Prince Valiant is sent on a mission to track down a missing, lovesick heir, but when his retrieval is too late, Val becomes a practiced mentor to the reluctant leader. On his way back to Camelot, Val befriends Sir Reynolde, a waggish actor whose equestrian skills gain King Arthur’s attention and whose masterful impersonations get him into a long-distance love triangle. In-fighting amongst family members and knights alike wages in the Hall of Champions, all while young Arn goes berserk under the incantation of the feral forest people. Val leads a slave rebellion, Aleta plots against the greedy governors that have lunged the Misty Isles into dangerous complacency, and the royal children discover romance.

Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant continues as one of the all-time magnificent adventure comics ever conceived and Fantagraphics’ reprinting is the loveliest treatment of the strip in the history of publishing.