IN LAST ISSUE'S EDITORIAL, we introduced you to our resident mailman alarm and Choplicker substitute Feisty, who is living up to her name quite nicely, thank you. Well, the EQ family keeps on growing, it seems, and this time we'd like to acquaint you all with another charming lady, of the wolf persuasion this time, named BETSY.
IT ALL BEGAN at InConjunction, a comics and science-fiction convention held in Indianapolis this past July 4th weekend. Wendy and I were guests, and we had a wonderful time - but we never expected what the convention committee had secretly planned for us. We knew that we would be going to a nearby preserve to see a pack of wolves in a natural (although protected) environment. We'd been told that we'd even have the opportunity to interact with the wolves and partake of a howl, and we were looking forward to that with great anticipation.
WHAT WE DIDN'T KNOW was that the InConjunction people had raised - by donations, book sales, hook or crook - the funds necessary to "adopt" one of the wolves in our name. And so, after an hour wondrously spent in the company of such fine beasts, we became the "parents" of one, a yearling named Betsy. Of course we don't have Betsy here in Poughkeepsie with us - she is back with her pack at the Wolf Park - but she is with us through letters written by the folks who run the Park, and we certainly intend to get back to Indiana before too long to see first hand how our "child" is doing! Thanks from the bottom of our hearts to everyone who had a paw in making it all happen.
A FEW WORDS about the people who are helping to keep wolves from sliding further down the list of endangered species. We met Betsy and her pack at the Wolf Park, which is run by the NORTH AMERICAN WILDLIFE PARK FEDERATION, Battle Ground, Indiana 47920. We also met, at the convention, representatives of the TIMBERWOLF PRESERVATION SOCIETY, 6699 South 76th Street, Greendale, Wisconsin 53129. These groups, and others like them, are doing a lot toward educating people on the natural place of wolves in our world and the interdependence of all living things. They are doing worthwhile work, and they deserve your support. Write to them, find out what they're doing, and how you can play a part in it. It's an ELFQUEST thing to do!
SOME ANNOUNCEMENTS - The NOVEL is out and about! We have seen it in most of the bookstores and comics shops we've visited recently, so you should have no trouble finding it. After the long wait, we are very proud! And, we hope you'll let us know what you think once you've read it. Also, to answer those who've asked why the hardcover and softcover editions have different illustrations - that's the way the two publishers contracted it. Simple as that.
ANNOUNCEMENT - Also available is YEARNINGS, the EQ fan magazine. it's 100 pages of fine fannish fiction, poetry, art, songs, and more by EQ readers for EQ readers. Why should Star Trek have all the fun? Pick up a copy at your local comics shop!
THE END OF ELFQUEST - What?! you say? After our comment last issue that the ELFQUEST movie would come out after issue #20, "the final issue," appears, we got a small flood of letters begging to know if we would be ending ELFQUEST completely at that time. Let's just say now that while we will wrap up this saga, and will very likely take a rest from the grueling schedule of a regular comic magazine, we have all intentions of continuing after October 1984 with special ELFQUEST projects. Perhaps an annual or two, maybe a storybook, possibly some brand-new forms of telling tales. Just stick with us, and watch for further news as time goes on.
ULTRA-IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT SUBSCRIPTIONS TO ELFQUEST! - Because we do plan an end to the current line of comics, you should read the subscription information on the Info Page, page 38, especially if you are not now a subscriber but are planning to become one.
ALL YOU GAME PLAYERS WHO'VE BEEN ASKING - You will be happy to know that we have signed with CHAOSIUM, a California-based game company, to develop ELFQUEST into a fantasy role-playing game, to be released Fall, 1983. Chaosium has developed a different system from D & D, and we will be working closely with the Chaosium folks to make sure the game is true to EQ. If all goes well, there will also be a new line of miniature figures to go along with the game. Stay tuned!
See you in 120!
Richard
It's really a shame that the first time I should write to you is to tell you that I found ELFQUEST 13 disappointing, because I'd really much rather say the sort of nice things I've felt about the first 12 issues. But your latest was disappointing, and still is after a month since pouncing on it. The reason for writing is that I've now managed to work out just what disappointed me.
Though in terms of space it took up a relatively small part of the the issue, #13 was undeniably all about the Secret Origin of the Wolfriders, and sadly, it just didn't work. For what reasons?
First of all, I was put off by the entire "Secret Origin" feel that the story had, which was all too much "Marvel and DC" for ELFQUEST's own delicate ambiance - this seemed a little below you both.
Secondly, what was expressed in title, cover and story, "the big secret," turned out not to be so marvelous a secret after all. The Wolfriders are actually descended from wolves themselves. Secret? I mean, Old Maggoty told us that back in #7. And anyway, if the Wolfriders' genealogy was supposed to be so big a thing as to take over the magazine ((wait a moment - didn't you just say that it took a relatively small part of the issue? - Ed.)) it seemed rather small potatoes to have it be something I'd already assumed for myself.
Finally, by concentrating this issue upon the secret of the Wolfriders, everything else was just left to fend for itself. The overall storyline just slowed to a halt! And it's this I find most disappointing.
You'll smy of course that there were other thing in EQ 13 and to be sure there were. Dewshine frees Petalwing, we get a guided tour of more of Winnowill's elf-freaks and find out that Cutter's wolf-will is a match for Winnow's will (ouch! sorry). But even so I came out feeling that I was no further forward. What about Strongbow and Moonshade and the rift in the Wolfriders? Why is Petalwing so important? These were what you left me with at the end of #12, and these were what I expected you to at least start to answer in the latest issue.
What it boils down to is the responsibility that lies between creator and audience. I'm not asking for quick and simple wrap-ups. If you didn't treat us with the patience of adults I'd be unhappy. But please accept that as long as you (rightly) insist that there must be four months between issues, you must have a duty to us not to unnecessarily draw out story points. You've recognized this by not giving us cliffhanger endings (except only #3 which didn't bother me because I read #s 3-8 in a bunch), which are desperately unfair things to foist on an audience doomed to wait so long for the resolution.
For all that, I hope #14 sees us back on the track with no more time-outs in the past. If it's as good as you usually are, I'll write again and tell you - promise.
Martin B. Goodall
Manchester, England
PS- CEREBUS will always be number one with me but look at it this way - ELFQUEST will always be number two. (That suit you, Dave?)
***** Gee, and here issue 13 was our favorite and all (though we honestly think that this issue tops it). Judging by the mall we get after each issue, we suspect that you'd feel differently about cliffhangers had you not read several issues all in one gulp. In my case, we think that both you and the next letter-writer, who is a witty - I say, witty - fellow in his own write, will enjoy the irony of this back-to-back appearance.
I felt compelled to write and wax enthusiastic
about "Secret of the Wolfriders." Heady heady
stuff stuff indeed indeed. Swept into the narrative
and jolted along for page after page of surprise
after surprise. I have this strange thing that happens
when I look at a really fine piece of work that
excites me at all levels. I smell perfume. Really. It
happened for the first time on ELFQUEST with the
Winnowill/Cutter and Winnowill/Leetah confrontations.
I think I understand now why Richard was
so ambivalent about #12 when he read it through -
you guys were just feeling the beforeshocks of a
very powerful issue. No need to worry - #12 was
the ideal slow pitch into #13. Just when everyone
thinks the Wolfriders are mellowing completely...
POW! God, what archery!
Dave Sim
Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
I have read twice (in the letter column) that your
elves do not have enough scars, and I wished to
tell you this is not true. There are scars that the
eyes cannot see; these are the ones that hurt the
most and are cut the deepest. The bitter
memories and such are a perfect example of
these unseen scars. These do not heal and hurt
the bearer until the end of life. Our elves are very
much entitled to these scars.
Brenda L. Hancock
No address on letter
I think Strongbow (my favorite elf) has the right
idea. Get out of that mountain! Winnowill and
Company may be the High Ones, but Savah's warning
should not be forgotten. There is something
evil there, yes, but the High Ones are stagnant.
They have retreated from the world and contented
themselves with a spirit-dulling existence. No
wonder they have no children! They have no fire!
No zest for life. The Wolfrlders and the Sun Folk
have an affinity for nature and life, but not the
elves of the mountain. They are flat, they do not
bubble.
Mary L. Mand
Linthicum, MD
***** And while we're on the topic of effervescence...
Pike's role in ruining Cutter's Glider shirt and in
upsetting poor Egg suggest that Pike, for all his
simplicity to act first and think later, is too large a
personality for Blue Mountain to comfortably contain.
His rude innocence has already acted like
carbonated water on the too-placid lives of the
Gliders, so I'm waiting to see what further fizz he
stirs up.
Judy Sampson
Tucson, AZ
***** Maybe he should have been the one to try getting through the "noisybad bubblebangs;" they might have recognized a kindred volatile spirit and let him pass. On the other hand, from across the sea comes a different view of Pike's "rude innocence."
I was not at all pleased with the reaction to
Pike's little practical joke on Egg. Quite in
character for him, maybe, but surely not to be condoned,
any more than coming up behind Wendy
when she's drawing and jogging her elbow. Or
with the buildup you gave Egg, doing the same to
De Vinci while he worked on "La Giaconda."
Indeed, I am concerned with your apparent attitude toward the mountain elves Door, Egg and Brace. I may be bringing something to your tale which isn't actually there, but I seem to sense an implied criticism of the elves. I would have thought, given that they are both immortal and voluntarily entombed, the kind of life these elves have chosen is the attaining of an ideal rather than decadence or slavery as has been suggested. The three seem to have reached a total equilibrium in which what they are is defined by what they do. Their roles in life are absolutely defined, and they have found the 'why' of existence some people constantly seek. Add to that that their tasks are socially valuable and you have a perfect life, for those who chose it.
Dave Dursley
Avon, England
***** Your assessment of Egg, Door and Brace (and by extrapolation, of other "functionary" mountain elves whom we have not met, but who probably exist) is by and large correct, given their immortality and particular, well-bounded environment. The criticism you seem to sense comes, if anywhere, from the Wolfriders themseles and their reactions to Blue Mountain.
You may not be fully aware of the significance
of the conflict you have set up in ELFQUEST. I am
a student and analyst of Third World history,
focusing primarily on the Middle East. One of my
principal areas of research is the conflicts existing
today between the traditionally tribal,
nomadic people and the settled people under the
centralized state governments on the Middle East
- governments which have been in existence only
since the 20th century.
What you are putting the Wolfriders through mirrors current Third World experience. The elves were and are a "wandering tribe," driven from their home by human intervention. Taking the Middle East as an example, Arab scholars, writers, poets, artists, teachers often lament over a similar loss of identity. Countless poems, works of fiction, paintings, as well as essays have depicted this painful cry for what has been lost. Today, the bloodiest wars in the Middle East are not fought in Beirut but in the backlands of Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Syria among their Kurdish populations. There are also the Alawites of Syria. These are tribes who are fighting for autonomy. They reject the state governments set up by the United States, Britain and France. Arab writers often speak of a loss of kinship among the many tribal identities and of a confusion about who they are and where they belong. One of the most important ruling families of Iran, the Bakhtiyari, has virtually lost all its distinctness and submerged itself within the drive for a united Iranian nationalist movement. Two states which have tried to maintain their peoples' tribal identifies, and which are on opposite sides of the political spectrum, are Saudi Arabia and Libya.
I think you tend to portray Strongbow a little too unfairly. His fears are real. He sees what may happen. It is what has happened in the Third World. So-called unity of races is not always a good thing. Indeed, wars are often caused when such unity is forced on an unwilling population (such as in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict). Strongbow sees the possible "disappearance" of his tribe. This may be interpreted hastily as xenophobia, but the desire for cultural, ethnic, and tribal integrity and independence should not be so simplistically categorized. Strongbow rightly sees that the Wolfriders may lose their independence, their identity, their freedom.
The Third World is basically regional and such a regional makeup can easily be exploited by more centralized (more powerful) units. Cutter is doing something very dangerous by so willingly embracing the High Ones. I do not condemn him for it. I simply point out that it is not such an easy, logical step as he seems to feel it is, and that it is not necessarily the right or wise thing to do.
Sandra H. Necchi
Fall River, MA
***** As you can see from this issue, Cutter is not so "willingly embracing" the idea of merging with the Gliders as he might once have been; he has learned much in the past three or four issues about his preconceptions about other elves and the quest. Where will the knowledge take him and his folk? Time - four months at a bite - will tell.
As I write this, I am of two minds on a number of
points brought up in ELFQUEST 13. On the one
hand, I can't help wishing Cutter had sliced Winnowill
into coldcuts; and on the other hand, to
paraphrase Cutter, we need all the elves we can
get. On another issue, when it was disclosed that
the Wolfriders had but a limited life-span, I was
shocked and dismayed. I got to thinking, "isn't
there some way that the genes which give the
High Ones their perpetual life-spans could be
restored to the Wolfriders? If not by magic, then
by some kindly science, as yet undlscovered?"
Then I got to thinking. "Why interfere? The
Wolfriders accept it; why shouldn't I? After all,
'it's the way, and it's a good one. Nightrunner
understands'." And so do I.
Moving onward, my mind is set on one issue: Winnowill has learned Dewshine's soul name, and so presents a grave threat not only to Dewshine, but to her entire tribe as well. Therefore, it is imperative that Winnowill be terminated, immediately.
Don Lewis
No address on letter
***** We'll get to some other thoughts on Wolfrider longevity (or lack of it) in a bit, but right now, from the other side of the Blue Mountain...
Cut me some slack! I'm getting just a tad fed up
with this "Winnowill is so Evil" malarky. Because,
folks, that pretty lady may be the greatest heroine
to come out of this whole saga. God, I can see the
controversy brewing across Elfdom.
"With great power comes great responsibility." Remember that line? Well, it applies to Winnowill to the hilt. Consider her position for just a bit. She is the most powerful entity of the Gliders and probably for years untold she has maintained and nurtured their social order. Then come a group of feisty, short hellraiers. They are the first to challenge Winnowill's secure world and she reacts measure for measure.
She is faced with an offshoot of her own glorious race, and branch that has allowed itself to become joined physicially and spiritually with a lower order. They want to meet the "High Ones" and they will stop at nothing to accomplish this. They are a threat to all survivors of the floating palace. Has anyone stopped to wonder why the original Elf-folk picked up house and home to travel to some unknown destiny? Lord knows they wouldn't have picked this world by choice! Imagine the terrors they were leaving behind; consider the awful decision they made to migrate between worlds almost totally unprepared.
If the Wolfriders have their way they may, to their misfortune, discover a grim truth. Winnowill may be saving everybody a lot of grief. Perhaps she knows more than she's letting on (I'm sure of it!).,and that knowledge may have corrupted her. Winnowill is not evil; at best she is neutral but she has a oneness of purpose that cannot be denied. All those who come between her and that purpose must be pushed aside. As far as we know, Winnowill has never acted so rashly; Lord Voll respects her, otherwise I doubt she would hold the high post that she does. As for Brace, Door, and Egg, these three individuals have probalby been in their places long before Winnowill reached her full power. As for Savah, I feel she got in a mind lock with Winnowill, and Winnowill took it as an attack from afar. In the course of the meeting of minds, Savah's spirit got lost and is too confused to find her bearing and return to the material plane. If anyone will help her get back to her body it will have to be Winnowill.
So let's ease up on the lady, she may surprise us all and wind up saving the whole blamed planet!
George S. Browne
Houston,TX
PS - How come we haven't seen any halflings
yet (you know, human-elf combinations)? After all,
some of the elves on this world must get on well
with human folk!
***** Well, on the subject of everyone's favorite lady in black, we'll just consider the gauntlet to be thrown, and wait to see what the responses look like to these letters and this issue's events.
To answer your PS, we haven't seen any elf-human halflings because there aren't any. Nor can there be any, as we have set up this world. Wherever the original elves and trolls came from, they were from the same place and so were able to interbreed - hence, there can be a Two-Edge. However, humans and elves are of two different worlds, and cannot mix. Wolves and elves are of two different worlds too, but in one special case Timmain (who was the most powerful High One) worked one special magic on herself; it changed her even on the genetic level and allowed the wolf-elf mix to succeed. But then even she did not have enough power to shift back. It could happen only once; no elf since that time has had - or can have, since this world dilutes such powers - the magical energy necessary to duplicate her feat. Elves and humans could, if they so desired, have sex; but they could never have offspring.
On to some observations on the current story. I
think you're being unnecessarily cruel to the
Wolfriders regarding their newly-discovered mortality.
Consider, for a moment, that the influence
of the "wolven" gene must be quite weak in the
Wolfriders. This gene was introduced many
thousands of years ago and has been diluted
among an entire tribe of Wolfriders. Surely they
would at least be extremely long-lived if not actually
immortal. I would say several thousand
years, at least, would be the average life expectancy
(excluding violent deaths and fatal accidents).
Jon Bornholdt
New York, NY
***** Exactly. While we dislike pinning our characters too tightly to numbers and dates, you (along with several other readers) have captured the essence of what's happened. The "mortality" factor has thinned out greatly over generations of time; it would also be even thinner as one moves away from Timmorn's blood-line in the tribe. Cutter is not at all used to thinking in terms of a long life, but we think he can expect - barring unnatural death - to live a great long time. And think about it: could you feel the difference right now in your life between having a life-span of 10,000 years and having immortality?
***** Eyebrow raising time. The following letter is printed exactly as we received it.
Their has been alot of talk about sex in ELFQUEST
I won't take either side but will state the
facts as I see them. In EPIC #1 you write a story
with Malak & Selah showing breasts & graphic
sex. Now in ELFQUEST #10. SAME PEOPLE. With
NO breasts etc. It seems to me that you manufacture
your morals...
ALSO it seems that you are money grub, with portfolios, T-shirts, Books & Color volumes.
Bet you you don't print this.
Brian Fox
Milwaukee, WI
***** Bet you you're wrong.
We would have thought that the differences between ELFQUEST and EPIC were much more obvious than that. EPIC, which is a fine magazine in its own arena, has a different editorial philosophy than does EQ, and is aimed toward a different audience. The stories that make up ELFQUEST can be told in many ways, on many levels - they can be sophisticated or naive, subtle or blunt. Thus, the novel and the movie in addition to the comic. HOMESPUN and its presentation were "right" for EPIC and its readers, just as ELFQUEST and its presentation are "right" for its readers.
Money grub? What's that? When it grows up, will it be a gold bug, and be written about by Edgar Allen Poe? Whatever, if the comment is meant to criticize us for wanting to make a living from what we do, well hey, sorry. People (other than us, obviously) WANT the EQ products that we make available, as witness the next letter.
I want more ELFQUEST. More ELFQUEST
bumper stickers. More ELFQUEST buttons. More
ELFQUEST stickers. Oh! I also want a T-shirt, size
large.
Keith (no last name)
No address on letter
***** See what we mean? By the way, Keith, if you're wondering where your order is, we've got it right here, waiting for you to tell us where to send it. PLEASE, PEOPLE - when you write to us, put your full name and address somewhere on the letter itself. On the envelope isn't good enough, because when we open the letters the envelopes very quickly get separated and tossed out.
Just got #13 - loved it! One question - if the
elves of Timmain's generation could shape-shift,
and the elves of Cutter's couldn't, does that mean
that the Wolfriders are shiftless?
Lenora Rich
No address on letter
***** Zong! Didn't we go through a bout of this in issue #7? Here's a case where leaving the address off was probably an act of self-preservation!
I was rereading all of my old issues and I began
to really think about what I was getting out of your
story. I saw barbaric tribesmen (tribeselves?) go
from a state of near complete ignorance to a
thinking, accepting group of intelligent elves.
Somehow, this got me thinking about our own
world. It was really depressing to see that our
world is more than overflowing with ignorance of
a much more vicious kind. We have people who
build devastating missiles and call that peace.
There are others who are afraid to admit to equality
with the opposite sex. Others believe that
children may be whipped because a certain
religious book says so. The same group would call
any work of beauty that does not originate from
that book, including ELFQUEST, the inspiration of
the devil.
So, as I was saying, this was depressing enough until I looked at the stack of ELFQUESTs I had just read, and I realized that maybe there is hope for us. Perhaps humanity can overcome its ignorance too. I wish to extend my deepest thanks for sharing that hope with me and thousands of others.
Mukund Komanduri
No address on letter
***** Thank you. We like to think the hope isn't an empty one, and perhaps it isn't - perhaps your letter can be the "before" and the following one can be an "after."
Even though the elves exist in a world apart
from our own, I can see that they suffer as many
hardships as do the humans here on earth.
One morning while riding the train to work I decided to read my copy of ELFQUEST 13 when suddenly the lady seated next to me said, "Oh! I didn't know black people read comics!" I was shocked as well as appalled at such a stereotyping, as it was the first time I had ever heard this, even though I had come across those very words before in a comics fanzine. I immediately explained to her that she had just made the most ridiculous statement I had ever heard. I also stated that ELFQUEST was not just a comic, but an appealing, immaculate, and sometimes funny work of immense magnitude by two very hard-working and talented people who were not part of the Big Two (Marvel and DC).
I guess I must have shook her up some because she asked me where she could obtain a copy for herself and her son. I gave her the address of my comic dealer, and now we are the best of friends as I've introduced her to ELFQUEST and the world of comics.
Terry Bogard
Harvey, IL
It must be a breathtaking and gratifying experience
to see your creation taken so passionately
to the hearts of so many people. I have
seen this happen with Darkover, which now
boasts two conventions annually on both sides of
the country, and two published anthologies of
stories written by fans.
John Shimwell
San Francisco, CA
***** Which is just why we came up with the idea for YEARNINGS, a new magazine - mostly about ELFQUEST - which contains writing and art by EQ fans for EQ fans. We felt it was time to give all of you the chance to express yourselves. The first issue is now out - you should be able to find it at your comic shop - and while response from you the fans has been unanimously positive, we'd like to share two views we received. The first is from a seemingly disgruntled distributor...
We had been led to believe we could expect the
same high quality product we have received in the
past, i.e. Elfquest Triology Book 1, Elfquest
Gatherum, and the Elfquest comics. YEARNINGS
is not a quality prozine but an inferior fanzine. The
poor cover reproduction, the computer-typed interior
and the saddle-stitched binding do not
justify the cover price. This letter is being written
with the outrage and extreme disappointment
that is being expressed by our retail customers.
***** This caused some raised eyebrows, indeed! And than there is the following, a review of YEARNINGS printed in FANTASY NEWSLETTER #53...
"This handsomely produced 100 page fanzine is
a major addition to the ELFQUEST phenomenon,
full of stories, drawings, articles and poetry inspired
by the continuing saga of the Wolfriders.
All are extrapolative spin-offs from the world
created by Wendy and Richard Pini in the comic
magazine series...
"The premiere edition of YEARNINGS contains ten stories, ten poems (some illustrated), half a dozen "ELfilksongs," plus two articles, puzzles, and several dozen examples of imitative but remarkably good fan art. This is fandom at its most awesome, unpredictable best, sided by the expertise of WaRP Graphics"
***** You can probably guess which comments we agree with, but as always we are open to your opinions. So now you tell us - what do you think?
Unaccustomed as I am to writing such letters,
the "Elfquotes" section of EQ 13 has inspired me
to make an observation. The letters dealt with the
implications of lifestyles upon freedom, "Joycean"
aspects of Winnowill's and Tyldak's
names, and the implications of elfin biology on
elfin "anthropology," among other topics. ELFQUEST
has attracted the most literate, perceptive,
and involved readership of any magazine of
which I'm aware. That is probably the nicest thing
I can say about the quality of the work: a
magazine/comic/novel or whatever is known by
the company it keeps.
Gareth Jones
Vancouver, B.C., Canada
***** And thank you for your company!
[TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: What appears to be a newspaper clipping with a photo
and the caption "Santa's elves stop working" is printed above
the following letter. --M.K.]
IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! THEY KEPT MUMBLING ABOUT SOME QUEST... JUST FOR THAT I'M CANCELLING MY SUBSCRIPTION!
Santa Claus
North Pole
***** No problem! We've got a bunch of trolls here who can take over the whole job. We'll hook up eight wolves to the sleigh (with Pike up front to take Rudolph's place) and off you'll go!
And seeing that this is 1982's last issue, we'd like to wish everyone the best of the holidays, and we'll see you all in February!