofs and it's a world of difference…It's so beautiful." — Nick Gazin - Vice
"Who knew that Prince Valiant, a comic strip I always assumed appeared nest to the word 'boredom' in the dictionary, was so vibrant, colorful, action-packed and gosh-darned fun?...This new edition ups the ante not just through the fancy hardcover, but via state of the art technology that allows for a pristine detail and rich color…In a world where too often most art turns out to be exactly as shallow as first glance suggests, it's nice to discover that something like Prince Valiant is capable of surprising, and even enthralling, the modern reader." — Comic Book Resources
"It's difficult to laud Foster too excessively; he was one of the undisputed masters of the craft. …a handsome oversize volume... [T]he comic strip's otherworldly setting and taut characterization keep this an evergreen favorite for readers of all ages, an American epic born of a tale of European romance." — Aaron Ragan-Fore - Eugene Weekly
Specs
- Pages
- 120
- Format
- Hardback
- Color
- Full-color
- Dimensions
- 10.5" × 14.4"
- ISBN-13
- 9781606991411