Harold (Hal) Foster

Hal Foster (Canadian-American, 1892-1982): is regarded as the father of illustrational action-adventure cartooning. Originally trained as an illustrator, Foster broke into the comic strip field on January 7, 1929 with his landmark work on the Tarzan feature. In 1936, Foster created his own epic feature, Prince Valiant, and wrote and drew the saga until the May 16, 1971 Sunday. All told, Foster drew an estimated 1,764 Prince Valiant episodes, each a magnificent example of comic strip art. After handing over the finished art chores to John Cullen Murphy, Foster still continued to write, create layouts, and color the strip for nine more years. On February 10, 1980, the last Prince Valiant strip written by Foster saw print, and it was an end of an era. Foster's work has inspired countless cartoonists including Jack Kirby, Lou Fine, Frank Frazetta, Al Williamson, Joe Kubert, Russ Manning, and many others