Yes, I follow the issue and had input from various experts back when I wrote it. Yes, it’s ironic that just when The Beckoning is being reprinted with its fight against the ivory trade theme we find elephants being slaughtered for their tusks again, just like when I originally created the story some 24 years ago. “When will we ever learn?” as the song says. Do you keep up with the issue and what insights might you have? We see that countries and organizations are still struggling with this issue, as evidenced by the crushing and burning of ivory. I think it will be out in the fall.ĮC: One of the issues Tarzan: The Beckoning dealt with was the slaughter of elephants and the ivory trade. There were production problems in the original version so the new collection will be much better, including pages put back in order that were out of order in the Malibu version. We fixed the coloring, I added a little new art and tweaked the story. We just finished working on that for about nine months, Dark Horse, two assistants and myself. And of course Gawain is always a kick.ĮC: I’ve heard rumors that your mini-series, Tarzan: The Beckoning, first published by Malibu in the 90s, is going to be reprinted. It’s much better when there are women in action adventure stories. At least that’s what I think.ĮC: Who’s your favorite character in the Prince Valiant cast? He set the bar so incredibly high that all of us who’ve continued the strip have tried our best to maintain that level of quality. And, of course, the hard work of those who followed Foster. TY: Well the main credit for that goes to Hal Foster who created, wrote and illustrated this Sunday only strip. The format differs from paper to paper, but I’ve been able to deal with that.ĮC: The longevity of Prince Valiant is astounding. I’ve had to limit the line work to accommodate a weird registration problem that we see today. TY: The main problem is the reproduction.

Particularly working with writer Mark Schultz, who likes hearing my story ideas, which makes it a lot more fun.ĮC: What are some the challenges you find as opposed to traditional comics or illustrations? Thomas Yeates: Basically it’s great I’m very fortunate to have landed this job.

Recently, I caught up with Thomas Yeates and chatted about his recent efforts.Įd Catto: You’ve been illustrating the Prince Valiant weekly comic strip for some time now.

I still enjoy his brilliant work each weekend when I pick up the Sunday paper and read Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant. Yeates has enjoyed an extraordinary career, drawing iconic characters iconic from Tarzan to Swamp Thing, Conan to Captain Action and even Dracula. These tales were spun by Thomas Yeates, one of the first graduates of the Kubert School. A few years ago when I had the honor to moderate the Joe Kubert panel at New York Comic Con, I was pleasantly surprised by how many great stories one of the panelists shared.

Dracula Versus Zorro by Don McGregor