AYOOOAH!
Elfquest is now in the Internet in a Big Way! If you have World Wide Web access of any sort, come visit the brand new Elfquest homepage at http://www.elfquest.com where you can preview coming comics, order from the Warp*Store, join in the ongoing Q&A, get Elfquest news before anyone else, and generally get connected to the World of Two Moons and Warp Graphics!
The "Sometimes All Us Little People DO Make
A Difference" Department. Reader Meghan Mogel of
San Francisco sent in the following clipping (unfortunately,
the newspaper's name was not part of it):
subsequently we received several versions of the same
news. Short, sweet, and welcome! - RP
National Datelines
Alaska Governor Cancels Wolf Kill
Anchorage Alaska's Gov. Tony Knowles on Friday canceled the state's controversial program of killing wild gray wolves to boost a caribou held targeted by sport hunters.
Calling the program "mismanaged" and "inhumane," the governor made the announcement at a news conference, where he revealed a report on the investigation of a gruesome wolf-kill incident that had been videotaped and broadcast worldwide. "It was an inhumane way to treat any animal," Knowles said.
Subj: BOTC #16 thoughts
From: RavvitEars@aol.com
The world of ELFQUEST can certainly be compared to a jigsaw puzzle or to the weaving of a tapestry (probably a little more in keeping with the subject, I suppose.)
Let me just start by saying I like the way Del and inker Al Nickerson work together. And Terry Collins' script - showing the preceding stories from the human perspective - was unexpected but welcome. I especially liked the way years of seething hatred colored the image of Mantricker in the story told by Skar.
Also liked the pot belly on Demontricker; nice touch in showing the effects of age on humans. We haven't seen the full gamut of a human character's age since Little Patch.
This issue, although the chief is Bearclaw, focuses on the legacy of Mantricker's adversarial relationship with the humans. Demontricker and Elona show up again as does the little boy from last issue, now grown up. Evil as the teachings of Skar's father were, Mantricker still has to be blamed as well for how Skar's life turned out.
I hate to say it, but I have this feeling that many of the reading audience out there HAS BLOOD OF TEN CHIEFS at the bottom of their EQ list of favorite titles. No real harm in that if they're still reading it. Out of the various titles, somebody has to be at the bottom. But I've been moving this title up, probably on a par with REBELS; definitely ahead of JINK. It's just that I'm such an EQ addict, I want all I can get of their past, their histories, their legends. And I want to learn more about the tangential characters in the lives of each of the chiefs. I hope the title runs a long time!
But the most fascinating aspect in the story was the inclusion of the two little boys who hear the old human's story before they run off to play their little 'trick'.
Obviously these two are the boys who put the tragic events surrounding Skywise's birth into motion. So if any of you out there keep your EQ comics in chronological order, this issue probably comes right before the HIDDEN YEARS issue with Eyes High and Shale.
Toby
BLOOD OF TEN CHIEFS is fifteen already?
Happy Birthday, teenie. Just what are you going to be
when you grow up? This issue is all about changes,
isn't it? I must admit it scares this here ol' grandma
Nutan. There's this terrific fantasy writer R.L. Asprin,
and look what he does in the EQ woods. I really don't
know. They're all getting such great ideas: snake
attacks, wolves doing whatever stunt one may think
of, chiefs likewise... I'm inclined to start an environmental
movement: woods to the Pinis!
If you're puzzled now, so am I. But it proves true again and again. Somehow, my own ideas of what's likely must be close to Wendy's and Richard's. Whenever someone else contributes, more often than not I'm jarred out of the story, shaking my head, muttering "I dunno...". Luckily, JINK and REBELS are an exception!
About the art, um. Dynamic, professional. But I bet time was short. The last pages are done so economical, no unnecessary lines... there should be nothing wrong with that, but I feel something's missing. Delfin's done better on other occasions. If all we get is black night for a background and the most necessary lines for Joyleaf's face, for instance, and someone who looks approximately like Bearclaw, well... it's come to the point where EQ characters are only recognizable by their clothing, ornaments, hairdo and rough sketch of their looks.
The "transformation" of Mantricker into a blood-red forest demon looks somehow familiar. First I thought of "The Books of Magic", but it's closer to Marc Hempel's Sandman work. Very impressive, really, but a different style than the rest of the story.
Please excuse me for being such an adamant Pini fan. You can't choose recognition! The report from Japan has my mouth watering. Don't change your style in writing, Richard. A short question: have you noticed how rarely the fans get to hear about the existence of the anthologies? I'm wondering if there's a reason behind that -- I mean, if it's (not) done on purpose. Oops. English grammar...
Oh, and don't give me ideas. I might be able to learn to be an inker, y'know... and you might be glad there's all that Vastdeep water between you and German perfectionists! See you in 2000 A.D.
Nutan (Ruth Vogelgesang)
<<street address removed from archive>>
Keep those cards, letters, and impressionistic chiefs coming, and we'll see you in 45! - RP