Uncertain, Fugitive, Half-fabulous

This was the best kind of Hanukkah gift: something I had never really thought about or desired, but which I immediately realized I needed, once I got it.

These original Prince Valiant cartoons are amazing. They are so beautifully drawn and colored, in just the right way as to lift very good storytelling to great storytelling. Val is a classic youthful hero type, who is much better, smarter, and tougher than just about every adult he ever comes across (famous knights of the roundtable included), but who manages to be rife with flaws and perfect at the same time. Watching him grow up in his (amazingly awesome) childhood home, and then go out into the world to pursue quests (that delightfully turn around Arthurian conventions), fall into tragic love, and kill waaaay more people than you probably expect him to, is delightful and exciting, and the presentation in this edition is startlingly good.

Don't get me wrong, there's not a lot of depth here, but it's basic adventure storytelling done at its best, and any emotion that's missing from the prose and plot-turns is right there in the art.