The Sunday Funnies - Prince Valiant 1969-1970!

Prince Valiant Volume 17: 1969-1970 by Hal Foster from Fantagraphics is a notable volume in this venerable series in that it marks the beginning of the end of Hal Foster's connection to the strip. Now there is still a decade of Foster directing the series but as this tome closes out we see examples of three artists who were considered as viable candidates to take over these singular adventures in Camelot. More on that later. 

Gray Morrow

The saga picks up with the Valiant clan on the way back to Camelot from the Misty Isles and with the budding romance between Katwin and a rough and gruff sea captain named Helge who lost an arm fighting to save the aforementioned Katwin. After some coaxing the dour seaman is lured into romance and eventually marriage. Then we turn our attention to Sir Gawain who made his way to Camelot on land and who had much to explain as to why he turned up in King Arthur's court atop a mule. He relates several tales of woe but in most of them he prevails until the end when he is hoodwinked by a false magician and his lovely companion. Then Valian is sent to check up on the Saxons who after the Battle of Badon Hill have settled peaceably in the lands with Arthur's permission as long as they build no forts. They claim to be put upon by Vikings and since Val is a Viking it is thought he might be handy to solve the situation. With considerable cunning he turns back the threat of Thoric, a raider who was banished by Val's father King Aguar. Then he must put down a rogue Saxon who is hiding a hoard of weapons and preparing for war. We follow the Valiant family as young Galan seeks a unicorn (a goat) and the twins Valeta and Karen confront the confusions of chivalric romance. A young woman named Adele turns up and seeks to keep a promise made in childhood to be the wife of Geoffrey the poet and scholar, and Prnce Arn is useful in helping out. Arn then gets into trouble and is made a slave of a rogue named Llanwick  but he is able to turn the tables and burn Llanwick's castle down and Valiant shows up in time to help Arn out. Then King Arthur is miffed that his royal deer are diminished and blames Hugh the Fox, but later changes him mind and makes Hugh his warden. We then follow the adventures of a young knight named Dale MaKinnie who seeks to become a knight of the Round Table and gets a chance when he is sent to assist Lady Marvyn tabilize her hold on her territory. The situation becomes complication when a young woman named Matilda turns out to be a more worthy mate and becomes just that when Lady Marvyn accidently poisons herself. Prince Arn falls into the clutches of Moragan Le Fay who seeks revenge for Prince Valiant's victory over her nearly twenty years before. After Arn is saved Val and Aleta have a spat which causes them to have separate sleeping quarters for a time and as this volume ends with Val seeking to help a beautiful damsel in a castle tower their tiff is left unresolved. 

Wally Wood 

This volume begins with an essay by Brian M. Kane on the humor in the Prince Valiant strip and ends with a glimpse of Hal Foster's childhood sketchbooks. As mentioned above the most notable events in this book are sample strips by Wally Wood (one), Gray Morrow (three) and John Cullen Murphy (three) used by Foster to select a successor. We know that Murphy will win the prize though I must say that Morrow's efforts were especially tremendous. Wood's outing is excellent but falls just short of the other magnificent examples in capturing that Foster flavor. 

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