Friday, July 16, 2010

Companions in Adventure

I've been a fan of Hal Foster since I was eight years old. Before even being aware of comic books, I was in love with the Sunday comics with their huge broadsheet layouts. And Prince Valiant always drew me in, even when I had no idea what the story was about.

So flash forward to when I was a young man, having served in the army, but now unemployed, looking for a job. Money was incredibly scarce for a few months. Window shopping at a quaint bookstore, my eyes land on, not one, but two volumes of Prince Valiant art, newly published by Nostalgia Press. The covers were incredibly appealing and each cost $12.95. Thirteen dollars plus tax, and I happened to have fifteen dollars on me. Problem was, that 15 was supposed to keep me in food for a week until my unemployment check came in. Well, you can guess what choice I made. That was the easy choice. The hard choice was deciding on volume one or two, since I could only get a single volume. Well the choice wasn't so hard. Judging a book by its cover, I went for volume 2, Companions in Adventure, the cover art and even the name drawing me in, just as I was drawn in as an 8 year old.

The cover got torn when my (soon to be ex) roommate 'borrowed' it.

When I went back a couple of weeks later, having landed a job, to buy volume one, it was gone. I had to wait some ten years until I found it at a used book store.

With all the other great Valiant books that I now have with better production values, I hold onto these now out of pure nostalgia, and those covers, those incredible covers that never fail to draw me in.


4 comments:

Rip Jagger said...

I totally get what you're saying. My blessed Mom used to send me a few dollars when I was just a Freshman at college, and we had very little money. It was for snacks and such and I almost always used it to buy some books - books I cherish to this day.

Food goes away, but a great book can hang around a long long time.

Rip Off

Joe Jusko said...

I still have both of these for exactly the same reasons! First Prince Valiant books I ever bought!

M. D. Jackson said...

I so hear you, Thom. Hunger is a temporary condition, but having items like these is worth so much more than a mere moment's discomfort.

Enrique said...

Yo tuve en mis manos la edición en tapa dura de ese primer volumen en español, un regalo que nos hicieron en nuestra niñez, hace ya casi 40 años...