At the Ready

Art and text: Hal Foster (from page 630, March 6, 1949).
Source: Prince Valiant (Vol. 7): 1949-1950 – Hal Foster (Fantagraphics Books, 2013).

Mistress of the Hounds

In the aftermath of the relief of Camelot, Prince Arn, eldest son of Prince Valiant and Queen Aleta, finds himself shipwrecked on an "isle beyond the north wind."

Here he encounters Maeve, Mistress of the Hounds. He is instantly smitten.

NEXT: "I Dare You to Learn My Secret"

Art: John Cullen Murphy (August 1981).
Text: Cullen Murphy.
Source: The Sun Herald newspaper (Sydney, Australia), November 27, 1983; from the collection of Michael J. Bayly.

"Like Men Caught in a Dream"

NEXT: The Watchman's Tale

Art: Gary Gianni (from page 3609, April 9, 2006).
Text: Mark Schultz.
Source: Prince Valiant: Far from Camelot – Gary Gianni and Mark Schultz (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2008).

Thomas Yeates: "My Biggest Thrill is Seeing the Prince Valiant Logo on My Drawings"

Prince Valiant illustrator Thomas Yeates was the subject of an October 31, 2014 Press Democrat article by Stephen D. Gross. Following with added images and links is an excerpt.

Prince Valiant came into [Tom Yeates'] life in 2011 at the ComicCon convention in San Diego, when a King Features representative approached Yeates about taking over the venerable comic strip. Its previous illustrator, Gary Gianni, had been hired to do illustrations for Game of Thrones. The first strip illustrated by Yeates appeared April 1, 2012.

“I was speechless” said Yeates. “It was like a dream come true.”

Prince Valiant is the longest continuous comic strip story in print, created by Hal Foster in 1937 and still appearing in more than 300 papers, including The Press Democrat. [NOTE: Actually, Prince Valiant is not the "longest continuous comic strip story in print." Dick Tracy (1931), The Phantom (1936), and, arguably, Gasoline Alley (1918) have been in print since their debuts without resorting to reprints.] It stars the distinctive prince and his kin, who are immersed in medieval Arthurian battles with sea serpents, shipwrecks, specters and sirens. And Yeates and his readers would have it no other way.

Valiant endures, he said, because of the ongoing action-packed story line and because the strip is visually well done and carefully crafted. To keep it fresh, Yeates keeps a watchful eye on movies and other people’s work.

Since 2004, the story line is written by Mark Schultz, who sends Yeates three or four stories at a time. He spends at least three days illustrating each strip with the high quality, complicated drawings in the strip’s characteristic style.

As Yeates juggles Valiant with all the other art projects in his airy studio overlooking the Russian River estuary, music is a constant companion. It follows him into his private life as a singer/songwriter.

Yeates performs locally with his band, the Jennerators, but nothing beats the national notoriety that comes from following in Foster’s footsteps.

“My biggest thrill,” said Yeates, “is seeing the Prince Valiant logo on my drawings.”

To read Stephen D. Gross' article "Tom Yeates' Princely Appointment" in its entirety, click here.

See also the previous posts:
• Thomas Yeates: The New Illustrator of Prince Valiant
• 4000
• Mark Schultz on Prince Valiant as an American Invention

Image 1: The Press Democrat.
Image 2: Thomas Yeates (from Prince Valiant, page 4050, September 21, 2014).
Image 3: Thomas Yeates (from Prince Valiant, page 4057, November 9, 2014).

Like a Deadly Scythe

Click on image for a larger view.

Art and text: Hal Foster (from page 655, August 28, 1949).
Source: Prince Valiant (Vol. 7): 1949-1950 – Hal Foster (Fantagraphics Books, 2013).

Mordred Flees

Click on any image for a larger view.

NEXT: Mistress of the Hounds

See also the previous posts:
• The Banishment of Mordred
• The Return of Mordred
• "Camelot, You Are Mine!"
• Talking Strategy
• The Relief of Camelot

Art: John Cullen Murphy (August 1981).
Text: Cullen Murphy.
Source: The Sun Herald newspaper (Sydney, Australia), November 20, 1983; from the collection of Michael J. Bayly.

Zamestra Dagon

NEXT: "Like Men Caught in a Dream"

Art: Gary Gianni (from page 3608, April 2, 2006).
Text: Mark Schultz.
Source: Prince Valiant: Far from Camelot – Gary Gianni and Mark Schultz (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2008).

Polyphemus' Fall

Journeying from Camelot to the Misty Isles, Prince Valiant and his family are shipwrecked on an island seemingly inhabited by the sirens of Greek legend.

As Aleta is menaced by the scylla, her husband battles the sirens' protector, Polyphemus. Their battle ends with the giant stumbling down a sea cliff, a fall which miraculously aids Aleta.

NEXT: Bukota's Discovery

Art: Thomas Yeates (from page 4023, March 15, 2014).
Text: Mark Schultz.
Source: Comics Kingdom.

A Grim Tug-of-War

Art and text: Hal Foster (from page 511, November 24, 1946).
Source: Prince Valiant (Vol. 5): 1945-1946 – Hal Foster (Fantagraphics Books, 2012).

The Vampire

"The girl backs away slowly, the sweet innocence fades from her face and the somber eyes glow with a mad hate. 'A vampire!' whispers Gawain."


Art and text: Hal Foster (from page 282, July 5, 1942).
Source: Prince Valiant (Vol. 3): 1941-1942 – Hal Foster (Fantagraphics Books, 2011).

Talking Strategy

Click on image for a larger view!

Galan, son of Prince Valiant and Queen Aleta, has brought together his grandfather, King Aguar of Thule; Rory Mor, high king of Hibernia; and the corsair chieftain Salam Fulda to lift Mordred's siege of Camelot.

NEXT: The Relief of Camelot

See also the previous posts:
• The Banishment of Mordred
• The Return of Mordred
• "Camelot, You Are Mine!"

Art: John Cullen Murphy (July 1981).
Text: Cullen Murphy.
Source: The Sun Herald newspaper (Sydney, Australia), November 6, 1983; from the collection of Michael J. Bayly (1983).

"I Bid You Welcome"

As a captive of Thorwolf and his raiders, Prince Valiant is forced to serve as a beast of burden to a landing party on the desolate northern coast of Iberia. Here a crumbling watchtower is approached, from which a ghostly figure bids them welcome.

NEXT: Zamestra Dagon

Art: Gary Gianni (from page 3607, March 26, 2006).
Text: Mark Schultz.
Source: Prince Valiant: Far from Camelot – Gary Gianni and Mark Schultz (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2008).

Down They Tumble

NEXT: Polyphemus' Fall

See also the previous posts:
• Sea of Myths
• The Whirlpool
• A Miraculous Grounding
• The Siren's Call
• Calypso
• Polyphemus
• No Desire to Engage
• The Scylla

Art: Thomas Yeates (from page 4022, March 9, 2014).
Text: Mark Schultz.
Source: Comics Kingdom.

Arthur and Launcelot

Art and text: Hal Foster (from page 504, October 6, 1946).
Source: Prince Valiant (Vol. 5): 1945-1946 – Hal Foster (Fantagraphics Books, 2012).

Homecoming

Art and text: Hal Foster (from page 561, November 9, 1947).
Source: Prince Valiant (Vol. 6): 1947-1948 – Hal Foster (Fantagraphics Books, 2013).

"Camelot, You Are Mine!"

NEXT: Talking Strategy

See also the previous posts:
• The Banishment of Mordred
• The Return of Mordred

Art: John Cullen Murphy (from page 2320, July 26, 1981).
Text: Cullen Murphy.
Source: The Sun Herald (Sydney, Australia); from the collection of Michael J. Bayly (September 11, 1983).

The Haunted Staircase

. . . and shadows that seem to writhe
with a life of their own.

Art: Gary Gianni (from page 3616, May 28, 2006).
Text: Mark Schultz.
Source: Prince Valiant: Far from Camelot – Gary Gianni and Mark Schultz (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2008).

The Scylla

While her husband confronts the hulking Polyphemus, Aleta finds herself facing a potentially fatal ordeal of her own . . .

Click on image for a larger view!

NEXT: Down They Tumble

See also the previous posts:
• Sea of Myths
• The Whirlpool
• A Miraculous Grounding
• The Siren's Call
• Calypso
• Polyphemus
• No Desire to Engage

Art: Thomas Yeates (from page 4020, February 23, 2014).
Text: Mark Schultz.
Source: Comics Kingdom.

The Rascal Boldoro

Art: Hal Foster (from page 199, December 1, 1940).
Source: Prince Valiant (Vol. 2): 1939-1940 – Hal Foster (Fantagraphics Books, 2010).

The Olive Branch

NOTE: For Prince Valiant's adventures on the Isle of Sloth,
click here and here.

Art: John Cullen Murphy (page #2418, June 12, 1983).
Text: Cullen Murphy.
Source: Prince Valiant, Book Two (Kings Features Syndicate, 1986).

Old Friends

Prince Valiant and Sir Gawain as drawn by John Cullen Murphy.

Art: John Cullen Murphy (from page #2618, April 12, 1987).
Source: The Sun Herald (Sydney, Australia); from the collection of Michael J. Bayly (1990).

No Pageantry

Art: Gary Gianni (from page 3643, December 3, 2006).
Text: Mark Shultz.
Source: Prince Valiant: Far from Camelot – Gary Gianni and Mark Schultz (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2008).

No Desire to Engage

Click on image for a larger view!

NEXT: The Scylla

See also the previous posts:
• Sea of Myths
• The Whirlpool
• A Miraculous Grounding
• The Siren's Call
• Calypso
• Polythemus

Art: Thomas Yeates (from page 4019, February 16, 2014).
Text: Mark Schultz.
Source: Comics Kingdom.

Riding to a Friend's Defense

Art and text: Hal Foster (from page 1361, March 10, 1963).
Source: Prince Valiant (Vol. 30): Arn, Son of Valiant, comprising pages 1327 (July 15, 1962) through 1372 (May 26, 1963). (Fantagraphics Books, 1987).

Ladies of the Court

The Lady Maud (left) and Queen Aleta of the Misty Isles watch a tournament at Camelot.


Art: Hal Foster and John Cullen Murphy (from page 2127, July 2, 1978).
Text: Hal Foster.
Source: Prince Valiant (Vol. 48): Return to Camelot, comprising pages, or installments, 2124 (October 23, 1977) through 2167 (August 20, 1978). Fantagraphics Books, 2003.

Far from Beaten

NEXT: Thwarted

See also the previous posts:
• Releasing the Djinn
• Neshem's Proposal

Art: Gary Gianni (from page 3702, January 20, 2008).
Text: Mark Shultz.
Source: Prince Valiant: Far from Camelot – Gary Gianni and Mark Schultz (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2008).