Hal Foster (1) (1892–1982)

As a kid, Prince Valiant looked so boring on the Sunday comics pages, so I always skipped over it. Reading this opening compilation as an adult however, I see how skillful Hal Foster was at adventure storytelling and maintaining the interest of a storyline on a weekly basis. I guess you really have to be into King Arthur and medieval times to get into Prince Valiant! My only quibble is that the strapping, resourceful Prince Val looks rather, uh, fey...

Lovely as usual - and these (huge) books let you see the art very clearly. Val is, here, a young idiot. First story - completing one begun in the first volume - Val is a squire, discovers a Saxon fleet, and is allowed to present his plan for dealing with them. Plan is a success, and Val is knighted on the field. Next he and his people go back to Thule, and his father regains the throne; Val gets tangled in his first(?) unwanted wooing, and straightens out the mess by (accurately) describing show more his perfect life of being a wandering knight and traveling from battle to battle. Then he rides off to do just that. On the way, he enters Time's cave for the first time. He goes to Andelkrag, where...they're just the sort of idiots he is. If they'd preserved their food just a little - one or two days more - the siege might have been lifted before they all died. Bah. Val survives, obviously, and rides off deeply impressed with these idiots. He collects Slith - by "calmly drowning" the young thief, before he gets curious and revives him. A long story of the Hun-Hunters, with an interlude of freeing the city of Pandaris and its rightful ruler. When the Hun-Hunters have done their job, Val, Gawain, and Tristram ride off. Val encounters a giant, and makes peace with him and his coterie of misfits. They collect a jewel merchant and help him, and Val gets his necklace that's charmed so that the wearer can never be bound with chains. They go to Rome, and between Gawain's inappropriate wooing and the Emperor's assassins, they leave in a hurry and with enemies on their trail. So the three knights split up; Val heads south. A short visit to the crater of Vesuvius, then he buys passage on a small ship - and shows his purse, unwisely. It ends up with Val in (untutored) command of the ship - and the book ends with the ship running before a screaming gale. show less

I never read this in the papers when growing up (and certainly am not old enough to have read it from the beginning!) so appreciate these beautiful reprints. The books are large (not heavy, not thick), containing two year's worth of full colour Sunday one pagers. What a treat to have the dimensions large enough to easily apprehend everything.

Other than Val's unfortunate haircut (which he keeps throughout the series), there's a lot of good going on. The panels are beautiful illustrations, show more rather than what some might think of as cartoons. The setting (which I'd never realised) is England under King Arthur, so there is magic and chivalry and much derring-do. Really a fun read, with gorgeous art.

(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve! show less

And we're back with Prince Valiant and all his family. Aleta winds up abducted but handles herself very well, indeed. In the meanwhile Prince Arn, a precocious 7 year old (approximate age) gets ambitious, and is allowed his own adventures, though with an older, wiser companion. Fun read as always.