Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant is an undisputed masterpiece of comics art. Painstakingly researched and illustrated, Foster spent more than 50 hours a week crafting every Sunday page. It is no wonder that legendary comics artists such as Jack Kirby, Alex Raymond, Frank Frazetta, Joe Kubert, Gil Kane, Wally Wood, Jim Steranko and dozens more admired, respected and studied his pages. Foster was and remains an artist’s artist, which is why he is in five artistic Halls of Fame—more than any other cartoonist or illustrator. Each one of his Sunday pages stands as a testament to the unparalleled beauty of visual narrative art.
Fantagraphics’ recent reprints of the Prince Valiant strip, scanned from original color engraver’s proof sheets, have received international acclaim, and now we are printing the Holy Grail of comics art. Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant Artist’s Edition is a 192-page collection scanned from Foster’s original pages and printed in full color, capturing every nuance of Foster’s masterly brush strokes. Each page is so rare that the sum total of the original art reprinted in this book would likely cost millions. From Foster’s very first Prince Valiant page to his very last the public will be treated to a selection of some of the most iconic and beautiful comic art ever made.
