The Prince Valiant Page

by Gary Gianni, Mike Mignola (Foreword), Robert Wagner (Introduction)

The Prince Valiant Page is the first book collection featuring Gary Gianni’s work on Prince Valiant. This book gives a well-rounded informative look at both Gianni’s rendition of the Prince Valiant Sunday strip and his own working procedures. After 25 years as a professional illustrator, Gianni describes his new role as an assistant to John Cullen Murphy (who assisted Hal Foster--Prince Valiant's creator). Upon Murphy's retirement, Gianni became the third artist in the 70-year history of the feature. It continues with in-depth knowledge of the strip’s creative process (i.e., receiving the script, photographing models, making preliminary drawings and pencil roughs, then concluding with the finished illustrations). Supporting artwork includes collaborations between Murphy and Gianni, with Murphy’s hand written notes and instructions. Examples of Gianni’s work over the previous thirty years as a professional illustrator are included as well.

Gianni’s entertaining, insightful text reveals his methods and working relationships with Murphy and current Prince Valiant writer, Mark Schultz. Further, he explains the usage of his tools and provides many tips learned during the course of his career. Prince Valiant aficionado’s, those interested in the creation process, and enthusiasts of Gianni’s artwork will all find this book appealing.

Most reproductions are direct from the original artwork, rendered with archival quality, and displayed in museum catalog format. Gianni’s originals are delineated using brush and pen. He utilizes these tools to create tones and variations often lost in the pure black and white reproduction methods characteristically employed in newspapers and comics. Gianni’s work has never been reproduced in this manner before. His full tonal range will be revealed for the first time.

This book includes three gatefolds of Prince Valiant strips in color to showcase the finished works.

Genres: Art

112 pages, Hardcover

First published June 15, 2008

About the author

Gary Gianni is an American comics artist best known for his eight years illustrating the syndicated newspaper comic Prince Valiant.
After Gianni graduated from the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts in 1976, he worked for the Chicago Tribune as an illustrator and network television news as a courtroom sketch artist.

Reviews

[Orrin Grey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not very well versed in Prince Valiant, but Gary Gianni is one of my favorite illustrators and this is an interesting look at his process, with lots of very nice pictures.

My favorite part is when he quotes "a colleague" as saying: "That's why I like drawing monsters battling one another. Nobody can tell me they're not drawn correctly." He doesn't identify the colleague in question, but I don't think there's any doubt that it's Mike Mignola

[Nicolás Orizaga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice behind-the-scenes look at Gary Gianni's method of creating this comic strip, as well as a bit of the history of the strip through it's previous creators.

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty fascinating look at the creation of a newspaper strip. Lots of pictures of Gianni's work from preliminary sketches to finished pages and everything involved in the process. His text is insightful without being overwhelming - the art does most of the talking. Well worth a read for both Prince Valiant fans and those just interested in the artistic process.