Prince Valiant Vol. 1: 1937-1938 by Hal Foster is now available for pre-order. This new series begins the definitive collection of Foster's masterpiece, reproduced from newly available original proof sheets for a truly revelatory reading experience and presented in a beautiful oversize hardcover format. This book is scheduled to be in stock and ready to ship in mid-June and in stores approximately 4 weeks after that (subject to change).

Click through and you can download a free PDF of the first 10 Valiant strips! We don't have the photo previews yet (stay tuned), but we do have a nifty bonus feature for you: Kim Thompson's Afterword, "A History of Valiants," details the restoration and production of this edition and compares it with previous editions from various publishers around the world, and we've put it online for your reading enjoyment. Fascinating stuff!

(And don't forget, if you also order the black & white Libri Impressi edition of Prince Valiant Vol. 1: 1937-1938 that we imported specially from Portugal, you can get a special deal to save $9.99 off the combined prices!)

Prince Valiant Vol. 1: 1937-1938 (Libri Impressi edition)
By Hal Foster

In February 2008 a Portuguese Prince Valiant fan published a special, English-language black and white edition of the first two years of Prince Valiant, shot from the very best proof sheets and carefully restored. Due to contractual limitations on territory this edition was NEVER made available in the U.S. — until now! By special arrangement with King Features Syndicate and the publisher, Fantagraphics has a little under 300 copies available for mail and website orders. They just arrived in our warehouse.

Fantagraphics is the EXCLUSIVE distributors in North America. This book is not available in comics shops (well, except for the Seattle Fantagraphics store). It is not available in bookstores. It is not available through Amazon.com. (We expect copies will turn up on eBay and Amazon's second-hand store at hugely inflated prices before the year is out, though.) This is it! And there are, as we said, fewer than 300 copies. We expect to be sold out within no more than a month or two.

It's a gorgeous, big 11" x 14" hardcover, and it's a thrill to see Foster's sumptuous linework for these first two years reproduced so crisply. Every Foster fan will need one! (It also includes a good, heavily illustrated five-page introduction chock full of rare Foster art.) See more images in our photo slideshow embedded below. Click here if it is not visible, and/or to view it larger in a new window (recommended).

Price is $35.00 per copy.

If you want to pre-order the full-color Fantagraphics edition of Prince Valiant 1937-1938 (due out in June 2009) as well, we're offering the two together at $55.00 (so you'd be getting $10 off the Fanta edition) -- just select that option when placing your order. (Our edition will be available for pre-order on its own in a few days from now.) Remember, the two books contain the EXACT SAME STORY MATERIAL — just one is black and white, and one is color — totally different reading and visual experiences. Order online or call 1-800-657-1100 (206-524-1967 in Canada).

Please note this is ONLY for North American customers (customers outside North America can order copies direct from the publisher: mcaldas59 [at] sapo [dot] pt), there are NO wholesale discounts available (although 20/20 Club discounts do apply), and only ONE copy per customer.

100-page black & white 11" x 14" hardcover • $35.00
Order Now!

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• Flickr user "tvsavior" posts this photo of Gilbert Hernandez giving a talk at the Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival on Saturday

• Great Caesar's Post! recommends Popeye Vol. 3...

• ... and Pol Culture takes a thorough look at Popeye Vol. 2

• The Oregonian reports from the "Comics and Politics" panel that featured Spain Rodriguez, Patrick Rosenkranz, and Alison Bechdel at last weekend's Wordstock festival in Portland, OR

• Look, a groovy mid-'90s Fantagraphics house ad from J.R. Williams

• The Onion A.V. Club Comics Panel looks at Pocket Full of Rain and Other Stories by Jason

• A Norwegian (I think) ode to Ivan Brunetti

• Four Color Commentary looks at the 45th volume in our Prince Valiant series

• Comics Waiting Room reviews Petey & Pussy by John Kerschbaum

• Link of the Month and Possibly the Year: "The book seems to have been done tongue in cheek... However I am posting this as serious as I want as many as possible to avoid this time in Earth's history."

Thanks to some inventory reshuffling we now have several formerly out-of-stock books back in our warehouse and available to order! Quantities are very limited — in some cases, literally a handful — so get your order in quick before they're gone again! The list:

• The Comic Strip Art of Lyonel Feininger
• The Comics Journal #290 (with the Schulz and Peanuts roundtable, this one sold out fast the first time)
• Crumple by Dave Cooper
• Greetings from Hellville by Thomas Ott
• Prince Valiant Vol. 11: Intrigues at Camelot (1946-1947) by Hal Foster
• Prince Valiant Vol. 41: King of Atheldag (1971-1972) by Hal Foster & John Cullen Murphy
• Prince Valiant Vol. 50: Vikings on the Isle of Man by Hal Foster & John Cullen Murphy (undamaged copies)
• Tell Me Something by Jason