Celebrating 83 Years of Prince Valiant

Valiant, Prince of Thule, as drawn by Thomas Yeates (2016),
the fourth and current illustrator of the Prince Valiant adventure strip.

Friends, today marks the 83rd anniversary of Prince Valiant, cited as "one of the finest works ever to be produced in the comic art medium." Created in 1937 by Harold R. Foster (1892-1982), Prince Valiant can rightly be considered a massive illustrated novel presented in a comic art-like style.

For A Prince Named Valiant's informative series of posts to mark the 75th anniversary of Prince Valiant, click here, here and here.

For 2017's special 80th anniversary post featuring an insightful article by Brian Kane, click here.

Also, A Prince Named Valiant was launched on the 74th anniversary of Prince Valiant. To read the post that began it all, click here.


Right: Current Prince Valiant illustrator Thomas Yeates at Comic-Con 2015 . . . with none other than the Prince of Thule himself!


Yeates took over from Gary Gianni, the third illustrator of Prince Valiant, in April 2012.


For the latest installment (or page) of Prince Valiant, click here.

Above: Prince Valiant, as drawn by Hal Foster (1943).

Above: Prince Valiant, as drawn by John Cullen Murphy (1984). Murphy's son, Cullen, wrote Prince Valiant during his father's tenue.

Above: Prince Valiant and his wife, Queen Aleta of the Misty Isle,
as drawn by Gary Gianni (2004).

Above: An action sequence from page 4309 (September 8, 2019) of Prince Valiant, with art by Thomas Yeates and text by Mark Schultz.

See also the previous posts:
• How It All Began
• A Valiant First Effort, Wouldn't You Say?
• Remembering Episode 3000, 8/7/94
• John Cullen Murphy on Prince Valiant: "It's My Duty. I'm Responsible For It"
• Former Prince Valiant Writer Cullen Murphy Interviewed by Terry Gross
• Mark Schultz on Prince Valiant as an American Invention
• Gary Gianni's Prince Valiant: Looking Good
• Prince Valiant Celebrates 75th Anniversary
• Something Very Special
• Thomas Yeates: "My Biggest Thrill is Seeing the Prince Valiant Logo on My Drawings"
• "He Wasn't a Superhero But He Was a Hero"
• 4000
• Comics’ Sweeping Graphic Novel, Prince Valiant, Turns 80

Warrior Prince

Art: Hal Foster.
Source: The cover of one of the Prince Valiant comic books my father collected in 1954-55 and which were published and distributed by Associated Newspaper Ltd. of 60-70 Elizabeth Street, Sydney. These covers always emphasized the warrior/action aspect of the Prince Valiant adventure strip.

See also the previous posts:
• Tattered
• Warrior Prince (2016)
• Man of Action
• Man of Action II
• Valiant to the Rescue
• "He Wasn't a Superhero But He Was a Hero"

The Round Table

Click on image for a larger view.

Art: Hal Foster and John Cullen Murphy (circa 1980). At this point in Prince Valiant's run, Murphy, who had been quietly assisting Foster since 1970, was well into his first decade of drawing the strip over Foster's writing and roughs.
Source: The Sun Herald (Sydney, Australia); from the collection of Michael J. Bayly (circa 1981).

Aloof

Prince Valiant's future friend and ally Bukota is introduced as an aloof and scornful warrior, and a potential trouble-maker. Yet as we'll soon discover, he has his reasons for being these things.


Art: Gary Gianni (from page 3667, May 20, 2005).
Text: Mark Schultz.
Source: Prince Valiant: Far from Camelot – Gary Gianni and Mark Schultz (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2008).

The Strangest Swordfight of His Life

Art: Thomas Yeates (from page 4307, August 25, 2019).
Text: Mark Schultz.
Source: Comics Kingdom.

Patrick

Art and text: Hal Foster (from page 855, June 28, 1953).
Source: Prince Valiant (Vol. 9): 1953-1954 – Hal Foster (Fantagraphics Books, 2014).

Rumours

Art: John Cullen Murphy (circa 1983).
Text: Cullen Murphy.
Source: The Sun Herald (Sydney, Australia); from the collection of Michael J. Bayly (circa 1985).

A Weird Trio

Art: Gary Gianni (from page 3543, January 2, 2005).
Text: Mark Schultz.
Source: Prince Valiant: Far from Camelot – Gary Gianni and Mark Schultz (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2008).

A Complicated Relationship

Click on any image for a larger view.

Art: Thomas Yeates (from page 4269, December 2, 2018).
Text: Mark Schultz.
Source: Comics Kingdom.

It Has Been Claimed . . .

Art and text: Hal Foster (from page 923, October 17, 1954).
Source: Prince Valiant (Vol. 9): 1953-1954 – Hal Foster (Fantagraphics Books, 2014).