So far I love ELFQUEST - BLOOD OF TEN CHIEFS. I only recently got into ELFQUEST and until I read the letters in the back I had no clue that there were prose books as well. Unfortunately any ELFQUEST books are hard to come by, especially the BLOOD OF TEN CHIEFS, so I've only read #1 and #2. Anyway, I do have a point and am getting to it. I really hope that you adapt Nancy Springer's story "Stormlight's Way" or "Songshaper." Those are my favorites. Well, I guess that is about it. I think everyone at ELFQUEST has done a great job and keep up the good work!
Kerin Pivca
<<street address removed from archive>>
Even after fifteen years, ELFQUEST is one of those things that you have to do a bit of searching for. I'm not particularly thrilled about that, but as long as the majority of comics retailers view EQ as a "cult item," that's the way it'll be. Just about everything relating to the ongoing story is in print in one form or another - all the graphic novels, all the prose anthologies. You just have to keep digging, and pushing, and letting your local comics shop or bookstore know that you want to be able to walk in and find ELFQUEST. (Now, there's also a lot of material that is long out of print, such as original editions of the comics. We don't have those, and you'll have to put on your collector's hat to find some of that stuff...)
I like BLOOD OF TEN CHIEFS very much. The
artwork is different, but it's good, very good. I'm glad
to see that not all of the BLOOD OF TEN CHIEFS stories
are going to be based on stories from the anthology
books. I'm sure Richard and Wendy have had ideas
for their own BLOOD OF TEN CHIEFS stories. But if you
keep on doing stories based on the prose series, here
are my top five favorites that I think would make
good comic stories: "Tale of the Snowbeast,"
"Stormlight's Way," "Coyote," "The Good Summer,"
and "Finder."
I think "Stormlight's Way" would make the best story out of the five. It's one of the most dramatic stories I've ever read.
Jenn Osborne
<<street address removed from archive>>
Hm. That's two votes for Nancy Springer's story. We'll have to give that some consideration. And I hope you're pleased to note that next issue you get your wish for the comics adaptation of "Tale of the Snowbeast."
Recently we had some very good conversation with Kim Yale. Kim, as you may recall, wrote the wonderful "Long Dream's Ending" story that appeared in NEW BLOOD #9. Well, for some time now, she and Wendy and I have been wondering whatever happened to that portion of the tribe that Two-Spear led when he split off from Huntress Skyfire's Wolfriders. We've never really had the opportunity to find out what became of those elves - and where did the Go-Backs originally come from, anyway? Hey, you don't suppose...
Stay tuned to this title for further developments!
Help! Help! Help! Help!
I have not visited the comic book store in months and finally got over there today. They had HIDDEN YEARS #10 but they tell me that BLOOD OF TEN CHIEFS #2 or #3 hasn't come in yet! And there is not a copy of "Rogue's Challenge" to be found. Help! I feel as though I've missed a lot. How can I get a copy of these issues? Please help me track down these issues!!!
The comic book store (and the only one in Baton Rouge that carries ELFQUEST) is a very long way off, and I can rarely get there. I suggest a great idea: Why not a subscription? If ELFQUEST started coming to my mailbox, it would save me a lot of time, and I could finally receive the issues when they come out, not years later.
BLOOD OF TEN CHIEFS is (for lack of better words) amazing. I just recently read the novels, and was astonished. The artwork in the comic series astounds me. Very, very wonderful.
One last thought: On my wall is a picture of Walt Disney, a very sacred man to me. Next to him hangs a print of Strongbow. To me ELFQUEST is as sacred as Disney, so keep up the great work.
Kristin Hogan
<<street address removed from archive>>
Only one store in Baton Rouge carries ELFQUEST? And after all those Thursday-night-before-the-convention crawdads I forced myself to choke down with all that beer?! The ingratitude!
Seriously, I wonder whatever happened to the idea that the customer is the one that a shop is in business to serve? Does someone really not want to take your money when you go into their store? Are they that well off without your patronage?
Subscriptions for ELFQUEST are something that we used to offer, and that once again we're looking into. How many of you out there would like to see them reinstated? Let us know.
Shame on you! I have just finished reading
BLOOD OF TEN CHIEFS #3 and it has a major mistake
on the second page: Swift-Spear is the fifth chief of
the Wolfriders? If I still know how to count he is the
fourth (Timmorn, Rahnee, Prey-Pacer, Swift-Spear).
Although I can understand that people make
mistakes, I was very surprised that this was written.
Hopefully it won't happen again. I loved the story
itself. I have read the story in the prose BLOOD OF TEN
CHIEFS and I really like the comic version.
Another problem I have is about BoTC #2. in this story Bearclaw has the name we all know, when he discovers the trolls. But in the NEW BLOOD 1993 SUMMER SPECIAL, the story "Naming Day" to be precise, Bearclaw has just given himself his name. But when he and Birdcall/Treestump have a go at a dreamberry field they already know about the trolls. So I ask you: Did Bearclaw have his name before or after he discovered the trolls. (This is what Gertler calls "little details.") What was the name Bearclaw had before?
In "Chief Shots" of BoTC #3 David Peattie asks about artwork Janine Johnston did before BoTC. You answer that she had done the art of STAR WARS: DARK EMPIRE. You must know that when I read BoTC #1, I recognized Janine's art immediately, because I am also a great Star Wars fan. I have all the recent Star Wars comics, and I can tell you that Janine didn't do DARK EMPIRE, but she did do TALES OF THE JEDI, which is a great story. (More details.)
But altogether BLOOD OF TEN CHIEFS is a great piece of work. Of all the now running EQ stories it's the only one of which I don't have any problems that it isn't Wendy who does the art. Because the characters that appear in the stories didn't show up often before, we have no idea what they would look like if Wendy had done it. And that makes it easier to accept another artist doing ELFQUEST. The other artists are also great, and I like their stories, but as so many have said before, it just misses that little extra magic that Wendy gives it. That doesn't keep me from following all the ELFQUEST titles, because it's getting better all the time.
Ronald Gravendeel
<<street address removed from archive>>
I was going to go into a fairly lengthy and detailed explanation that would address every single one of your points and concerns... but then figured that we here at Warp ought just to come up with something that's the equivalent of Marvel's long gone and lamented no-prize, just for situations like this.
"Praising what is lost,
Makes the remembrance dear..."
from "All's Well That Ends Well"
William Shakespeare
I've read the original version of "Swift-Spear" by Mark C. Ferry and C. J. Cherryh (my favorite science fiction writer) and I am glad to say that, like BLOOD OF TEN CHIEFS #1 and #2, issue #3 is a faithful and beautiful adaptation of the original. Janine Johnston's covers are spectacular! Bonanno and Kaalberg did a good job of differentiating among the different groups within the elven tribe through clothing, hair, and skin color. However, they made a glitch when it came to height and build. The High Ones are supposed to be taller and reedier than their stockier and shorter wolf-blooded progeny. Wolfriders are also supposed to be smaller than humans, yet Graywolf and Swift-Spear are almost as tall as their human attackers.
Speaking of Graywolf, he and the two gray-haired elves that appear on pages 8 and 18 look like hunts. I was wondering if you ever intend to make an ELFQUEST series based an the hunts, their culture, and history from the time they left the original Wolfriders when Rahnee the She-Wolf became chieftain. It would be interesting to see what would happen if the hunt and the Wolfriders were to rediscover one another at some future time. The meeting would be especially poignant in the light of the fears of Treestump and the other elders that their tribe is dying out (HIDDEN YEARS #9 1/2).
Ever since "Chief Shots" first appeared in BoTC, everyone has been sending in requests for comics versions of their favorite BoTC short stories. I'd like to add a few of my own to the list: "Night Hunt" by Diane Carey, "Songshaper" by Nancy Springer, "Coyote" by Richard Pini, "The Fire Song" by Diana Paxson, "Firstborn" by Allen Wold, and "Court and Chase" by Katherine Eliska Kimbriel.
Debbie Perron
<<street address removed from archive>>
As I mentioned earlier, it may turn out that the Wolfriders have already met the descendants of those original hunt elves. We'll see. And as long as we're heavily into audience response this letter column, how about it, everyone - do you have a favorite short story or three that you'd like to see adapted into these four-color pages? Let's do that ever-popular poll thing! Send us your votes, and we'll do what we can. See you in 60! - RP