Just started reading my comics online, and a Prince Valiant question
Mike
strips, I have started seeking them out online. I like this more than
I thought I would (I'm a devoted newspaper reader). I used to read
Judge Parker, Mary Worth, and Mark Trail on the Seattle PI site, but
just switched to the the Houston Chron site since Seattle switched
things up last week. This is convenient, too, since I just recently
started to read Spider Man, and it is found on the Chron site. I
still read Lio and Zits in the print version of the AJC since it lands
in my driveway every morning. Anyhow, as it relates to reading comics
online - so far so good.
As for my other question, I was thinking about starting to read Prince
Valiant. How far back should I go to get caught up, or should I just
start reading it and forget all that has happened previously?
Thanks!
Mike
Mike Peterson
Actually, this is a pretty good time to jump in. They picked up the
Neanderthal guys on an adventure in the Saragasso Sea, but I have a
feeling that thread will wrap up and they'll be off on a new adventure
pretty soon. There was a good adventure that brought them to Africa,
but you'd have to go way, way back to pick it up ... the strip is very
interwoven without frequent walls between storylines. I have a feeling
you've lucked into one, as soon as the cavemen stop hoisting maidens
over their shoulders ...
I would also say that you're hitting Valiant at a creative high point
after several years of not-so-adventurous adventures. The last story
arc has been better than anything in the strip for several years. New
team has a much better vision, much more in tune with Foster's vision,
I think.
Others may differ on that, of course.
Mike Peterson
http://nellieblogs.blogspot.com
D.D.Degg
>Mike wrote:
> > As for my other question, I was thinking about starting to read Prince
> > start reading it and forget all that has happened previously?
> Actually, this is a pretty good time to jump in.
I'd have to agree with Reply Poster Mike.
Having just returned to Camelot, after their four year world tour,
the creative team should be seguing into a new storyline soon.
And the team of Schultz and Gianni are doing topnotch work
on Prince Valiant. After years of Cullen Murphy trying to tie
stories into historical events and his dad J.C.Murphy tiring of
the deadline game (when he retired he was in his 80s and had
been doing comic strips for 50+ years), the new energy of
Mark and Gary has been refreshing.
For my money it could only get better if they would
reconstruct the entire strip and start over with Prince
Valiant at about 25-30 years old.
Anyway, if you want to read the entire Schultz/Gianni saga
Andrews McMeel has recently issued a book covering their
tenure on the strip. Here's a review of their book and their strip:
http://strippersguide.blogspot.com/2008/12/strippers-guide-bookshelf-prince.html
If you really want to see what's been happening
here's the last decade of Prince Valiant:
http://thadir.concepts.nl/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=2351
I don't think either of them will be necessary to enjoy
the upcoming adventure(s), and Mike P. explained the
Beast Men's presence to satisfy that "what th--?"
D.D.Degg
O fan
> As for my other question, I was thinking about starting to read Prince
> Valiant. How far back should I go to get caught up, or should I just
> start reading it and forget all that has happened previously?
It is important that you read as far back as you can. I would suggest
a couple of weeks at the closest public library with a good collection
of microfilm and old papers...
Mike Peterson
Certainly, if you plan to become an uberfan, you need to know
everything about the strip. I took the question to be "how can I catch
up?" and answered on that level.
I would suggest that scratchy, black-and-white micro versions of this
richly colored strip are not the best way to experience it -- even
assuming you find a paper that had its Sunday section microed for the
ages, which may not be the case depending on your library's
collection.
If you are going to go back, go all the way back and find the old Hal
Foster books. My grandparents lived down the street from Foster and my
uncle, as a lad, was one of the neighborhood kids welcomed into his
studio. As a consequence, he had three or four of the first hardbound
Valiant collections (undoubtedly signed, but I was too young to notice
such fripperies, and they were for reading). Those books are
wonderful, with rich colors and rip-roaring adventures.
There are other collections available if you care to that extent. When
you get up to the last decade or two, microfilm will do, as the strip
seemed to drift into a theme of "Prince Arn as Grasshopper learning
the mysterious ways of Zen historicity" that bogged things down for
several years until the current team took over. Important to the
Prince Valiant expert, but not very good reading for the casual fan.
Mike Peterson
www.weeklystorybook.com
D.D.Degg
> It is important that you read as far back as you can. I would suggest
I, on the other hand, would suggest saving up to buy
the NEW Fantagraphics Prince Valiant volumes.
http://www.amazon.com/Prince-Valiant-Vol-1-1937-1938/dp/1606991418
"Prince Valiant will be presented in an oversized color hardcover
format, with two years per book, beginning in 2009. This
presentation
will be of higher quality than the 50 trade paperbacks Fantagraphics
published, which collected all of the strips with art or story by
creator
Hal Foster. At two years per book, it will take 16-17 volumes just
to
reprint the full page strips with Foster art."
( http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/12691.html )
These large coffee table volumes will be the best yet
and you will be proud to show them off,
even to Michael Koerner.
D.D.Degg
Michael G. Koerner
:-p~
I do have the entire English-language set of the Fantagraphics soft-cover
volumes (they go up to 1980), but it was a real effort to find and acquire
them all. I also did spend some quality time in area libraries to fill the
gaps between then and 2000, when the Appleton, WI Post-Crescent picked up the
strip.
The advice is good - this is a good time to hop in. Also, read up online what
you can on the main characters in order to get up to speed.
Enjoy!
--
___________________________________________ ____ _______________
Regards, | |\ ____
| | | | |\
Michael G. Koerner May they | | | | | | rise again!
Appleton, Wisconsin USA | | | | | |
___________________________________________ | | | | | | _______________
Mike
I might have lost my mind, but I cannot find Prince Valiant comics
online. On the King Features site, they show a Sunday strip from Feb
1, but I cannot view the comic for any other day. Can someone provide
a link to the daily and Sunday strips?
Thanks!
Mike
D.D.Degg
> Can someone provide
> a link to the daily and Sunday strips?
It is Sunday only and available here
http://www.timesunion.com/comics/?feature_id=Prince_Valiant&feature
(be sure to use the "zoom" feature just above the comic
and be patient while it loads all the crap surrounding it).
The main page for all King Features' strips would be
http://www.timesunion.com/comics/
where you are looking for the green "view all comics" button.
D.D.Degg
Nick Theodorakis
> Mike wrote:
> > Can someone provide
> > a link to the daily and Sunday strips?
>
> (be sure to use the "zoom" feature just above the comic
> and be patient while it loads all the crap surrounding it).
>
> where you are looking for the green "view all comics" button.
>
> D.D.Degg
The Toronto Star also carries it, but it's on delay:
<http://www.tsscontent.ca/comics/content__1/print_content>
Nick
--
Nick Theodorakis
nick_the...@hotmail.com
contact form:
http://theodorakis.net/contact.html
Dann
news:3e88a075-acaa-48b3...@v39g2000yqm.googlegroups.com.
> I might have lost my mind, but I cannot find Prince Valiant comics
> online. On the King Features site, they show a Sunday strip from Feb
> 1, but I cannot view the comic for any other day. Can someone provide
> a link to the daily and Sunday strips?
KFS thinks having boatloads of archives for fans to enjoy is a bad thing.
I read PV once a month using the following link. The downside is that
they are only showing a month's worth of strips from a couple months ago.
[All of the January strips are currently available.] The upside is that
you can read all four strips for one month at one time.
<http://www.tsscontent.ca/comics/content__
1/print_content/comics/prince_valiant>
--
Regards,
Dann
blogging at http://web.newsguy.com/dainbramage/blog.htm
Freedom works; each and every time it is tried.
Michael G. Koerner
Also, checking that Amazon link, it looks like they are asking a _very good
price_ for that volume ($20 + shipping). By all means, go for it!
:-)
(And, unlike the last series where they stopped in 1980, I certainly hope that
they'll be able to keep this series going right up to the present.)
D.D.Degg
> I read PV once a month using the following link. The downside is that
> they are only showing a month's worth of strips from a couple months ago.
> [All of the January strips are currently available.] The upside is that
> you can read all four strips for one month at one time.
> <http://www.tsscontent.ca/comics/content__
> 1/print_content/comics/prince_valiant>
Another downside is that they only show four strips for the month,
so when it is updated for this month (March) you will be missing a
strip.
D.D.Degg
