The Prince Valiant character will forever be associated with his ongoing weekly comic strip, but he has occasionally ventured beyond those panel borders into other media. When a live-action feature film surfaced in 1954, starring a strapping young Robert Wagner in the title role, it proved so popular that Dell Comics commissioned a comic-book adaptation. That adaptation was so successful that the creative pairing of writer Paul S. Newman and artist Bob Fujitani crafted six more comic books set in the movie’s slightly altered Valiant universe, released sporadically over the next four years as 36-page special event issues. This new collection presents the complete run of Prince Valiant comic books, restored and relettered.
Buy Prince Valiant: Peril of the Round TableThe movie was something of an origin story for Val, so the comics continue the timeline of a young character coming into his own as a hero. There are no children with their own adventures, no family issues to speak of since he only meets his eventual wife in the first story, and minimal kingdom duties of his own. If you’re coming to these comics with a background of the strip, the biggest story difference is the comic’s singular focus on Val, with only Nordic countryman Boltar and fellow knight Gawain as recurring support players. Even his eventual bride Aleta disappears from view after the first issue. There are other subtle differences between the lore of the strip and comic book, but nothing so wildly different as to confuse avid fans of the strip. Newman does a fine job spinning rollicking new adventures for Val, even if his approach is decidedly more simplistic compared to creator Hal Foster’s rich tapestry of ever-expanding plotlines and characters.
Likewise, Fujitani’s impressive artwork is clearly inspired by Foster’s immaculate lines, but reduced in scope to focus only on the characters, avoiding much of the majestic scope of Foster’s detailed backgrounds and costume designs. Fujitani’s lovingly crafted pages are clearly no soulless cash grab, and appear superior to most of the comic-book output of the era, but never rise to such heights as to be comparable to the work of the master, Hal Foster. In a typical Dell move, he never got the cover page assignment, with fully painted works by other artists nabbing the spotlight, including the standout piece repurposed for this collection’s cover.
Since none of the original production files have survived, the book is sourced from the best available scans of actual comic books, restored and remastered by German publisher Bocola Verlag. Surprisingly, the linework isn’t particularly muddy or compromised, with Fujitani’s art shining through just fine. Colors seem in line with expected original hues, but smoothed out to eliminate dottiness. Bocola Verlag’s improved scans were subsequently provided to Fantagraphics with blank word balloons, with Fanta inserting excellent new English text to replace the haphazard lettering of the original comics. That’s another noticeable difference between Foster’s strip and the comics: word balloons. Foster famously never used balloons, while the comics follow standard page layouts including balloons.
The book is rounded out with multiple illuminating essays detailing Valiant’s trip from page to screen to different page, background notes about each issue, restoration information, and appreciations of both Newman and Fujitani. While some fans would likely prefer the book’s dimensions to match the giant footprint of the ongoing strip collections, the hardcover book is still generously proportioned at dimensions well above the original comic books. It’s a handsome and sturdy collection shining new light on a largely forgotten but no less fascinating corner of Valiant’s legacy.
