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| Hal Foster | |
|---|---|
| Born | Harold Rudolf Foster August 18, 1892 Halifax, Nova Scotia |
| Died | July 25, 1982 (aged 89) Winter Park, Florida |
| Area(s) | Writer, Artist |
| Notable works | Prince Valiant |
Harold ("Hal") Rudolf Foster (August 18, 1892, Halifax, Nova Scotia – July 25, 1982, Winter Park, Florida) was a Canadian-American cartoonist most famous as the creator of the comic strip Prince Valiant.[1]
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Biography
Foster worked as a staff artist for the Hudson's Bay Company in Winnipeg and moved to Chicago in 1919 where he studied at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. He subsequently worked as an illustrator before getting involved with Tarzan, an adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs's novels. Foster's Tarzan comic strip first appeared January 7, 1929. However, he was not interested in continuing the strip, so it was passed on to Rex Maxton for six months. Foster returned after Maxton's inept tenure and quickly restored gravitas to the Tarzan franchise.
He soon grew tired of adaptation and began planning his own creation. William Randolph Hearst, who had long wanted Foster to do a comic for his newspapers, was so impressed with Foster's pitch for Prince Valiant that he promised Foster the ownership of the strip if he would start the series, a very rare offer in those days. The strip began in 1936. Foster's impact on comic art was especially significant in the development of adventure strips where he demonstrated a sober attention to detail in human anatomy and costume. His artwork was an influence on numerous artists, including Al Williamson, Joe Kubert, Wally Wood, William Stout, Mark Schultz, George Pratt and the British illustrator Bill Ward.
Awards
Foster was recognized for his work by the National Cartoonists Society with the Reuben Award in 1957, the Story Comic Strip Award in 1964, the Special Features Award in 1966 and 1967, all for Prince Valiant, the Elzie Segar Award in 1978, and the Gold Key Award (their Hall of Fame) in 1977. Foster was inducted into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 1996, and the Joe Shuster Canadian Comic Book Creators Hall of Fame for his contributions to comic books in 2005 (The latter award was accepted on behalf of the family by an emotional Dave Sim, a modern comic writer and longtime fan of Foster's work). Foster was inducted into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame in 2006.
References
- ^ De Weyer, Geert (2008) (in Dutch). 100 stripklassiekers die niet in je boekenkast mogen ontbreken. Amsterdam / Antwerp: Atlas. p. 214. ISBN 9789045009964.
Sources
- Blackbeard, Bill. "Artist of the Absurd" in Tarzan in Color. Vol. 1. 1931-1932 New York: Flying Buttress Classics Library. ISBN 1561630497
- Kane, Brian M. Hal Foster: Prince of Illustrators. Vanguard Productions, 2001. ISBN 1-887591-25-7. IPPY Award-winning biography.
External links
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