SUNDAY, JUNE 20, 2010
I am a Friend of the Friends of Hal Foster Society
Here is the story so far...
Hal Foster was an illustrator. He was most famous for the comic strip Prince Valiant, which was published worldwide in newspapers for 35 years, beginning in 1937. BeforePrince Valiant, he drew an adaptation of Tarzan, which was also published in around the world.
Hal Foster's artistic techniques were superb and his work ethic was unbelievable. He wrote, pencilled, inked and coloured every strip, never missed publication deadlines (as he was always ahead of the game) and his finished pages were full of detail, perfect proportions, fleshed out backgrounds, I don't do him justice.
Hal Foster (Harold Rudolf Foster, August 16th, 1892), was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. This just happens to be where I call home as well. A few months ago, I heard of Hal's Halifax connection for the first time, and heard of an organization The Friends of Hal Foster Society, that was doing their best to raise awareness of this interesting local story. I was inspired by this, as surely everyone else has been, but the cause has been stuck in my brain ever since.
The Friends of Hal Foster Society is an unraveling mystery to me, each day brings new tidbits of information, which I will reveal here... this is what I know so far...
Calum (Cal) Johnston, owner of three atlantic Canada comic shops (Strange Adventures), is where I first heard Hal Foster's story. I am a comic fanatic, but I admittedly have a poor knowledge of the history of comics, and had never read any Prince Valiant. I picked up a recently republished collection of Prince Valiant: Volume 1, 1937-1938 (fromFantagraphics) and was blown away.
I soon became a 'fan' of Hal Foster on Facebook, I posted some comments and was soon contacted by Brian M. Kane, the official biographer of Hal. Brian seemed quite keen to hear about the initiative in Halifax, but sadly I knew nothing of interest.
My friends and I are amateur comic artists, so we came up with the idea of producing an entertaining information pamphlet entitled 'Who is Hal Foster?' We did, and dressed in my own tunic (and wearing a black bob wig), we distributed hundreds of these pages to the public waiting for the annual 'Free Comic Book Day' event hosted by Strange Adventures. The event was fun, Cal lent me the official reproduction of Prince Valiant's sword and shield. I had a blast! Brent Braaten, a partner in crime, also took on the role as Prince Valiant!
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After bugging Cal with some lengthy late-night emails, we set up a meeting with Kevin Sollow, another local with a passion for Hal, and had lunch. At this meeting, I heard some exciting things, primarily an event in the works to spread 'the word' of Hal Foster. The event is still in planning stages, but it should occur on the second or third saturday in August (2010), on the waterfront, near Hal's original home in south-end Halifax.
There was also talk of a statue being erected in honour of Hal. Statues of course cost thousands of dollars (I've heard quotes ranging from $30,000 to $100,000), so this is not a real priority for the group, but surely it would be a great end-goal.
I acquired a copy of the (newly reprinted) biography of Hal Foster: Prince of Illustrators - Father of the Adventure Strip, by Brian M Kane (from Vanguard Productions). Read the first 100 pages in a night, and was further inspired. Later in the week, Kevin dropped off a booklet entitled 'Hal Foster: the once and future king, childhood in Halifax, 1892-1905'. It is a great information package, produced by The Friends of Hal Foster Society, that I will take some samples from, and display here.
While I haven't been fully inducted into The Friends of Hal Foster Society (there haven't been any rituals or dues paid... I hope there is at least a secret handshake), I'm working on it! There should be an official website for the Society developed soon, there will be some fundraising initiatives soon, some that I need to do some design work for... that is all I know for now.
And to be clear, for all the readers out there in the world... this blog is only in existence to spread the word of Hal Foster. I will surely use some copyrighted material, but only in homage. I will remove any content that is questionable, email me if there is concern.
- Shawn
Hal Foster was an illustrator. He was most famous for the comic strip Prince Valiant, which was published worldwide in newspapers for 35 years, beginning in 1937. BeforePrince Valiant, he drew an adaptation of Tarzan, which was also published in around the world.
Hal Foster's artistic techniques were superb and his work ethic was unbelievable. He wrote, pencilled, inked and coloured every strip, never missed publication deadlines (as he was always ahead of the game) and his finished pages were full of detail, perfect proportions, fleshed out backgrounds, I don't do him justice.
Hal Foster (Harold Rudolf Foster, August 16th, 1892), was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. This just happens to be where I call home as well. A few months ago, I heard of Hal's Halifax connection for the first time, and heard of an organization The Friends of Hal Foster Society, that was doing their best to raise awareness of this interesting local story. I was inspired by this, as surely everyone else has been, but the cause has been stuck in my brain ever since.
The Friends of Hal Foster Society is an unraveling mystery to me, each day brings new tidbits of information, which I will reveal here... this is what I know so far...
Calum (Cal) Johnston, owner of three atlantic Canada comic shops (Strange Adventures), is where I first heard Hal Foster's story. I am a comic fanatic, but I admittedly have a poor knowledge of the history of comics, and had never read any Prince Valiant. I picked up a recently republished collection of Prince Valiant: Volume 1, 1937-1938 (fromFantagraphics) and was blown away.
I soon became a 'fan' of Hal Foster on Facebook, I posted some comments and was soon contacted by Brian M. Kane, the official biographer of Hal. Brian seemed quite keen to hear about the initiative in Halifax, but sadly I knew nothing of interest.
My friends and I are amateur comic artists, so we came up with the idea of producing an entertaining information pamphlet entitled 'Who is Hal Foster?' We did, and dressed in my own tunic (and wearing a black bob wig), we distributed hundreds of these pages to the public waiting for the annual 'Free Comic Book Day' event hosted by Strange Adventures. The event was fun, Cal lent me the official reproduction of Prince Valiant's sword and shield. I had a blast! Brent Braaten, a partner in crime, also took on the role as Prince Valiant!
.jpg)
After bugging Cal with some lengthy late-night emails, we set up a meeting with Kevin Sollow, another local with a passion for Hal, and had lunch. At this meeting, I heard some exciting things, primarily an event in the works to spread 'the word' of Hal Foster. The event is still in planning stages, but it should occur on the second or third saturday in August (2010), on the waterfront, near Hal's original home in south-end Halifax.
There was also talk of a statue being erected in honour of Hal. Statues of course cost thousands of dollars (I've heard quotes ranging from $30,000 to $100,000), so this is not a real priority for the group, but surely it would be a great end-goal.
I acquired a copy of the (newly reprinted) biography of Hal Foster: Prince of Illustrators - Father of the Adventure Strip, by Brian M Kane (from Vanguard Productions). Read the first 100 pages in a night, and was further inspired. Later in the week, Kevin dropped off a booklet entitled 'Hal Foster: the once and future king, childhood in Halifax, 1892-1905'. It is a great information package, produced by The Friends of Hal Foster Society, that I will take some samples from, and display here.
While I haven't been fully inducted into The Friends of Hal Foster Society (there haven't been any rituals or dues paid... I hope there is at least a secret handshake), I'm working on it! There should be an official website for the Society developed soon, there will be some fundraising initiatives soon, some that I need to do some design work for... that is all I know for now.
And to be clear, for all the readers out there in the world... this blog is only in existence to spread the word of Hal Foster. I will surely use some copyrighted material, but only in homage. I will remove any content that is questionable, email me if there is concern.
- Shawn
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