Prince Valiant, Vol. 6: 1947-1948 (PRINCE VALIANT HC) Hardcover – Illustrated, February 5, 2013

'The Bridge' is, arguably, the single most famous panel ever drawn by Hal Foster. Look it up, it is in Page 71 of the Prince Valiant canon, from 6-19-38, officially titled 'The Song of the Sword'.But if you haven't already bought Prince Valiant, Vol. 1: 1937-1938 -- and you really, *really* should have -- don't worry, because Foster reprises that tale not once but twice in this volume.But 'The Bridge' was just one of the many great pieces of art that Foster created in his long and illustrious career. And in this volume I stopped reading when I came to 'The Cliff' (Page 534, from 5-4-47), the final confrontation between Val and Ulfrun. Taking up three-quarters of the page, it shows a man falling off a cliff.That makes it sound simple but Foster's craft elevates it to another plane altogether. The eye is drawn from the churning green waters to the looming grey cliff, to the man standing on the protruding shelf and then, far above, to a bird soaring in the sky. And poised between the two hunters -- the warrior prince and the eagle above -- and the two forces of nature -- the rocks and the roiling stream below -- set against billowing clouds in a sky of purest blue is the silhouette of a man falling to his doom.There is not a single unnecessary line but the amount of detail is incredible. Ulfrun continues to clutch his sword with his right hand, but his shield has fallen away, and as it falls it catches the sun so that you can see the colors, even make out the design. But what makes this perfect is not even all that but six or seven tiny specks -- the stones falling off that treacherous rock.And that is just one panel in a single page. And there are no fewer than one hundred and four pages in this volume, bursting with exquisite pictures, done just right -- from Katwin silently handing a single tiny sock to the shocked Val to Gawain's appalled face when Aleta thrusts the baby Arn into his arms to Val's own expression when he first meets his own baby namesake in the castle of Ord.Foster's art gets so much attention that his skill as a writer is often ignored, particularly his treatment of women. The truth is that Aleta is as much the heart and soul of this book as her husband. Back when these stories first appeared, women were essentially MacGuffins, plot devices to set off the action. (Think of Dale Arden or Lois Lane in various tales.)Aleta is far more than a plot device, she is the mistress of her own fortunes, and you can't help but feel that she is by far the wiser of the two in her marriage. Aleta has broken Ulfrun long before that meeting on the cliff, and it is she who makes peace between the tribes after the blundering Val has carried away a sacred relic."Did you ever see faces so stupid with surprise and admiration?" Val asks. But Aleta is a queen in her own right and will not hear her people mocked -- and they *are* her people."Yes dear," she answers, "Morning, noon, and night." And in an instant the joke is on the 'civilized' husband that had been mocking the Indians.Not content with producing the finest reproduction of Hal Foster's work, Fantagraphics has added generous extras. There is a long interview with Professor Ballengee-Morris, an expert on American Indian affairs, generously strewed with photographs from the Foster family albums. Can you imagine Hal Foster in a baby bonnet and sucking his thumb -- it is there, believe it or not! (And you have to read the book to understand why those last four words are necessary!)My favorite 'extra' is a fold-out page, a reproduction of Page 551, from 8-31-47, when Val meets the future king of Thule. Hand-colored by Foster himself and given as a gift, it gives us a brief glimpse of those far-off days when comic strips were so much greater than their current postage stamp size.Fantagraphics has been universally applauded for its effort in bringing Prince Valiant to a new generation. Each of the five preceding volumes has been a delight but this may just be the best one of them all. It would be worth every penny at the full price and with Amazon's discount it is an absolute bargain.Highly recommended.

These volumes of Prince Valiant are everything I hoped for. Thick paper, vibrant artwork, and exciting stories. Takes me back to treasured childhood memories. Titan Comics is wonderful to deal with: careful packing and shipping, and Most important to me, they don’t plaster gummy labels or stickers on the volumes. Wonderful reprints of classics to be passed on to new generations. (Caveat: Yes, the Prince Valiant stories do clash with some current social norms)

About 40 years ago, my father get two Nostalgia Press books of Prince Valiant. I loved the strip, but the binding was terrible, and they only had about 3-4 years worth of strips. I've been looking for extend the collection every since, but reprints were all terrible and often B&W and abridged. When Fantagraphics reprinted the entire run about a decade ago, I got some, but they were hard to find and were paperback.These new books are literally something I've been looking for for my entire life.These new books have vinyl covers, which are a little cheap, but much more durable than the paperbacks. More importantly, the comics are beautiful. The printing is a little larger than the old Nostalgia books, and the coloring is better. This was obviously a labor of love. Where I have over-laps, I've compared the coloring and printing. The Nostalgia books better reflect the words in the story and often color in scenes that were all blocked in one color in the older book.I bought the first one for $80 and was immediately ready to shell out that much for each. To find them for only $14 was an added bonus.If you already love Prince Valiant, buy them without hesitation.If you've read it in the newspaper but weren't impressed, buy it and you'll understand why it is considered such a classic -- the old Hal Foster stips were soooooo much better than the ones today.

Fantagraphics is going all out to make this the definitive Prince Valiant collection. The present volume is one of the best yet in terms of extras that add to the value of the books.Like all others in this series two complete calendar years of Sunday strips are collected regardless of whether a storyline is broken up or not. By coincidence in the present volume this is not too much of a problem. One gets several complete story arcs. There is the kidnapping of Aleta by Ulfrun and Val's pursuit to the new world, the adventures among the Indians as the Vikings winter near what is now Niagara Falls while Aleta gives birth to her and Val's first child, the voyage home, and a Prince Valiant specialty, acting as an ace troubleshooter for King Arthur against a rebellious King in Cornwall in an impregnable condition where Val's wits and cunning are front and center.All this is more than enough, but as indicated above there is more. The introduction is an interesting recount of Foster the outdoorsman in 1910s Canada illustrated with photos of the young Foster and his associates. There is also an interesting discussion with an expert about Foster's depiction of the Indians in this volume. To top it off there is an afterward describing how the strip was colored with a two page foldout reproduction of a strip hand colored by Foster as a gift. Beautiful! And finally, a two page map of Prince Valiant's journey to the new world reproduced on the rear end papers.Highly recommended. All of these books are superb values, this one the best so far. Keep them coming!