Hal Foster, “The Father of Adventure Comics”, died on this date forty years ago, just shy of his ninetieth birthday. His Prince Valiant newspaper strip is a towering achievement in the history of the art form. As an artist, Foster influenced everyone from Jack Kirby to Frank Frazetta to Joe Kubert to John Buscema to Bernie Wrightson to Gary Gianni.

My time is short, so I'll just quote from Foster's entry at the Lambiek Comiclopedia site:

Hal Foster was one of the major artists of American newspaper comics, and one of the medium's great innovators. He was the first to adapt Edgar Rice Burroughs' 'Tarzan of the Apes' into comic format (1929, 1931-1937), but is best-known for his Arthurian saga 'Prince Valiant' (1937- ), to which he devoted over forty years of his life. Coming from a background in classical illustration, Foster introduced new techniques into the art of newspaper comics, such as chiaroscuro, naturalistic drawing and a thorough documentation. (...)
His magnificent lay-outs and spell-binding narratives have been imitated, even downright plagiarized, by countless comic artists worldwide. Together with his contemporaries Alex Raymond and Milton Caniff, he ranks as one of the most influential comic artists of all time, earning him the nickname the "Father of the Adventure Strip".

As noted, Hal drew the very first 'Tarzan' newspaper strip, which tremendously influenced a young Frank Frazetta. It was also admired by Bob Kane, who swiped panels from it to use in the earliest stories of Batman.

Foster didn't write the Tarzan scripts, which became progressively worse. Hal began to consider doing his own newspaper strip. Once again, from the Lambiek Comiclopedia:

Unsatisfied while drawing the 'Tarzan' comic, Hal Foster used his spare time in the mid-1930s to develop a comic strip of his own. Inspired by the legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, the series originally carried the working titles 'Derek, Son of Thane' and 'Prince Arn'. Out of loyalty with his employer, Foster first presented his idea to United Feature Syndicate. However, they turned him down, so Foster took his chances with the competing King Features Syndicate, that was part of the Hearst media empire. Eager to have the famous 'Tarzan' artist in his own papers, syndicate owner William Randolph Hearst not only accepted Foster's chivalry comic, but also offered the cartoonist full creative control and ownership, at the time a rare practice. By request of the syndicate, Foster renamed his new project to 'Prince Valiant in the Days of King Arthur', but it is generally referred to as simply 'Prince Valiant'.
On 13 February 1937, 'Prince Valiant' premiered as a color comic in the Saturday tabloid pages. Sixteen weeks later, it became a full-page Sunday feature, until in 1971, it switched to a half-page format. (...) Much of the page's aesthetics and depth came from the interaction between Foster's use of black ink and the unique opportunities of the four-color printing technique, which the artist used cleverly for creating perspective, texture and atmosphere.

Backed by the power of the Hearst empire, Prince Valiant was an instant hit. Foster continued to work on the strip almost until his dying day. It continues even now, written by Mark Schultz and drawn by Tom Yeates. As you might have noticed, 2022 also marks the eighty-fifth anniversary of Prince Valiant. The one hundred thirtieth anniversary of Hal's birth is about three weeks from now. I hope to write a more thorough post at that point.

Until then, raise a glass to the shade of a true titan of comic art, sword-brothers. His legacy--both his own work and those artists he inspired--is nearly unparalleled.

Feel free to check out the gallery below.