Ilene of Branwyn

Art: Hal Foster (from page 83, September 11, 1938).
Source: Prince Valiant (Vol. 1): 1937-1938 – Hal Foster (Fantagraphics Books, 2014).

See also the previous posts:
• First Love
• Prince Valiant Celebrates 75th Anniversary

Prince Valiant Celebrates 75th Anniversary

This coming Monday, February 13, 2012, marks the 75th anniversary of the Prince Valiant adventure strip!

In marking this impressive achievement, King Features, the publisher of Prince Valiant in more than 300 American newspapers, notes that the strip created by "the immortal Hal Foster" and first published on February 13, 1937, "continues strong to this day as the pinnacle of comic strip adventure storytelling."

It's a view shared by many, including Matt Seneca who, in his recent review of Prince Valiant, Volume 4: 1943-1944, writes, "Prince Valiant . . . has probably done more time than any other [strip] as the popular imagination’s pick for 'greatest comic ever.' . . . [T]he mastery Foster brings to bear on his every panel may have been equaled both before and since his prime, but it’s never been surpassed."

Of course, two artists who have in their own unique ways equaled the artistry of Hal Foster are John Cullen Murphy and Gary Gianni. It has been to these two that the mantle of 'artist of Prince Valiant' has been passed. Murphy was Foster's handpicked successor and drew the strip from 1971 to 2004.

Right: Prince Valiant and his wife Aleta, Queen of the Misty Isles, as drawn by John Cullen Murphy in 1978.

Gary Gianni, in turn, was Murphy's choice of successor and has drawn the strip since 2004 up to the present day.

Left: Prince Valiant and his companions are attacked by harpies in this memorable 2007 illustration by Gary Gianni.

Others involved over the years in the creative endeavor that is Prince Valiant include writers Cullen Murphy and Mark Schultz, colorists Mairead Murphy and Scott Roberts, and, briefly in the early 1970s, artists Gary Morrow and Wally Wood.

 

Right: The Prince of Thule as drawn by Wally Wood. For more rare images of Wood's "try-out" time on Prince Valiant in the early '70s, see this post on Thomas Haller Buchanan's excellent The Pictorial Arts blog.

Generally regarded by comics historians as one of the most impressive visual creations ever syndicated, Prince Valiant is noted for its realistically rendered panoramas and intelligent, sometimes humorous, narrative. Instead of word balloons, Prince Valiant is narrated via captions positioned at the bottom or sides of panels. Frank Plowright in The Comic Guide (1997) notes that: "In the strictest sense, Prince Valiant isn't a comic, being illustrations accompanied by blocks of text, but it's nevertheless stylish, influential, and an exceptional body of work." In his introduction to the first edition of The Definitive Prince Valiant Companion (1992), Todd H. Goldberg suggests that Prince Valiant be considered "a massive illustrated novel presented in a comic art-like style."

Above: The July 31, 2011 installment of Prince Valiant,

with artwork by Gary Gianni and text by Mark Schultz.

Left: The cover of one of the Prince Valiant comic books my father, Gordon Bayly, collected as a teenager in the 1950s. It was these comic books, published and distributed by Associated Newspaper Ltd of Sydney, Australia, that first introduced me to Prince Valiant. They were comprised of black-and-white compilations of Prince Valiant installments from the late-1930s to the mid-1940s.

To mark the 75th anniversary of Prince Valiant an art exhibit featuring Hal Foster’s work on both Prince Valiant and his earlier strip Tarzan, will be on display throughout February at Tinley Park Library (7851 Timber Drive, Tinley Park, Illinois). The exhibition is curated by comics enthusiast Sid Weiskirch, and will travel to different libraries throughout Illinois, including Blue Island Library in July and August 2012, and Orland Park Library in January 2013.

Above: The fall of Camelot: A panel from the September 9, 1984 installment
of Prince Valiant, with artwork by John Cullen Murphy and text by Cullen Murphy.

Twenty-five years ago, when I was a college student in Australia, I wrote an article celebrating the 50th anniversary of Prince Valiant which was published in the Canberra Times.

Last year on the 74th anniversary of the strip I started this blog, A Prince Named Valiant.

And it is at this blog today that I celebrate the 75th anniversary of Prince Valiant by sharing the following pages and illustrations. As you'll see, they all reference various milestones in the strip's history. Be sure to click on each image for a more detailed view.

Above: A memorable panel from the early days of the strip – November 27, 1938, to be exact. The scene of a young Prince Valiant in the grip of a life-threatening fever provides Hal Foster a powerful and poignant opportunity to revisit the significant characters and events of the strip's first two years.

Keeping vigil by Prince Valiant's side is his father, King Aguar of Thule, while "ever hovering near" is the specter of his first (and lost) love, Ilene.

Above: A limited edition Prince Valiant print created by Hal Foster.

Above: Page (or installment) 2000 of Prince Valiant – June 8, 1975.

About this page Thomas Haller Buchanan writes: "Published well after [Hal] Foster retired and laden with iconic Foster artwork from the past, [this page] was quite a treat to see in the midst of John Cullen Murphy's run on the strip."

Above: Page 3000 of Prince Valiant by John Cullen Murphy – August 7, 1994.

Above: A panel from page 3700 of Prince Valiant by Gary Gianni – January 6, 2008.

NEXT: Something Very Special . . .

See also the previous posts:
• Welcome!
• A Valiant First Effort, Wouldn't You Say?
• "He Wasn't a Superhero But He Was a Hero"
• Mark Schultz on the Art of Hal Foster: "Uniquely Appealing, Innovative and Influential"
• John Cullen Murphy on Prince Valiant: "It's My Duty. I'm Responsible For It"
• Mark Schultz on Prince Valiant as an American Invention
• "We Are the Daughters of the Queen of the Misty Isles and the Prince of Thule"
• Man of Action
• Looking Good

. . . and my October 2010 Wild Reed post:
• Journeying Into the Truth . . . Valiantly, of Course!


Opening image: Gary Gianni.

Sir Gawain

NOTE: A recent visitor to this site requested I highlight his favorite character from Prince Valiant. I'm more than happy to oblige!


As a faithful friend and companion of Prince Valiant, the debonair Sir Gawain, Knight of the Round Table and nephew of King Arthur, has long been a popular supporting character in the long-running Prince Valiant adventure strip.

Above: The young Prince Valiant meets Sir Gawain for the first time. The lad is soon serving as Gawain's squire and journeying with him to the court of King Arthur.

Art and text: Hal Foster (from installment #16, May 29, 1937).
Source: Prince Valiant (Vol. 1): 1937-1938 – Hal Foster (Fantagraphics Books, 2009).

Above: Sir Gawain does battle with a "great sea dragon"!

Art: Hal Foster (from installment #17, June 5, 1937).
Source: Prince Valiant (Vol. 1): 1937-1938 – Hal Foster (Fantagraphics Books, 2009).

Above: The enchantress Morgan Le Fay desires Sir Gawain's agreement to be her husband – so much so that she captures and imprisons him in her castle. Prince Valiant's initial attempt to rescue him fails miserably. He is drugged, imprisoned, and his nights made sleepless by all manner of ghastly apparitions.

Art and text: Hal Foster (from installment #58, March 19, 1938).
Source: Prince Valiant (Vol. 1): 1937-1938 – Hal Foster (Fantagraphics Books, 2009).

Above: Gawain looks on knowingly and in amusement at the love-struck Val and the fair maid Ilene. The young couple's relationship, however, would be a tragic one.

Art and text: Hal Foster (from installment #39, November 6, 1937).
Source: Prince Valiant (Vol. 1): 1937-1938 – Hal Foster (Fantagraphics Books, 2009).

Above: Sir Gawain to the rescue!

Art and text: Hal Foster (from installment #388, June 16, 1944).
Source: Prince Valiant (Vol. 4): 1943-1944 – Hal Foster (Fantagraphics Books, 2011).

Above: Sir Gawain – always the ladies' man!

Art and text: Hal Foster (from installment #58, August 11, 1940).
Source: Prince Valiant (Vol. 2): 1939-1940 – Hal Foster (Fantagraphics Books, 2010).

Sir Gawain as drawn by John Cullen Murhpy (installment #2164, July 30, 1978)

Source: Prince Valiant (Vol. 48): Return to Camelot – Hal Foster and John Cullen Murphy (Fantagraphics Books, 2003).

Sir Gawain as drawn by Gary Gianni (from installment #3626, August 6, 2006).

Source: Prince Valiant: Far from Camelot – Gary Gianni and Mark Schultz (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2008).


Image 1: From installment #298, October 25, 1942. Art: Hal Foster. Source: Prince Valiant (Vol. 3): 1941-1942 – Hal Foster (Fantagraphics Books, 2011).
Image 2: From installment #64, April 30, 1938. Art and text: Hal Foster. Source: Prince Valiant (Vol. 1): 1937-1938 – Hal Foster (Fantagraphics Books, 2009).

First Love

Prince Valiant's first love was the fair maid Ilene of Branwyn, whose parents Val rescues from a band of outlaws.

When Val asks for Ilene's hand in marriage, her father the Thane of Branwyn informs him that she has already been promised to Prince Arn of Ord.

Prince Valiant vows to find his rival and defeat him. Traveling to Ord he encounters and jousts with Arn on a narrow bridge above a swirling river. Arn is unhorsed and topples into the water. He is saved from drowning in his heavy armor by Val who declares: "If you are to die this day, it will be by my hand in fair fight."

The two lads are soon at it . . . with cries of "Ilene or death!"

Their duel is halted by the arrival of a Viking raiding party, which they battle and defeat. From a wounded survivor they learn that Ilene has been captured by Thagnar, the Viking sea rover.

Forgetting their quarrel in the face of Ilene's peril, Valiant and Arn rush to the coast. Armed with Arn's charmed Singing Sword, Prince Valiant buys time by holding the bridge at Dundorn Glen against fifty Vikings.

With rage in his heart and the terrible "Singing Sword" in his hand, Val writes his name large in the memories of his foes.

The Vikings draw back in amazement, but, weakened by a score of wounds, Prince Valiant collapses and is taken to Thagnar's encampment. Here he is reunited with Ilene. The two are soon at sea, prisoners of Thagnar.

With Arn in pursuit, Val strikes Thagnar, reclaims the Singing Sword, and cripples the longship's steering sweep. At Ilene's urging he jumps overboard and swims to Arn's ship. Together, Valiant and Arn defeat the crew of Thagnar's second ship, but the Viking rover himself has repaired his ship and escaped with Ilene.

Arn and Val's search for the woman they both love ends in tragedy with the discovery of Thagnar's shipwrecked vessel – and a jeweled clasp that had belonged to Ilene.

Later the two princes are consoled by Sir Launcelot.

Do not grive for Ilene – fate has spared her much unhappiness. Had she been found you were pledged to fight to the death for her hand; the winner would live on knowing he had brought a bride with his friend's life, and gentle Ilene would be the wife of a murderer, forever blaming herself for being the cause of it all.

Back in Britain, the two friends part company; but not before Arn gives Val the charmed Singing Sword, "to be used in good King Arthur's cause."

Years later, when considering a name for his first-born son, Val shares the tragic tale of Ilene with his wife Aleta. They then decide to name their son Arn. Pictured above is how Prince Valiant creator Hal Foster recaps the story of Val's first love in April 1948.


Image art and text: Hal Foster.
Image 1: From installment #75, July 17, 1938.
Image 2: #67, May 22, 1938.
Image 3: #68, May 29, 1938.
Image 4: #71, June 19, 1938.
Image 5: #75, July 17, 1938
Image 6: #78, August 7, 1938.
Image 7: #82, September 4, 1938.
Image 8: #85, September 25, 1938.
Image 9: April 1948.

Source of images 1, 3, 4 and 5: Prince Valiant #1, Pioneer Comics, June 1988.
Images 2, 6, 7 and 8: Prince Valiant (Vol. 1): 1937-1938 – Hal Foster (Fantagraphics Books, 2009).
Image 9: From 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.