The Sunday Funnies - Prince Valiant 1965-1966!

One thing which is missing from most of Fantagraphic's Prince Valiant Volume 15 -1965-1966 by Hal Foster is..er...well. Prince Valiant. As it turns out it's been fourteen years since Valiant followed the kidnapped Aleta to the New World and rescued her there only to have to spend a year among the Native Americans before heading back to Camelot. While there Aleta was held in high regard by the Indians and in fact there was a prophecy that her child born there would return and make great changes in the society. This is the story of how that prophecy was fulfilled. 

Prince Arn is the focus as he and his friend Hatha, the son of Boltar and Tillicum (a native from America) decide it's time they'd like to see their other homeland. So to that end Arn arranges a ship, a crew, and he and Hatha with Tillicum begin the crossing of the Atlantic. They go by way of Iceland and Greenland and eventually make landfall in the New World and Arn has many adventures there attempting to bring his version civilized ways to this new people. In ways he is successful and in others not so much. Foster treats Native American culture with a great deal of dexterity and respect, certainly more than most popular entertainments of the time and before. Eventually Arn is able to bring about changes in the Indian society which leads to the a time of relative peace and cooperation between the various tribes of the region and eventually even what is called the "Algonquin Nation". Then after over a year of adventures they head back to Thule in time for us to follow Prince Valiant's mission for King Arthur to find the reason for a potential threat from the Celts and the Caledonians beyond Hadrian's Wall. He finds that Mordred is the root of the problem and is skillful in undermining his efforts. Later we see Modred save himself with King Arthur with his skillful tongue. There are also a few vignettes about Valiant's very daughters and their first naive dalliances with chivalric romance. The volume ends with Valiant taking measures to see that a missing prince is found and a peaceful transition of power is made from his dying father. 

This volume is especially nifty in that it features an interview with Bob Fujitani (from Alter Ego no less) about his work on Dell's Prince Valiant comics in the Four Color run. The book also features a very handsome gallery of books which have over the years reprinted or adapted the Prince Valiant stories. Included are the Hastings House volumes, the amazing ad from Warren Comics for those books as well as the stunning artwork by Mike Kaluta for the covers of Marvel's short-lived Prince Valiant comic from the 1990's. 

More to come of course. 

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