Fantagraphic's Prince Valiant Volume 13 1961-1962 begins with the family of Valiant and Queen Aleta of the Misty Isles in her kingdom tending to trade issues and attempting to set up a series of trade arrangements which will serve the kingdom well while Aleta is gone with her family and Val to Camelot. But before much can be done Prince Arn and two of his friends are kidnapped though it takes a fearsome Valiant not long to find them and to deal with the kidnappers as they deserved. He returns home to find a new son soon to be named Galen. Then it's off to the mainland to find more trade opportunities and this time Aleta suggests that Prince Arn is of an age to accompany his father. Soon the matters of business overwhelm the good knight and he finds an advisor who is less than trustworthy in the end. Also making things sticky is the arrival of a striking and ferocious girl from the steppes who has been banished from her tribe. She soon finds suitors but that leads to tragedy and Foster ends her story before we discover her fate claiming that history had lost track of her. After confronting dishonest tradesmen Valiant eventually returns to the Misty Isles where he is soon tasked by a messenger from King Arthur to look for a trade road from Rome to Camelot. This mission falls on hard times as Rome is falling apart and the barbarians are taking the place apart. But Valiant and Arn do find allies along their path as well a strange monastery where seeming monsters dwell though they turn out to be a product of a eccentric artist. Later a cruel despot is laid low by Valiant's efforts when the villain holds Arn captive and threatens him with torture. The family is reunited and sail for Camelot where Valiant works to retrain his great horse Arvik. A devout monk and missionary named Wojan causes much trouble in the land of Briton when his zealous followers become too numerous to feed or control and his counselors turn to be dishonest. But in the end Valiant works to bring justice and to build a church. The story closes with Valiant telling Arn about his boyhood in the swamps and then rescuing Arn when the latter tries to emulate his father.
Hal Foster's storytelling is lean and effective. Gone for the most part are the grand visions that often showed up, but we are treated to a few such as the splendor of the church when Galen is christened and later the vision of a giant "monster" inside a monastery. Arn becomes a much more able partner to Valiant and the duo are together through many of the adventures in this volume. Alas when Valiant and Arn stand together the fact they wear similar tunics makes them look a little like some superhero and his sidekick, but the visual cues are rock solid nonetheless. Despite having a child in this volume Aleta fades a bit into the background, making room for Arn, but nonetheless Foster does periodically remind the reader of the great romance which stands at the root of this comic strip. The story leaves you wanting to see more of Taloon and it seems that in more recent years Tom Yeates as delivered on the promise of that story.
This volume also has an excellent essay by Charles Vess as he discusses the influence of Foster and Prince Valiant on his own work. He goes on to speak of his turn at the character in Marvel's 90's handling of the character. He even talks about how he turned down an opportunity to take over the strip.
More to come.
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