Prince Valiant in the Days of King Arthur, or simply Prince Valiant, is a comic strip created by Hal Foster. It is an epic adventure that has told a continuous story for its entire history. Today it stands out for its realistic panoramas and intelligent and often humorous narrative, which appears below the pictures, without word balloons. The events shown are historically accurate, but taken from various different time periods ranging from the late Roman Empire to the High Middle Ages, with a few very brief scenes from more modern times commenting on the "manuscript". Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... For other uses, see Author (disambiguation). ... Harold Rudolph Foster (August 18, 1892 in Halifax, Nova Scotia - July 25, 1982) created the comic Prince Valiant. ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 44th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... King Features 1951 Christmas card King Features Syndicate, a print syndication company owned by The Hearst Corporation, distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editorial cartoons, puzzles and games to nearly 5000 newspapers around the world. ... John Cullen Murphy (May 3, 1919 in New York City - July 2, 2004 in Greenwich, Connecticut) was the artist of the Prince Valiant comic strip. ... Mark Schultz (born 1955 near Green Bay, Wisconsin), is best known as the writer and artist of Cadillacs and Dinosaurs. ... This article is about the comic strip, the sequential art form as published in newspapers and on the Internet. ... Harold Rudolph Foster (August 18, 1892 in Halifax, Nova Scotia - July 25, 1982) created the comic Prince Valiant. ...

History and story overview

Prince Valiant began in full color tabloid sections on Saturday February 13, 1937. The first full page was strip #16, which appeared in the Sunday New Orleans Times Picayune. The internal dating changed from Saturday to Sunday with strip #53. The full page strip continued until 1971 when strip #1788 was not offered in full page format—it was the last strip Hal Foster drew. The strip continues today by other artists in half page format. This article is about the newspaper size. ... is the 44th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Full page is a format of newspaper comic strips. ... ... Harold Rudolph Foster (August 18, 1892 in Halifax, Nova Scotia - July 25, 1982) created the comic Prince Valiant. ... Half page is a Sunday strip format for newspaper comic strips. ...

The setting is Arthurian. Valiant himself is a Nordic prince (from the faraway Thule—apparently located somewhere near the city Trondheim on the Norwegian west coast). Early in the story, Valiant comes to Camelot, becomes fast friends with Sir Gawain and Sir Tristram, earns the respect of King Arthur and Merlin, and becomes a Knight of the Round Table. Later, he meets the love of his life—Aleta—on a Mediterranean island. He fights the Huns with his magic Singing Sword, Flamberge, travels to Africa and to America, and helps his father regain his lost throne of Thule, usurped by the tyrant Sligon. Thule as Tile on the Carta Marina by Olaus Magnus. ... County District Municipality NO-1601 Administrative centre Trondheim Mayor (2003-) Rita Ottervik (AP) Official language form Neutral Area  - Total  - Land  - Percentage Ranked 258 342 km² 322 km² 0. ... This article is about the mythical castle. ... Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Gawain (Gwalchmei, Gawan, Gauvain, Walewein etc. ... This article is about the Knight of the Round Table. ... For other uses, see King Arthur (disambiguation). ... Merlin Ambrosius (Welsh: Myrddin Emrys (Merlin the Wise); also known as Myrddin Wyllt (Merlin the Wild), Merlin Caledonensis (Scottish Merlin), Merlinus, and Merlyn) is the personage best known as the mighty wizard featured in Arthurian legends, starting with Geoffrey of Monmouths Historia Regum Britanniae. ... King Arthur presides the Round Table. ... Many historians consider the Huns (meaning person in Mongolian language) the first Mongolian and Turkic people mentioned in European history. ... The Singing Sword is the primary weapon of the fictional character Prince Valiant, a Knight of the Round Table in the service of King Arthur. ... A flamberge A flamberge is a sword (typically a rapier, though there were longswords as well) which, although beautiful to look at, doesnt serve any known purpose beyond that. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... World map showing the Americas The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere historically considered to consist of the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions. ...

The historical and mythological elements of Prince Valiant were initially chaotic, but soon Foster attempted to bring the facts into order. Some of the elements of the story (for instance, the death of Attila the Hun in 453, the murder of Aëtius in 454, though different from the historical version (Valiant and Gawain are blamed for the murder and must flee), and Geiseric's sacking of Rome in 455, which Prince Valiant and Aleta witness), place the story in the 5th century. Some slightly fantastic elements, like "marsh monsters" (a dinosaur-like creature) and witches, are present in the early years but are later downplayed (as are Merlin's and Morgan le Fay's use of magic), so that by 1942 the story is in most aspects a realistic one. Still, the storyline is far from being historically accurate; while obviously meant to take place in the mid 5th century, Foster continuously incorporated "out-of-era" features: Viking Longships, Muslims, alchemist and technological advances not made before the Renaissance, and the fortifications, armor and armament resemble the High Middle Ages. For other uses, see Attila (disambiguation). ... Flavius Aëtius or simply Aetius, ( 396–454), was a Roman general of the closing period of the Western Roman Empire. ... Geiseric the Lame (circa 389 – January 25, 477), also spelled as Gaiseric or Genseric the Lame, was the King of the Vandals and Alans (428–477) and was one of the key players in the troubles of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. ... For other uses, see Rome (disambiguation). ... Europe in 450 The 5th century is the period from 401 to 500 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian Era. ... Morgan le Fay, by Anthony Frederick Sandys (1829 - 1904), 1864 (Birmingham Art Gallery): A spell-brewing Morgaine distinctly of Tennysons generation Morgan le Fay, alternatively known as Morgaine, Morgain, Morgana and other variants, is a powerful sorceress and sometime antagonist of King Arthur and Guinevere in the Arthurian legend. ... The Oseberg longship (Viking Ship Museum, Norway) Oseberg longship from the front, one of the most stunning expressions of Norse art and craftsmanship A longship tacking in the wind Longships were ships primarily used by the Scandinavian Vikings and the Saxons to raid coastal and inland settlements during the European... This article is about the European Renaissance of the 14th-17th centuries. ... The cathedral Notre Dame de Paris, a significant architectural contribution of the High Middle Ages. ...

Prince Valiant at the bridge excerpt from the June 19, 1938 strip—© 1938 King Features Syndicate
Note Foster's compositional techniques, particularly how perspective creates a visual flow of Viking raiders from left to right, a flow that stops abruptly just before the figure of Prince Valiant highlighted against a dark background. The arch of the bridge further accentuates this dynamic.

In 1970, after try-out strips by several artists, Foster invited John Cullen Murphy to collaborate on the strip. Here is a list of the transition artists: Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 485 pixel Image in higher resolution (1536 × 932 pixel, file size: 527 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) This file was excerpted by BostonBay from the June 19, 1938 strip. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 485 pixel Image in higher resolution (1536 × 932 pixel, file size: 527 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) This file was excerpted by BostonBay from the June 19, 1938 strip. ... Year 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... John Cullen Murphy (May 3, 1919 in New York City - July 2, 2004 in Greenwich, Connecticut) was the artist of the Prince Valiant comic strip. ...

• #1756 Foster
• #1757 Gray Morrow
• #1758 Foster
• #1759 Foster
• #1760 Murphy
• #1761 Foster
• #1762 Wally Wood
• #1763 Foster
• #1764 Murphy
• #1765 unknown
• #1766 Murphy
• #1767 same as #1765
• #1768 Foster
• #1769 Murphy
• #1770 same as #1765
• #1771-2 Murphy
• #1773 Foster
• #1774-5 Murphy
• #1776 Foster
• #1777-87 Murphy
• #1788 Foster
• #1789 on Murphy

From 1971 on, Murphy drew the strip from Foster scripts and pencil sketches. Foster continued to write the strip until strip #2241 in 1980. Murphy then drew it himself, with scripts by his son Cullen Murphy, an editor of The Atlantic Monthly. Stories by Cullen Murphy included many adventures in which Val is opposed by Byzantine Emperor Justinian. John Cullen Murphy's daughter, Mairead, did the lettering and coloring. Year 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1971 Gregorian calendar, known as the year of cyclohexanol. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... Cullen Murphy (b. ... The Atlantic redirects here; for the ocean, see Atlantic Ocean. ... Byzantine redirects here. ... This article is about the Roman emperor. ...

In March 2004, Murphy retired, and turned the strip over to his hand-picked successor, illustrator Gary Gianni. Writing duties were soon afterwards passed on to Mark Schultz. Coloring is handled by Scott Roberts. Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Mark Schultz (born 1955 near Green Bay, Wisconsin), is best known as the writer and artist of Cadillacs and Dinosaurs. ...

Prince Valiant appears weekly in more than three hundred newspapers nationwide, according to its distributor, King Features Syndicate. The full stretch of the story is now over 3700 Sunday strips. King Features 1951 Christmas card King Features Syndicate, a print syndication company owned by The Hearst Corporation, distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editorial cartoons, puzzles and games to nearly 5000 newspapers around the world. ... See also Comic strip and Daily strip. ...

Marvel Comics published a 4-part miniseries titled Prince Valiant in the 1990s. This article is about the comic book company. ... A miniseries (sometimes mini-series), in a serial storytelling medium, is a production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. ...

Awards and recognition

Hal Foster was recognized for his work on the strip with the National Cartoonist Society Reuben Award in 1957, their Story Comic Strip Award in 1964, and their Special Features Award in 1966 and 1967. John Cullen Murphy received the National Cartoonist Society Story Comic Strip Award for his work on the strip in 1971, 1974, 1976, 1978, 1984, and 1987. In 1995, the strip was one of 20 included in the Comic Strip Classics series of commemorative postage stamps. The National Cartoonists Society is an organization of professional cartoonists created in 1946. ... The Reuben Awards, named for Rube Goldberg, are presented each year by the National Cartoonists Society. ... The Comic Strip Classics series of commemorative postage stamps was issued by the US Postal Service in 1995 to honor the centennial of the newspaper comic strip. ... This 1974 stamp from Japan depicts a Class 8620 steam locomotive. ...

In 2006, Hal Foster was inducted into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame. The Society of Illustrators is a professional society based in a New York City, founded in 1901. ...

Reprints

• Hastings House produced 7 hardback Prince Valiant books in the 1950s, using the illustrations by Hal Foster but with the text simplified by Max Trell and for the last three books by James Flowers. This series was reprinted in Germany as Prinz Eisenherz (Prince Ironheart), and continued there for an additional five volumes.
• Nostalgia Press published four hardback reprints in conjunction with King Features. To save time, the colorist on these books has colored some entire panels solid pink or solid purple.
• Prince Valiant -- an American Epic, from Manuscript Press, reprinted the first three years in three volumes, in the full original color and full page size. They also published a hardback omnibus of the three years, in a limited edition of 26 copies, ISBN #0-936414-09-X.
• Fantagraphics published a set of 50 trade paperbacks reprinting all of the strips written by Hal Foster, including those drawn by John Cullen Murphy.

Prince Valiant has often been reprinted in comic books. Feature Book #26 reprints most of the first year of the strip, and is the only comic book to have an original cover by Hal Foster. Many Foster strips were reprinted in the pages of Ace Comics and King Comics. Not reprints are seven Dell four-color Prince Valiant comic books — #567, 650, 699, 719, 788, 848, 900 — drawn by Bob Fuji, writer unknown. There was also a Prince Valiant comic book published in 1973 reprinted Foster art and simplified text, intended for children learning to read. King Features Syndicate is a syndication company owned by The Hearst Corporation; it distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editorial cartoons, puzzles and games to thousands of newspapers around the world. ... Manuscript Press is a US small press publisher started by Rick Norwood in 1976. ... Full page is a format of newspaper comic strips. ... Fantagraphics Books is an American publisher of alternative comics, underground comics, classic comic strip anthologies, magazines, and graphic novels located in the Maple Leaf neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. ... A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... Ace Comics // History Ace Comics is a comics book series from the Pre-Golden age Era and the Golden-age Era which was published by David McKay Publications. ... King Comics was a short-lived comic book imprint of King Features Syndicate, and an attempt by King to publish comics of their own characters, rather then thru other publishers. ... Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publications, which got its start in pulp magazines. ...

In other media

• There have been two Prince Valiant phonograph records and three coloring books, and in 1954 Treasure Books published a small children's book with Foster art in brilliant color.

• Chaosium produced a Prince Valiant role-playing game.^[1] In 1999 Pyramid magazine named the Prince Valiant Role-playing Game as one of The Millennium's Most Underrated Games. Editor Scott Haring said "Prince Valiant was designed as a beginner's introduction to roleplaying... Perhaps the subject matter's perceived lack of 'cool' killed this game, but it deserved better."^[2]

Chaosium is one of the longer lived publishers of role_playing games still in existence. ... This article is about games in which one plays the role of a character. ... Pyramid is a gaming magazine, publishing articles primarily on role-playing games, but including board games, card games, and other sorts of games. ...

Movie and television adaptations

• Prince Valiant - A 1954 US motion picture by 20th Century Fox, filmed in color and Cinemascope. Directed by Henry Hathaway, it starred James Mason, Robert Wagner (in the title role), Janet Leigh, and Sterling Hayden. The film was also adapted into a comic book.
• A 1991 animated US television series on The Family Channel in the US and CBBC in the UK, titled The Legend of Prince Valiant
• Prince Valiant - A 1997 UK/Ireland/Germany movie

The year 1954 in film involved some significant events. ... For other uses of terms redirecting here, see US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation) Motto In God We Trust(since 1956) (From Many, One; Latin, traditional) Anthem The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City National language English (de facto)1 Demonym American... Twentieth (20th) Century Fox Film Corporation (known from 1935 to 1985 as Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation) is one of the six major American film studios. ... A Fox logo used to promote the CinemaScope process. ... Henry Hathaway (March 13, 1898 – February 11, 1985) was an American film director and producer. ... James Neville Mason (May 15, 1909 – July 27, 1984) was a three-time Academy Award nominated English actor who attained stardom in both British and American films. ... For other persons named Robert Wagner, see Robert Wagner (disambiguation). ... Janet Leigh (July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004), born Jeanette Helen Morrison, was an American actress. ... Sterling Hayden (March 26, 1916 - May 23, 1986) was an American actor. ... The bouncing ball animation (below) consists of these 6 frames. ... ABC Family is an American cable television network currently owned by Disney-ABC Television Group, a division of The Walt Disney Company. ... Current CBBC Logo CBBC - short for Childrens BBC - is the brand-name for the BBCs childrens television programmes aimed at children aged between 6 and 12 years old. ... The Legend of Prince Valiant is an American animated television series based on the Prince Valiant comic strip created by Hal Foster. ... The year 1997 in film involved some significant events. ...

Cultural references

• A parody of this strip, Prince Violent, appeared in the old Mad Magazine (comic book format).
• Prince Valium is the sleepy prince in the movie Spaceballs. Also, in the movie Beetlejuice, Winona Ryder's character says that nothing will interrupt her mother's (played by Catherine O'Hara) sleep that night, because "she's sleeping with Prince Valium."
• Prince Valiant once used the guise of a demon. His costume was an inspiration to Jack Kirby for his character, Etrigan the Demon^[3].
• Bugs Bunny did a parody called "Prince Varmint" originally called "Prince Violent", in which he plays a rabbit in the Middle Ages who must recover the Singing Sword from the Black Knight. The Black Knight is portrayed as Yosemite Sam in a black armor.
• Dave Sim did a weekly Valiant parody titled "Silverspoon" in The Buyer's Guide to Comic Fandom. The strip was done using Foster's illustration-and-captions method.

See also: List of films based on Arthurian legend

• In the Defenders of the Earth episode "Terror In Time", Valiant appeared as a guest.

Film critics have credited Prince Valiant as an inspiration for Anton Chigurh's hair in No Country for Old Men (film). Harvey Kurtzmans cover for the first issue of the comic book Mad Mad is an American humor magazine founded by publisher William Gaines and editor Harvey Kurtzman in 1952. ... Diazepam, brand names: Valium, Seduxen, in Europe Apozepam, is a 1,4-benzodiazepine derivative, which possesses anxiolytic, anticonvulsant, sedative and skeletal muscle relaxant properties. ... Bold text Spaceballs is a 1987 science fiction parody film co-written, directed by, and starring Mel Brooks. ... This article is about the film. ... The Demon is a DC Comics superhero series created by prolific comic book writer-artist Jack Kirby. ... Bugs Bunny is an animated rabbit/hare who appears in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated films produced by Warner Bros. ... For other uses, see Black Knight (disambiguation). ... For the shortwave radio station, see Yosemite Sam (shortwave). ... David Victor Sim (born May 17, 1956 in Hamilton, Ontario) is a Canadian comic book writer and artist, best known as the creator of the 6,000 page graphic novel Cerebus the Aardvark. ... Films based on the Arthurian legend are many and varied. ... Defenders of the Earth is an animated television series of the 1980s featuring characters from three comic strips distributed by King Features Syndicate — Flash Gordon, The Phantom, and Mandrake the Magician — battling the Flash Gordon villain Ming the Merciless in the year 2015. ...

References

• A Prince Valiant Companion by Todd Goldberg and Carl Horak, edited by Don Markstein and Rick Norwood, Manuscript Press, ISBN 0-936414-07-3.
• Hal Foster: Prince of Illustrators by Brian M. Kane, Vanguard Productions, ISBN 1-887591-25-7, IPPY Award-winning biography of Hal Foster, 2001.

RPGnet is one of the oldest and largest tabletop role-playing game web sites on the Internet. ... Events of 2008: (EMILY) Me Lesley and MIley are going to China! This article is about the year. ... is the 329th day of the year (330th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Pyramid is a gaming magazine, publishing articles primarily on role-playing games, but including board games, card games, and other sorts of games. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance to the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Rick Norwood (born August 4, 1942) is from Franklin, Louisiana. ... Manuscript Press is a US small press publisher started by Rick Norwood in 1976. ...

The international fanclub site. With thousands of PV publication.

• http://www.princevaliant.net

Other External links

• Prince Valiant at King Features
• Todd Goldberg's plot summaries and timeline up to 1980
• Toonopedia
• excerpt from Foster biography by Brian Kane
• The Legend of Prince Valiant Fan Webpage: The Official Self-Proclaimed Fan Community
• Prince Valiant (1954) at IMDB
• The Legend of Prince Valiant (1991) at IMDB
• Prince Valiant (1997) at IMDB