In Anticipation of the seventy-fifth annivesary of comics' longest running adventure strip, and to celebrate their own just-launced reprinting of the strips' classic earliest years, Fantagraphics is proud to present an expanded version of this hard-to-find collector's item.
Compiled by award-winning Foster biographer Brian M. Kane, THE DEFINITIVE PRINCE VALIANT COMPANION beautifully showcases the careers of Hal Foster, John Cullen Murphy, and Gary Gianni. In addition to updating the original version's story synopsis section with over 30 years of material, The Definitive Prince Valiant Companion also contains rare and new articles, a never-before-printed newspaper feature from 1949, Foster's final interview, and interviews with John Cullen Murphy, Gary Gianni and Mark Schultz, a foreward by comics historian Brian Walker, and an introduction by Pulitzer Prize winning authore Ray Bradbury.
Brian M. Kane is a comics historian and adjunct professor at Ohio State University. He edited 18 volumes of Fantagraphics’ collection of the Prince Valiant strip, as well as The Prince Valiant Companion.
Ray Bradbury was born in Waukegan, Illinois, in 1920. Growing up during the Great Depression, Bradbury began writing at the age of 11. Unable to join the military in World War II due to his poor eyesight, he began publishing science fiction stories. In 1947 he married Marguerite McClure and they had four daughters. His career as a writer included such notable works as
Fahrenheit 451,
The Martian Chronicles, and
I Sing The Body Electric. Primarily known for his successes in science fiction, Bradbury also worked on various horror and mystery stories, as well as screenplays and television scripts. During his lifetime he received numerous awards, including a Pulitzer in 2007. Bradbury passed away in 2012.
Brian Walker has a diverse background in professional cartooning and cartoon scholarship. He is a former director of the Museum of Cartoon Art, where he worked from 1974 to 1992. Since 1984, he has been part of the creative team that produces the comic strips,
Beetle Bailey and
Hi and Lois. He has written, edited or contributed to forty-five books on cartoon art, served as curator for seventy-five cartoon exhibitions and is the founder and current chairman of the Connecticut Chapter of the National Cartoonists Society.
