EIGHT IS A SPECIAL NUMBER, it occurs to us, for several reasons. If you're an elf (one of ours, anyway) or a computer (a small one, anyway) then eight is the base for all of your counting. Eight fingers, you know. Well, we've had elves for three years, and now we're getting used to the newest addition to the WaRP family, a small home computer. More on him later. But EIGHT - that is, issue eight of ELFQUEST - is special for another reason. With this issue we are at and past the halfway mark in the spinning of our story! CUTTER and SKYWISE (and very soon, many familiar faces that we left back in Sorrow's End) are on the Quest! From this point events move ever forward, never back - until the grand finish, issue 15, January 1983! Looking back over the past three years, wow! And just looking back over this past one...
WHAT A YEAR IT'S BEEN... One would think that summers are for vacations, and in many cases one would be correct! However. For us the summer of 1980 will surely go down in the books as the Time of Conventions (as I write this, on August 22, it isn't over yet!) and 1979 - 1980 will probably be known as the Year of the Awards. We are exhausted, worn thin, and very, VERY proud. And thankful that YOU have helped make ELFQUEST the success it is, and hopefully will continue to be. We're very pleased to announce that last summer we were the recipients of the ED APRILL Award at the New York Comic Art Convention, and the ALLEY Awards made by The Comic Reader; then earlier this year the SMALL PRESS WRITERS AND ARTISTS ORGANIZATION Awards for Best Comic Magazine AND Best Artist. Finally, to cap it all off, this summer at the San Diego ComiCon we were surprised and honored to take not one, but TWO of the prestigious INKPOT Awards presented at that convention. Our heads are still spinning! Thank you, one and all!
MORE ABOUT SUBSCRIPTIONS - We mentioned earlier that we had taken the plunge and bought a micro-computer that we intend to use in helping with the many subscriptions that we have to ELFQUEST. Computers are, however, basically dumb until they are programmed with the right information. So, to help me (Stamplicker again) feed this little electronic beast with the right stuff, here are some DO'S and DON'T'S that, if you follow them, will make us very happy! DO tell us what number you want your sub to start with - if you don't we will send you the CURRENT issue. DO give us both your OLD and NEW addresses when you move. DON'T send cash through the mail - it can get lost too easily. DON'T subscribe or renew for more than four issues - we will not accept your order if you do. DO check the bottom of page one in each issue for all the latest subscription information. DO make sure to put your NAME AND ADDRESS on all letters and orders, not just on the envelope or check.
THE HONEST-TO-THE-HIGH-ONES OFFICIAL ELFQUEST FAN CLUB! That's right; at long last, there IS one! We've had so many requests to start up such a club, and so many letters from people asking if it's OK to have small, informal fan clubs, that we've decided to go full speed ahead on it. Here's what we've got so far. We are planning on a bi-monthly newsletter that will be mailed out to club members only (that will contain news and bits of information that will not appear in ELFQUEST magazine). Members will also receive a club card and certificate, and information on how to start up local chapters of the club. There will also be a club magazine for sale that will contain the best of the art, fiction, and articles we get from YOU! What we'd like from you NOW is your ideas on what this club will be and do - what YOU'D like to see happen. Write to us! Although we won't be able to answer your letters individually on this, we will be reading every one and will use the best ideas we get! Remember, this will be the ONLY official ELFQUEST fan club there is. Let us know you're there! Details on how to join are on page 33!
THE SACRED AND THE PRO/FAN. We feel that it's about time to clear up a misconception that is understandable, but that should now be put to rest. And that, people, is that ELFQUEST is a fanzine or any other type of fan production. Honestly, we truly don't feel that we belong in the fan category, nor have we belonged there for some time. Call ELFQUEST an alternative comic, an independent publication, an illustrated fantasy novel... but call it PROFESSIONAL. Wendy is a professional artist; she makes her living at her craft. And while I still crank out an 8-to-5 in the "normal" world, I have been both a professional writer and editor. We haven't totally gafiated (GAFIA = Getting Away From It All) but we are no longer two fans doing a fanzine. Let's all pull together on this one, and see if we can't fly ELFQUEST right on up there to the top! (By the way - if you are having trouble finding ELFQUEST in your area or if your local comics shop doesn't carry it, LET THEM KNOW it's available! Ask them to write us for distribution information.)
MORE on the SMALL PRESS WRITERS AND ARTISTS ORGANIZATION mentioned earlier. We've gotten letters from would-be writers and artists asking "Do you accept ideas/artwork/ scripts?" and "How can I be published?" We'd like to recommend that anyone wanting to find out more about self-publishing and being published contact the SPWAO. For $7.50 a year, you get the group's newsletter AND their Market Guide, a listing of small press publications that are looking for writing and artwork to publish. You also get hooked into an organization of really nice people! Write to: Staphanie Stearns, SPWAO Secretary/Treasurer, 3980 West Radcliffe, Denver, Colorado.
WANTED! (Please) People who have done (or seen) ELFQUEST costumes to send us photos of them - we keep hearing that folks are doing our characters at conventions and such, but we rarely get to see them. Frustration! We'd also like to use good photos in the ELFQUEST Fan Club magazine, so please help. Thanks.
Until next time - SHADE and SWEET WATER to you all!
Regarding Maggoty's comment about "wolf blood" on the bottom of page 5 in issue #7. Could she have meant that the elves evolved from a canine ancestor, even as humans evolved from an ape-like primate? If so, then I suppose that the High Ones who found themselves on this world used their "kinship" with the wolves to form the alliance we now see? How did Maggotty find out about the elves' distant parentage? Do the Wolfriders possess the ability to "recognize" the wolf who would be their best partner as some elves recognize their ideal mate?
John Strickler
Manhattan, KS
***** Hmmmm. Interesting speculation there. You could be close in one or more of your guesses, and way off in others, or right on about some, or maybe not at all. Who, us? EVASIVE??? Actually, you should have the answer to one of your questions right in this issue.
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I just wanted to mention one thing - there is a thread
in your story that seems like a paradox the matter of
choice. Everything is a choice, everyone is free - except
for those who are caught in the net of recognition. On the
one hand you have Cutter say "What choice? There is no
choice... recognition is recognition!" But on the other
hand, everyone else is wildly, deliciously free to do as
he/she likes. In the end, Leetah makes her decision. but
why? Because she needs Cutter? Why does she need Cutter?
Because she recognized him. She has NO choice - she MUST
make a decision, and for her peace of mind, she MUST choose
in Cutter's favor. I agree entirely; recognition is a curse
on Leetah's kind, even if it brings Cutter and Leetah
together.
Mimi Herrmann
Pittsfield, MA
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ELFQUEST is one of the few continuing series (in any
medium) that I follow with more than passing interest. You
people know where you're going with it and the
issue-to-issue progression is purposeful. Things happen,
things change, and they make sense... There's a story to be
told and you're telling it.
The portion of the story recounted in issue #7 excited intense admiration from me on structural grounds. You attempted a difficult trick and, amazingly, pulled it off beautifully. Serious "graphic story scholars" (well, fans who like to analyze) have long argued that the comics medium can sustain only superficial, heavily-visual action stories, and that extended scenes indoors with nothing but conversation between the characters (like a drawing room comedy or psychological drama) would be impossible to do in comics without boring the reader silly. The result would theoretically be just shots of talking heads. (An example might be Sartre's play NO EXIT, which takes place entirely inside a locked room in Hell, in which three grievously incompatible characters learn through conversation that their particular hell is going to be spending eternity together. What could a comics artist do with that, when the nature of the medium cries out for scenes of Hell as an inferno of leaping flames, demonic overseers cracking whips over chain gangs of the damned stoking the fires, etc, etc?)
Yet ELFQUEST #7 could have been performed before a live audience on a stage with just two scene changes (interior and exterior of hut). Most of the story takes place INSIDE the hut, mostly with conversation. And it works! I notice that everything was kept lively with a lot of sight gags and humorous character interaction, and long scenes were broken up with flashbacks. An almost whimsical attention to detail (as on the trolls' drinking mugs) was noticeable, too. It was an amazing job and a successful solution to a difficult problem in comics storytelling.
Dwight Decker
Northlake, IL
***** In addition to being a prolific writer of science-fiction, Dwight is also a regular contributor to the COMICS JOURNAL, wherein he unleashes his deceptively subtle, wickedly sharp criticism on any number of topics, from movies to TV to comics.
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I salute you for your ability to produce something I
never thought I would see - a "comic book" that is
considered "all right for kids to see" without going through
the silly gyrations that up to this time have been de rigeur
in children's magazines. Most of these outfits under the
Comics Code think that to make it "clean" they must omit
certain physical details and facts (the actual Code says
only not to exaggerate). Rather than clean, which after all
only means non-prurient, it becomes unnatural, and really
not very healthy as it promotes the kind of simplistic
attitude toward nudity and sex that can and does cause
hangups. I am thinking of the censorship of certain parts
of the body which gives children the idea that there's
something to be ashamed of. Even certain natural and
beautiful acts, like nursing a baby, are "not for a G-rated
book."
Now I turn to ELFQUEST #5 and one of the first things I see is Rainsong nursing her son while her little daughter plays nearby and Woodlock watches lovingly over them all. In that same issue you depict Cutter and Leetah obviously making love under the stars on the Bridge, and when Leetah's father finds them in the morning he smiles in perfect understanding. You are showing these facts of nature as the beautiful, truly sacred things they are, without the slightest trace of paranoid piety or spiritual whitewashing.
Jan Byron
Bloomington, IL
***** While we don't want to belabor Jan's point, we ARE pleased that parents find they can share ELFQUEST with their young children, just as we are happy to hear that teachers here and there are using ELFQUEST as a reading aid. In fact, we'd love to hear from any educators out there who are using our book for whatever reason; if our book helps even one person to discover the fun of reading, then we've gone nicely beyond our goal of telling a good, old-fashioned tale!
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I have discovered that parts of us all grow old but,
happily, other parts of us stay forever young and cry out
for nourishment. The "old" in us outgrows comic books and
other forms of illustrated fantasy and adventure. The youth
in us - the better part - still appreciates the higher
values and yearns for a world in which they exist. Some of
the more adventurous have attempted to create that world to
share with the rest of us. most have failed. A very few
have come close: Will Eisner's THE SPIRIT for one. But even
the masked hero didn't remove us far enough from the real
world.
Finally, the shackles have been broken and the barrier has been breached. ELFQUEST stands above them all as the most unique, complete masterful creation of the fantasy-adventure genre. The art is exactly appropriate, powerfully stroked in each panel. The storyline is strong, adding real texture to characters who could easily wilt into two-dimensionality. The concept is bold, drawing the reader into the Wolfriders' lives as we, who read SHOGUN, felt drawn into the world of the Samurai.
Thank you for not getting so caught up in background that the story suffers. Thank you for not forgetting the background so that the characters stand more boldly in the foreground. Thank you for having the courage to ignore the "experts" on fantasy who have so categorized Tolkien and those of his ilk that there is little joy in reading them any more. You tell YOUR story, create YOUR history and enchant YOUR readers.
Kent Hansen
Journalist 1C, USN
***** It will be interesting, when the first ELFQUEST novel cones out (hopefully for Christmas 1981 but definitely by May 1982), to see how it is advertised. We are going to insist that the publicity people avoid a certain, unfortunately overworked phrase, and push instead for the bold proclamation, "DEFINITELY NOT in the Grand Tradition of J.R.R. Tolkien!!!" Ahem.
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I have a question about Strongbow. Just HOW silent is
he? In #5, page 3 you say "sullen Strongbow never bothers
to speak aloud." But on page 11 of the same issue he is
obviously howling aloud with the rest of the Wolfriders, so
he's not totally silent. What this is all leading up to is
a panel in issue #1 on page 24. The Elves are singing the
Wolfsong and the arrow from the word balloon seems to be
pointing to Strongbow... or is it pointing to Dart? Or are
they both singing? (I adore this picture of "sullen"
Strongbow smiling down on his son - he's so beautiful!)
Beverly Glielmi
Carol Stream, IL
***** Strongbow ISN'T mute; it's just that, for the most part, he chooses to remain silent. It depends a great deal on his mood at the time. The Wolfsong was being sung at a time of high optimism, so he was probably in as good a mood as he gets into! Speaking of the Wolfsong, you'll find the words and music to it (and another ELFQUEST) song) elsewhere in this issue.
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***** We also had some letters, mostly from readers in Europe, that expressed a certain difficulty in finding ELFQUEST. We'd like to make two suggestions to all of you in other countries who would like to help make ELFQUEST more available -- 1) Contact your comics shops and tell them to write to us (WaRP Graphics) and we will provide them with the names of distributors here in the U.S. that can supply them with copies, and 2) Be on the lookout for foreign-language translations of ELFQUEST in your country. The first two issues have already come out in Danish (as "ELVERFOLKET 1") from INTERPRESSE, and we are talking with publishers in Germany and Japan. You can help greatly if you know a publisher of comics in your country and can show him/her copies of ELFQUEST - perhaps he/she will be interested in publishing a volume in YOUR native language.
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***** The following was sent to us by Robbie Sturm of Phoenix, AZ. It's written by Anonymous (who wrote LOTS of stuff, it seems!), and while we generally don't take to "Desiderata-type" philosophies, this little offering struck a chord in us - maybe it was the line about the beans...
If I had my life to live over again, I'd try to make
more mistakes next time.
I would relax. I would limber up. I would be sillier
than I have on this trip.
I know of very few things I would take seriously.
I would take more trips. I would be crazier.
I would climb more mountains, swim more rivers, and
watch more sunsets.
I would do more walking and looking.
I would eat more ice cream and less beans.
I would have more actual troubles, and fewer imaginary
ones.
You see, I'm one of those people who lives life
prophylactically and sensibly hour after hour, day after
day. Oh, I've had my moments, and if I had it to do over
again I'd have more of them.
In fact. I'd try to have nothing else, just moments one
after another, instead of living so many years ahead each
day. I've been one of those people who never go anywhere
without a hot-water bottle, a gargle, a raincoat, aspirin,
and a parachute.
If I had to do it over again I would go places, do
things, and travel lighter than I have.
If I had my life to live over I would start barefooted
earlier in the Spring and stay that way later in the Fall.
I would play hookey more.
I wouldn't make such good grades, except by accident.
I would ride on more merry-go-rounds.
I would pick more daisies!
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Here is where I believe that someone - whether character
or creator - made a big mistake. I'm referring to the
decision that Cutter and Skywise set out alone on their
journey. Of course, someone had to go somewhere to justify
the title, but I honestly did not feel it would be only two.
I think it's a bad move for the sake of three groups.
1) For Cutter and Skywise's sake. By going with the concept of Two Against The World, they are being played a bit too close to You-Know and Who... the famous guys, the ones who already had their movie (or half of one, anyway). So help me, if they get mixed up with a funny looking screwball...!
2) For Leetah's sake. Page 24 was absolutely devastating to me! After all that buildup about how they were joined, you broke them up again? Sure, they had five happy years together, but WE didn't! And if you think one puny caption is going to make up for it - and that lingo about "responsibilities"... oh, bunk! If that knucklehead she treats in this issue is any indication of what she means by that, then maybe that bunch ought to learn a little self-reliance. Cutter and Leetah are JOINED, blast it, and whatever either of them may think, if Cutter is out there without here he is NOT WHOLE! Besides, you've established that the lady is competent as a blade-handler, and I'll tell you, I absolutely expect to see Leetah save Cutter's bacon in some hairy situation someday.
3) For the others' sake. From all appearances, it looks as if you've dumped the entire supporting cast wholesale, and I object to that as strongly as I object to the breakup of our lifemates. I do not read ELFQUEST as a star vehicle. To me, it's a crew of individuals, each unique, each distinctive, and each with a role to play in the global drama they've been thrust into. I want to know about all of them, get to know why they do the things they do, watch differing personalities play off each other; and with most of the tribe out of the picture, I lose that opportunity. They all proved that they are fantastically versatile characters. Comical situations, straight dramatics, suspense, horror, action, romance - they can do it all and still get their unique personalities across. I was hoping that, in keeping with your style of many small stories within the large one, we'd get the chance to see some "spotlight" stories focusing on some of the other characters.
Roy Veldboom
Cedar Grove, WI
***** As you can see this issue, we never had any intention of forgetting that there are a LOT of stars in this series! What the heck, we have to live with these folks, and if they were to get REALLY angry at us ("What do you mean, human, you're writing me out of the story...?") there'd be big trouble right here in River City! Hudson River, that is...
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The title page of #7 was a lovely piece of work as
usual. The most endearing thing about Cutter is his
sensitive nature, which shows so beautifully in the first
three pages. Page 11 shows that beauty is certainly in the
eye of the beholder, a note that is struck several times in
the course of the story. This has to be one of the weirdest
parties ever held in the comics, with the hosts doing all
the celebrating and the guests in chains. One look at the
smirk on Cutter's face and you know he has plans for
escaping! Maggoty, with her age, is a grotesque counterpart
to Savah... Page 14 is simply hilarious; the unsophisticated
elves' reaction to the Dreamberry wine still makes me grin
every time I see it. That close-up of Skywise on page 15 is
greed personified; I had been told about that scene but I
still enjoyed it!
The troll history recounted here was the most interesting part of the story... The really unbelieveable part of it was the story of the trolls digging all that way underground, a truly incredible feat. Or was this Dreamberry talk? (No, not exactly... hee hee! - WaRP) In the following pages, probably the most amusing thing is the way Skywise dryly screws information out of Picknose about Two-Edge (wonderful name, that), which seems to point up to the next stage of the story. That tantalizing clue, "Hands of the Symbol Maker," is pretty ambiguous, but if it points to anyone, it points to Two-Edge.
John C. LaRue
Riverside, NJ
***** Unless it happens to point to someone else... We've always maintained that, among other things, ELFQUEST is also a functional definition of "red herring!"
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Shade and Sweet Water to you!
Richard & Wendy
Back in issue #3, we introduced you to our seventeen- strong cast of Wolfriders. However, there've been some zwoots under the Bridge since then; we've seen some new faces, and we thought that it might not be out of place to spotlight some of the newcomers.
BEARCLAW and JOYLEAF were Cutter's parents. Bearclaw was also chief of the Wolfriders until his and Joyleaf's untimely death at the claws of the monster Madcoil. Although they appeared in only one issue, Bearclaw and Joyleaf live on in the memories of readers who still think of the pair as their favorite characters. PICKNOSE, as just about everyone knows by now, is a Troll. He is considered quite handsome, as Trolls go - and no, he's named that because his nose resembles the business end of a miner's pick, so there! LEETAH - ah, Leetah! By far our most elusive character, she is the Suntoucher's daughter and is something in the neighborhood of 600 years old (which makes her some 20 or 30 times older than her life-mate Cutter!). Hers is a most complex personality, one which will continue to evolve as the quest continues. About five years ago (from this point in the story), Cutter and Leetah produced the twins SUNTOP and EMBER. Children are rare enough in the world of ELFQUEST, and twins even more so, so these two are special - and in more ways than one. Ember will eventually take her father's place as chief of the Wolfriders, and Suntop is possessed of a magical sensitivity that will be crucial in coming issues. As mentioned earlier, SUNTOUCHER is Leetah's father and, although blind, senses the flows of nature around the Sun Village to give guidance to its inhabitants. SAVAH, on the other hand, is the Mother of Memory for the villagers and provides a spiritual focus for them. No haughty shamaness she; we like to think of her as a madonna with crow's feet and a sense of humor. She is the oldest elf we've encountered so far in this world. SHENSHEN is Leetah's younger sister. She is usually quite bubbly and is something of a yenta. And no, we haven't forgotten RAYEK - either in this spotlight or in the story - that proud, brooding hunter who was before Cutter came along, Leetah's lover. When he lost Leetah to the Wolfrider, Rayek left the Sun Village to find his own destiny. Perhaps we shall find it with him in times to come.