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smorkin's review
5.0
And now we enter the high point of Prince Valiant. I tend to forget just how good this strip is, between books, and then I read a new one. It's both the story and art, especially once Valiant and Aleta gets married and the balance between humor and seriousness becomes perfect.
As for the art, their are so many scenes in this book that most artists would never dare to attempt. I'm not talking about the big dramatic sense, but rather the small personal ones where Foster succeeds in portraying situations and feelings which are extremely difficult. Like the grimace on a face when your hair is being brushed forcefully, and things like that.
As for the art, their are so many scenes in this book that most artists would never dare to attempt. I'm not talking about the big dramatic sense, but rather the small personal ones where Foster succeeds in portraying situations and feelings which are extremely difficult. Like the grimace on a face when your hair is being brushed forcefully, and things like that.
ashleylm's review
3.0
Aleta's annoying (and Val's annoying around her) so not my favourite set of stories. There was a whiff of what Roger Ebert called the Idiot Plot about many of the narratives, esp. anything mainly about those two. The ancillary strip was unnecessary and I'm glad it's gone.
But more so than in his original scripts (again, mostly thanks to Aleta), yowza does it ever look 1940s, rather than mid-1st-millennium AD (or even medieval). I can almost recognize the photographs he's drawing from ... that one's Betty Grable ... that one's Rita Hayworth ... that one's Gene Tierney ... and so on. I know he's not the only one to do this (a fun read is "Hollywood and History," a well-written and fun companion to an L.A. costume exhibition, documenting the many ways films get it wrong to appeal to current tastes) but I wish it were less glaringly inaccurate.
Note: I have written a novel (not yet published), so now I will suffer pangs of guilt every time I offer less than five stars. In my subjective opinion, the stars suggest:
(5* = one of my all-time favourites, 4* = really enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = actually disappointing, and 1* = hated it. As a statistician I know most books are 3s, but I am biased in my selection and end up mostly with 4s, thank goodness.)
But more so than in his original scripts (again, mostly thanks to Aleta), yowza does it ever look 1940s, rather than mid-1st-millennium AD (or even medieval). I can almost recognize the photographs he's drawing from ... that one's Betty Grable ... that one's Rita Hayworth ... that one's Gene Tierney ... and so on. I know he's not the only one to do this (a fun read is "Hollywood and History," a well-written and fun companion to an L.A. costume exhibition, documenting the many ways films get it wrong to appeal to current tastes) but I wish it were less glaringly inaccurate.
Note: I have written a novel (not yet published), so now I will suffer pangs of guilt every time I offer less than five stars. In my subjective opinion, the stars suggest:
(5* = one of my all-time favourites, 4* = really enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = actually disappointing, and 1* = hated it. As a statistician I know most books are 3s, but I am biased in my selection and end up mostly with 4s, thank goodness.)
ulrikworm's review
5.0
Jeg har nydt de tidligere bind af min nostalgiske genlæsning af Prins Valiant. Men Hal Foster tager et kæmpe spring op ad i kvalitet, og cementere serien som en klassiker. Aleta er uden sammenligning en af mine absolut yndlingstegneserie-karakter.
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