by foster, murphy & murphy volume 31: 1997 -1998
ABOVE: Page #177, 6-30-1940. Nominated by Achim Dressler.
HAL FOSTER’S MOST MEMORABLE PRINCE VALIANT IMAGES
Our continuing chronicles of Prince Valiant’s adventures are approaching a new era Gary Gianni will take over the strip’s art by the series’ 34th volume so it seems like a good time to pay tribute to the art of Val’s creator, Hal Foster, and Foster’s immediate successor, John Cullen Murphy.
Toward that end, we will present galleries of the best images to appear in the strip as chosen by prominent experts, appreciators, and creative associates of Prince Valiant. Murphy is the artist of the strips currently collected in this volume, and we will feature his best panels in a gallery in the next volume by way of a lingering farewell. Also upcoming: a memoir by Murphy’s son Brendan illustrated by unpublished pages from Murphy’s sketchbooks
and a feature by Murphy’s daughter Cullene on Murphy’s studio.
For now, prepare to be lost again in the mists of Arthurian Britain as conjured by Harold R. Foster. The images in this gallery and its continuation in the back of the volume are the result of invitations sent out to a select coterie of judges. There were no hard and fast rules: Each pick could be either a single panel or up to a full-page sequence, and there was
no restriction on the number of nominations. We received a gratifying number of responses, more than we have room for, but everyone’s top picks are represented here. Some of the classic images were on multiple respondents’ lists. The names of the choosers accompany the images in the gallery. Some respondents simply identified their picks and some provided commentary. Both picks and commentaries are on display here. The schedules of some participants did not allow them to make their choices right away, so expect another round of Foster images in our next volume, along with John Cullen Murphy’s gallery. Our delighted thanks to all who participated.
— Micheal Dean
Page #103, 2-29-1939. Peter Mennigen: “One of the most important milestones in Valiant’s life: his knighthood by King Arthur after a huge battle. As always, Foster has carefully worked out all the figures here. In terms of composition, this could just as well be a painting by one of the great old masters.”
NOMINATION CONTRIBUTORS
David Apatoff: Saturday Evening Post art critic and author of several books of art criticism.
Brian M. Cane: Comics historian, editor of this Prince Valiant collection until 2019, and editor of Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant Sketchbooks series.
Achim Dressler: Publisher of the Prince Valiant strips in Germany through Bocola Verlag.
Ertug rul Edirne: Turkish/German comics artist and illustrator who has worked on German Prince Valiant comics and books.
Gary Gianni: Comic-book artist and book illustrator who followed John Cullen Murphy as artist on the Prince Valiant strip from 2004 to 2012.
Dr. Todd Goldberg: comics historian and co-author of the first edition of The Definitive Prince Valiant Companion.
Peter Mennigen: Author of German books, television shows, and Prince Valiant comic books.
Mark Schultz: Widely published comics writer and artist who took over as scripter of the Prince Valiant strip following Cullen Murphy.
Tom Tataranowicz: Animation artist, producer, and director and head of Marvel Productions/New World Animation and his own Tom T. Animation, Inc.
