Tattered

True, "tattered" could be a reference to the young Prince of Thule's clothing in this illustration (he is, after all, depicted as the sole survivor of the siege of Andelhrag), but it's actually describing the state of the cover of the first volume in a series of Prince Valiant comic books my father, Gordon Bayly, collected in 1954-55.

This series was published and distributed in Australia by Associated Newspaper Ltd. of 60-70 Elizabeth Street, Sydney, and printed by Sungravure Ltd, Forbes Street, Woolloomooloo. Although they were published in the mid-1950s, the stories contained in these comic books were reprinted were from the early days of the Prince Valiant adventure strip; 1937-1942 to be specific.

For my 2011 interview with my Dad about his interest in and collecting of Prince Valiant, click here.


See also the previous posts:
• How It All Began
• Prince Valiant Celebrates 75th Anniversary
• A Valiantly First Effort, Wouldn't You Say?

Art: Hal Foster (originally from installment #126, July 9, 1939).

Angor Wrack, the Sea-King

Art: Hal Foster (from page 205, January 12, 1941).
Source: Prince Valiant (Vol. 3): 1941-1942 – Hal Foster (Fantagraphics Books, 2011).

Confronting Orlog, the Would-Be Troll

Art: John Cullen Murphy (1986).
Text: Cullen Murphy.
Source: The Sun Herald newspaper (Sydney, Australia), 1988; from the collection of Michael J. Bayly.

Earthquake!

NEXT: No Choice

Art: Gary Gianni (from page 3808, January 31, 2010).
Text: Mark Schultz.
Source: Sunday Telegraph (Sydney, Australia).

"Surrender, Strakonus!"

Art: Thomas Yeates (from page 4071, February 15, 2015).
Text: Mark Schultz.
Source: Comics Kingdom.

Oom Fooyat

Art: Hal Foster (from page 634, April 3, 1949).
Source: Prince Valiant (Vol. 7): 1949-1950 – Hal Foster (Fantagraphics Books, 2013).

More Than Words

Art: John Cullen Murphy (1986).
Text: Cullen Murphy.
Source: The Sun Herald newspaper (Sydney, Australia), 1988; from the collection of Michael J. Bayly.

The Cowardice of Draco

NEXT: "He is Mine"

Art: Gary Gianni (August 7, 2011).
Text: Mark Shultz.
Source: TimesUnion.com.

"We Must Learn Their Game"

NEXT: A Siren's Tale

Art: Thomas Yeates (from page 4025, March 30, 2014).
Text: Mark Schultz.
Source: Comics Kingdom.

See also the previous posts:
• Bound for the Misty Isles
• Sea of Myths
• The Whirlpool
• A Miraculous Grounding
• The Siren's Call
• Calypso
• Polyphemus
• No Desire to Engage
• The Scylla
• Down They Tumble
• Polyphemus' Fall
• Bukota's Discovery

Battling the Picts

Click on image for a larger view.

Note: Today marks the 78th anniversary of the Prince Valiant adventure strip! For A Prince Named Valiant's special series of posts to mark the 75th anniversary, click here, here and 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.


Art and text: Hal Foster (from page #659, September 25, 1949).
Source: Prince Valiant (Vol. 7): 1949-1950 – Hal Foster (Fantagraphics Books, 2013).