HAL FOSTER'S PRINCE VALIANT SKETCHBOOKS An Illustrated Memoir Volume 1 Signed

This is the first of six volumes, all completed to be released six months apart, the same size as the Prince Valiant reprint volumes. Long time series editor Brian M. Kane has created a magnum opus for Valiant fans...a look behind the scenes at Foster's creation process. The entire series contains 366 penciled layout pages by Hal Foster (all at original size) -- 8 of which are on two pages; 577 panel-by-panel description and caption pages, 40 character sketches, over 10 dozen pieces of additional art by Foster, over 100 photographs, and 123 letters and notes (mostly from Foster to John Cullen Murphy). There are also quotes by Foster and many by his fans (like Frazetta, Dave Stevens, Burne Hogarth, et al.). Brian has created a special bookplate, in full color, each one different for each volume, and signed it as the editor. This is a true labor of love that Brian has been working on for more than a decade. Foster kept meticulous studies of much of his work and here finally is a chance to see those first concepts and character studies and so much more. From Brian's introduction: "It was always there, hiding in plain sight." In nearly every photo of Foster at his drawing table, there was a 3-ring binder tucked under the board or lying open. It was easy to overlook, since the full PV pages were the center of focus. "However, all those glorious graphite and India-inked pages were nothing without it, and neither were the four-color newsprint [pages]. That is because all those finished pages--though featuring what is undeniably some of the most gorgeous art ever illustrated for comics--are, by definition, merely the skillful execution of ideas...it was in this unassuming binder that Foster's imagination ran wild in the form of sketches, research notes, character concept drawings, page layouts, and everything related to those legendary quests, sagas or homespun life lessons he endlessly envisioned for his hero, Prince Valiant--the man he wished he were. That binder contained all the raw, inspired sparks that gave life to every Prince Valiant story, and it was where Foster's generously creative muse made its home." It turns out all the older binders are long gone, but all the time Foster was collaborating with John Cullen Murphy (he continued to lay out the pages and write much of the stories for quite a number of years)...he kept the notebooks and these are all still in existence, thanks to Murphy! So that is where all this wonderful back-story art is collected from, after Foster had supposedly retired from the strip though in reality he was still deeply involved.