Dateline:November 24, 2021
Prince Valiant
Comments on the Prince Valiant?
Chances are you’ve seen it, but never read it, except for that time you tried, because it was there and it looked so beautiful. You may have wondered, who reads this?
Prince Valiant has likely been in the newspapers as long as you have been looking at them. He began his Arthurian quest, through the sixth century, in 1937. Other American comics have longer runs. Since Little Orphan Annie finally left syndication (1924-2010), Prince Valiant is the sixth-oldest, active strip behind Blondie (1930-present), Popeye (1919-present), Barney Google and Snuffy Smith (1919-present), Gasoline Alley (1918-present), and Katzenjammer Kids (1897-present). The other old timers, though, deal with some aspect of American culture, while Prince Valiant inhabits an age so far removed from our own, reading it requires energetic imagining and historical recollection..
Some people adopted the comics pages before they could read, using a picture-reading skill to narrate a story. As words became available the deeper treats emerged, and, at first, the characters with fewer words conquered the more loquacious ones. For many, Prince Valiant remains a foreign land.
Like, Krazy Kat, another comic strip of the twenties and thirties that enticed a narrow but dedicated following, Prince Valiant scores high enough in the reader polls to keep its syndication. Unlike Krazy Kat, Prince Valiant is not whimsical, or humorous, or intellectually challenging. It taps a different inner spring: adventure. Prince Valiant connects to an older strain of human entertainment, one that originated before Hal Foster drew his first Prince Valiant in 1937, before the introduction of Katzenjammer Kids in 1897, before Chaucer, before Beowulf, before the Roman and Greek playwrights. Prince Valiant reaches all the way down to Homer, the original rhapsode of wander lust.
Prince Valiant is on a changeable quest, an epic adventure. He is always meeting the next foe, seeking the next lost person or thing, overcoming the next obstacle, and defeating the strongest and most devilish of villains. And through it all, since 1937, his story has been told with a graphic eloquence worthy of Homer. Hal Foster began the tradition of gorgeous artwork, skillfully drawn in bold, flowing lines. He personally selected the artist to replace him, and the tradition has been faithfully carried forward. Carefully selected authors script the stories, with a tradition of fidelity to the ever-expanding canon.
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There don’t seem to be published studies on Prince Valiant’s readership. Anecdote, though, indicates strong feelings distributed into mismatched populations. The links below go to some blog discussions.
It is an artfully done comic strip. Its stories are more adult, and less silly than most things on the comics page. It will probably continue to interrupt the scanning glance, even as it speaks to its small, but stable readership. “Who reads this thing?” many will continue to ask. No one will answer, because the readers won’t hear the question.
- I'm named after Prince Valiant's wife, because my dad is the kind of super cool guy who reads Prince Valiant.
- When I was young Prince Valiant books could be collected at a local little supermarket. I've still got them all and now my children read them. (after I've told them to be careful). I would dream about being Aleta and then Valiant would come to the rescue and kiss me.
- They should let us vote to get rid of a comic.. who the hell reads apartment 3g, prince valiant, mary worth, etc.?
- But what I remember best were the swell Sunday comics which we called the funnies: Maggie and Jiggs, Dagwood and Blondie, The Little King, Flash Gordon, Prince Valiant, all the good ones.
- Does anyone who reads the Sunday Comics read Prince Valiant?
- Prince Valiant is a REAL STORY !!!!! I thought.
- but is he gay???
- And who reads Prince Valiant nowadays? Is it still in syndication in America?
- First, Prince Valiant. I admit, I was gratified to learn that I am not the only person out there who reads Prince Valiant religiously. It's one of my favorite strips, mostly because the artwork is so good.
- I understand folks who have trouble following it: Foster often played fast and loose with history. But there is a uniqueness about it that I enjoy.
- These are big stories from low culture.
- I tried to follow Prince Valiant for a while.
- Yeah good luck finding someone who reads that.
Only annoying little gaywads read the funnies.
- I have read every prince valiant stripe.
- I probably haven't read the comics since I was that young, so I looked through them to see if some of my favorites were still there. The only one that 's still being published is Blondie--that was on my top 10 along with Little Lulu, Nancy, Winnie Winkle, and Archie--boy am I dating myself! And there's others that are still around like Peanuts, Beetle Bailey and Prince Valiant--who reads Prince Valiant anyway?!--well somebody obviously did and still does.
- I must admit that I read Prince Valiant when I was a kid.
- That happens when we go from our kid selves to our current state. I didn’t read Prince Valiant as a kid even though Dad loved it. I catch it now at Comics Kingdom.
- Who reads Prince Valiant or Mary Worth and why?
- for the life of me I can't figure out who reads strips such as Prince Valiant, Alley Oop, Mary Worth and other comic strips taking up valuable space.
- Don't be dissin on my man Prince Valiant!
- Jesus, who reads this stuff?
- Skipped over Prince Valiant yesterday like I always do. Prince Valiant sucks.
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