I'VE JUST DONE SOMETHING that I've never done before, and given the fact that ELFQUEST wraps up in a year, something I probably won't get the chance to do again. Having just completed the demolition and remodeling of the WaRP Graphics office, I found myself rearranging all the files we've accumulated in seven years. In those mountains of paper were all the letters that you - the readers - had written to us in that time. And because it was a crisp autumn evening, I sat down and went over every one once again.
There's no feeling like it. I rediscovered introductions from people who've since become friends, and reread words from folks - some like familiar neighbors - who`ve been with us since the beginning. I found letters I'd meant to reply to and never did, and felt echoes of some of the reactions I had when a reader got me steamed up or made me laugh. If only I had unlimited time and/or telephone credit! What a feeling of time passing, of starts and conclusions, of new faces and projects. How things have come along since FANTASY QUARTERLY #1...
A TIME OF FAREWELLS AND HELLOS. The High Ones have blessed WaRP Graphics with phenomenal growth this year - so much so that, though we lose Jane Fancher back to Washington state, two new staff members join us from the professional gene pool: Joellyn Dorkin and Joseph Barruso.
Joellyn has ten years' experience running everything from corporate offices to nonprofit educational organizations. Her position her at WaRP is that of AdministrativeDirector, which translates into creating order out of chaos (of which we have plenty!) and generally making the way smoother.
Joe is a talented newcomer with formal education in advertising and commercial art, with an amazingly diverse portfolio of styles. His first project with WaRP was to assist Wendy in coloring ELFQUEST Color Book 3. He will remain her assistant on other WaRP projects.
SOME RECENT NEWS about what we're doing has led to a bit of untamed speculation, and in response I herewith present -
TALES FROM THE RUMOR SQUASHER - Part One. Seems we no sooner let word out that Marvel Comics plans to reprint the 20-issue run of ELFQUEST than we started getting frantic letters. "How could you sell out your characters like that?" some wanted to know. "Will Marvel change everything around?" asked others. Don't worry; the plain, vanilla truth is this: Marvel has agreed to reprint ELFQUEST in four-color comic format. They want us to work closely with them to make sure that the translation is faithful. They have not bought the rights to the stories or characters, and will not change anything beyond what's necessary to fit our physical format to theirs. Wendy will do new covers. The exact details are still to be firmed up, but so far we know that the "Marvel EQ" will be a 32 page newsstand book, on Mando paper; we will split the stories where we feel best and Wendy will do new bridging art for continuity. ELFQUEST is still ours - only now we have the opportunity to present it to many more readers than any other alternative comic can currently reach, and that's the important thing.
TALES... Part 2. No, ELFQUEST will not die out when issue 20 is published. There are too many other projects we want to do - a graphic novel, the Blood of Ten Chiefs anthology, sequels to the novel, the animated film. Yes, we do want to take a rest from publishing an EQ comic, but between all of the above, plus the new A DISTANT SOIL magazine, the MYTH-ADVENTURES comics, the STORMBRINGER book, and a couple other irons in the fire, neither we nor ELFQUEST are fading into the sunset!
SPEAKING OF "A DISTANT SOIL," you can subscribe, in case you were wondering. Issue 1 is out in November, just a month away. See page 33 for information.
HORN-TOOTING - Out and available as you read this are the new Ral Partha miniature ELFQUEST figurines - all five sets, and they look great! Also on the stands and in the stores is EQ Color Volume 3, taking us three-quarters of the way home. And we are proud to announce that the EQ novel, "Journey to Sorrow's End," is being re-released in mass-market size, and will lead Berkley's science-fiction lineup for March 1984!
THANKS TO ALL who responded to our "freebie" offer over the last several months. The bulk-mail clerk at the Poughkeepsie Post Oifice now hates the sight of me, but all the gifts - over 12,000 of them - have now been sent off. Whew!
FINALLY, for those who keep track of such things, and just for the record, the circulation of ELFQUEST is now 85,000.
See you in 120!
Richard
***** Reader response to EQ #16 was interesting; at times it almost seemed that there was more reaction to the letters pages than to the story itself. Fact: I do choose the letters for each issue to give a varied and hopefully exciting cross-section of the mail - and thus the ideas - we get; but don't forget that there are 32 pages of art and story up front that are, frankly, much more deserving of your consideration. But fair warning: from now until the end of the Quest, we'll be dealing with concepts and images you've not seen in ELFQUEST before. If you have feelings, positive or negative, about what's happening, we want to hear from you. But saying "it was great as usual" or "You crumbs, it stinks" doesn't tell us anything (and, bluntly, letters that sink into namecalling earn a quick trip to the round file). Explore your own reaction - WHY do you like or dislike something? Give us specific examples or considered reasons and, with courtesy, share those with us. Thanks - and now, into the mailsack...
In EQ 16, once again the letter column provides
a basis for discussion. This is unusual, as most
mainstream letter columns are empty praise or
trivia. Rarely is there anything thought provoking
or controversial, whereas this has almost become
a hallmark of ELFQUEST; the letter column is
unlike most others.
At least, it usually is. With the exception of the one-sided Winnowill discussion, that does not hold this time. The printed letters simply vindicated the special touches you inserted, stroked your egos, or wailed over One-Eye's death (You never expected those, did you...) Except for one, all the letters of complaint were of the "Why?" mold. What happens in the story is yours to tell. Nothing can change One-Eye's death now, so all we can do is mourn him and remember him. How it is told is your primary responsibility to us, the readership. Ember's "act" last issue leading to Cutter's injury failed that responsibility, as did 15 elves escaping underbelly on 11 wolves.
In fact, only three letters even mentioned Cutter's wound specifically. Do you also expect us to believe that no one commented on Leetah killing for the first time, especially after the comments in issues 8, 9 and 11 and the attention brought to it by this and last issue? That section of the battle has been strangely neglected. Perhaps Winnowill is not the only one covering something up? Everyone makes mistakes; face them as the Wolfriders do rather than running like the Gliders.
Joseph Lasota
Eden, NY
***** Looks like I can't leave the topic of letters just yet... The only thing we expect of our readers, as I've mentioned above, is courtesy in their words to us. For the record, letters commenting on Leetah's first kill and Cutter's wound were indeed as rare as you complain. We don't know why, unless it's that fewer readers are taking the time to understand the various characters, and how and why they act and react. And that's unfortunate, since there's a lot there to understand.
How can you separate "what" gets told from "how" it gets told? "What" happened was that Ember, a five-year old child, full of beans and vinegar, wanted to take a shot at a nasty troll. What does she know of trolls? How would she know that the situation was all out of proportion to her? Given that, how could it have been told differently? In retrospect, of course Ember's action was a mistake. The story was written that way. Everyone makes mistakes! Sometimes characters learn from them. Sometimes, others pay for them. However (and this is a BIG however), your contention that Ember's act led to Cutter's injury is completely without base; reread the pages in question and you will see there's no cause-and-effect. Finally, regarding the 15 elves and 11 wolves, was it such an unsupportable assumption on our part that, even if Wendy didn't draw it, you would realize that some of the Wolfriders would have to share their mounts with tribesmates?
I wonder if I am perceiving a trend, or what? It
seems to me that so many comics these days are
borrowing from each other that there's not very
much left that's pure. Don't get me wrong - I like
the comics and have been reading comics for
years, and following the "independents" like
ELFQUEST, CEREBUS, and the books from First
Comics and Eclipse and the others. I know what
satire and parody is for. But it sure seemed like, in
the first couple of issues of E-MAN that the
"parody" of the X-Men was more vicious than
satiric. For a while, CEREBUS was latching on to
almost everyone else's comics, and now is doing
it again - first with "Elfguest" and then
"Wolveroach" - it's like they need someone else's
comics to keep themselves going.
I guess I wouldn't be writing this to you if I didn't see so much of it. I'm glad that you're sticking to your guns to do your own story in ELFQUEST. It really is about the best comic going, especially in the consistency of the story and especially the art, which is better (more careful, more attenton to detail, more expression) than any other comic I know of. I'm a little surprised that you don't have more letters in "Elfquotes" that say so.
J. Anderson
Chicago, IL
***** Pure Richard Pini opinionated reply coming up. That flinching you just saw was the result of your touching a sore point with us. Yes, the letter column is a place where I could do a little crowing, though the line between ego stroking and obnoxiousness is dangerously easy to cross, and is to be watched for. But the truth is, very few letters come in here that do discuss Wendy's art - that is, beyond "Superb again," or "Watch out, you're slipping," or some such. Somehow, crazily, the love, sweat, backaches, long hours and underlying it all, hard skill that go into the art for each issue are either not being sensed, or are being taken for granted. So, readers, I throw the ball to you - can anyone explain this strange void?
On the subject of the "purity" or lack thereof of various comics, all I can say is that each publisher or editor has his/her ideas on how things should be done. For WaRP, we see too hazy a line between parody and exploitation, so we avoid the trap altogether by sticking to our own universe.
After some discussion, my brother and I came
into agreement over several points concerning
ELFQUEST. The story and artwork deserve
nothing but the highest praise. Rather, our
concerns lie more in the direction of EQ's
"public" life.
First, if the ELFQUEST movie should be as great a success as it deserves to be, we are afraid that the publicity would destroy the "family" atmosphere of EQ, and people would flock to EQ's fan circle who do not really believe in the Quest, people who join because it is "in." Now, understand we wish you nothing but the best, but we value the personal feeling between us, you, and of course, the elves. We feel that the private, sharing aspect of the Quest would be the price of success.
We were even more upset to hear that EQ will be reprinted by Marvel Comics. We feel that it was a good thing that you didn't resort to Marvel in the beginning, and to do it now would again take away some of ELFQUEST's special, personal feeling. Isn't this what made you form WaRP to begin with? We don't want to criticize Marvel, but we see their comics as "assembly line" material, not treated with the loving care and affection always given to the Quest by you two. Also, Marvel would "contaminate" EQ with stupid advertising and other assorted schlock. We strongly urge you to reconsider. We love the feeling that ELFQUEST gives us, and don't went to lose the Quest we truly believe in. Don't blow it, guys! Please!
Owen and Noam Izenberg
St. Louis, MO
***** We're sorry that you have doubts about our ability, after carefully shepherding ELFQUEST for seven years, not to "blow it." We can but keep on trying. Now, if you haven't done it. read the editorial for this issue. Your feelings about Marvel (I wonder what your reaction would have been had the deal been made with DC?) are pretty clear, and we disagree with you, but there's a deeper question to be addressed here. You say you want "nothing but the best" for us, which we assume includes things like wide recognition (why not, eh?), but yet it sounds like you would like to keep ELFQUEST small, private, and well, to yourselves. How do you reconcile the two? Do you think that everyone who should ever read and enjoy ELFQUEST has already done so? We don't, and so we worked with (not resorted to!) Marvel to enable EQ to achieve newsstand distribution, which has the potential to bring the Quest to several times more readers than WaRP can possibly do. Advertisements, whatever your feelings about them, are a fact of life. When I read a comic, I skip over them; my mind makes the jump and I lose none of whatever I'm getting from the book I'm reading. Honest, we do understand how you feel, but we think ELFQUEST is a strong enough tale that it will survive the momentary interruptions.
When I first received ELFQUEST #16, I could not
open it. I simply stared at the cover for about
fifteen minutes. Leetah crying? You can imagine
the thoughts running through my head: Cutter had
died, something had happened to the twins,
Clearbrook had killed herself, etc. I finally worked
up the courage to open the book and start
reading, fully expecting to be depressed for a few
weeks. Instead, thanks to you wonderful, darling,
beloved people, I have been so happy and joyous
that my friends think I'm a bit insane. Thank you
so very much.
It had been bothering me for quite some time as to why there was a bald, maimed elf being used as a footstool in the Portfolio Plate "Troll King." Now I know. But still, how did Ekuar get captured and when? Where is he from? Will these questions and many more be answered in the next issue of ELFQUEST?
Margaret Ryan
Prince George, Brit. Col.
***** As Bugs Bunny would say, "Ehhhhh, It's a possibility." Consider this, though - Guttlekraw is plenty mean enough (count the grisly trophies on his headband) to have more than one "Ekuar Contemporary" style footstool.
I have just bought ELFQUEST 16 and I am
(again) amazed. You not only introduce a new
tribe of elves with their own way of life, solve the
mystery about Rayek, but also present a new
mystery: now that we have seen Rayek alive,
whose was the skeleton that Ember discovered in
the desert?
ELFQUEST belongs to the best comics in the world, reviving the world of fantasy and fairytale, but interpreting it in a new way. If any should reproach you for making EQ 15 too ghastly and violent, then remember that violence and bloody deeds were a part of the old fairytales, although there death was by no means final.
Jens Kristian Boll
Arhus, Denmark
Hurray! Hurray! Hurray! Rayek is alive after
all!! I didn't realize how much I had missed him
until he showed up in EQ #16 (that was marvelously
done). I'm glad he made it through the
desert (obviously); the changes his journey
wrought in him are positive and believable. It's
nice to see Rayek wishing Leetah happiness by
wishing the same for Cutter. Of course, it is
always possible that Rayek will unintentionally
put a strain on Cutter and Leetah's relationship.
That would be interesting. Anyway, you are
planning to keep Rayek around till the conclusion
of the Quest, aren't you? Please?
Elizabeth L. Brooks
Cambridge, MA
In issue 16 when the Wolfriders are howling for
One-Eye and Woodshaver, Leetah says she
should be there. Rayek points out, "You've truly
become one of them (the pack of Wolfriders)."
Does that mean that she is now "Leetah of the
Pack?" Sorry, I had to do that. Apologies to the
Shangri-Las.
Matthew Hood
Santa Rosa, CA
***** I don't know. We're used to that kind of thing, but those rock singers, they're touchy.
Regarding the bottom of page 16: If Leetah
were to agree to share her lifemate temporarily
with the chief of the Go-Backs, would that be a
Kahvi break?
Brian Caden
Cincinnati, OH
***** Sanka you very much.
You might recognize this as Shakespeare's
30th sonnet, but other titles can be found, like
"Cutter's Lament." See if you can catch the
subtle ELFQUEST references.
When to the sessions of sweet silent thought,
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear times waste;
Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow,
For precious friends hid in death's dateless night
And weep afresh love's long-since cancelled woe.
And moan the expense of many a vanished sight
Then can I grieve at grievances foregone.
And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er,
The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan,
Which I new pay as if not paid before.
But if the while I think on thee, dear friend;
All losses are restored, and sorrow's end.
"But Wendy, that's what you named this place! How..?"
Ellen Sartori
Wayne, PA
Kahvi strikes me as somewhat of a comedian.
Not much though. I see all of the Go-Backs as
cold and uncaring. Their chieftess claims that
healers can make you soft. Bull! I mean, with the
Sun Folk, boy did they get soft. But the Wolfriders
had healers too. Tell one of them that they are soft
because of healers and you would most likely get
an arrow or sword in your gut. The Go-Backs just
seem to have no hearts.
I have no fear for Cutter and those wolves in that hole. Heck, they're his "kin."
Michelle Brothers
Aurora, CO
***** We hope that readers are seeing more sides to Kahvi and the Go-Backs (hmmm - what was that about rock 'n' roll groups?) than were obvious in #16; their philosophy and way of life certainly are different; are they valid? Good question. On wolves: the point is that the wolves in the pit aren't Cutter's kin; they're wild, they don't know Cutter from dinner, and unless he established communication with them, they would definitely have et him up.
The events of this issue left me almost
speechless for the first two or three readings. I am
not ashamed to admit to a few tears at the look on
Clearbrook's face on pages 8 and 14. This struck a
personal note with me since, a few years ago, I
too lost someone very close to me suddenly,
without even a chance to say goodbye. You are
showing a growing empathy with even your less
well-developed characters which I can only call
magical. Clearbrook, though, is rapidly becoming
a very well-developed character. She is, however,
going to need some very careful handling over the
next issue or two. A hunger for revenge may make
a good warrior, but it can also make one careless.
Bruce W. Grant
Aberdeen, Scotland
***** We're very carefully watching over the direction and changes that are affecting Clearbrook; she does not go back to being a "background" character.
This spring, after reading #15, I went out for a
quiet walk in the dark to collect my thoughts. The
first star that struck my eye as I left my apartment
building was Sirius; my mind a la Skywise,
automatically re-dubbed it "Sur's Eye." As I
walked the fancy grew and took on further shape.
In Greek legend, we have the two dog stars: Sirius,
with Procyon to his left, following the huntsman
Orion, who, with club raised, confronts Taurus the
bull. Or we have the two wolf/Wolfrider stars, One-Eye
(Sirius) and Clearbrook (Procyon) facing a troll
with club raised. There is a hint of impending
rescue as Taurus' horns become the antlers of a
Go-Back's reindeer behind the troll.
Ellen M. McMicking
Don Mills, Ontario
I should mention what has been a minor annoyance
to me: despite the emphasis laid on
Recognition's being a way of improving the gene
pool, an awful lot of inbreeding must have taken
place among both the Wolfriders, who are a small
tribe, and the Sun Folk (all descended from five
elves, for goodness' sake!) and their genes don't
seem to have been substantially damaged, as it
were. I mean, they're still producing elves the like
of Leetah, Rayek, and Cutter.
With that out of the way, I'll say that the various tribes all seem to deal with the questions of life and death very differently. The Wolfriders and the Go-Backs never considered being immortal; their lives were too hard. The Sun Folk and the Gliders never considered not living forever; their lives were too easy. Yet the Wolfriders, unlike the Go-Backs, retained the respect for life and the love for their friends that enabled them to form enduring relationships. In this they resembled the Sun Folk, who also could join as lifemates and sometimes experience recognition. They also knew how to love each other. The Gliders, like the GoBacks, lost the ability to love - yet in what different ways did their respective lifestyles articulate this inability? The Gliders shut themselves in among themselves, dwelling more and more on magic. The Go-Backs rejected magic and devoted themselves to warfare, indifferent to the tenderer feelings. Why love a comrade when he may be killed tomorrow? To highlight the contrast, the Gliders have lost the abilty to breed (except through the extremely rare Recognition between one of them and a member of another tribe) and the Go-Backs breed without needing Recognition.
You have, all in all, presented us readers with a fascinating array of comparisons and contrasts. As regards immortality, for my part, I don't think it's all it's cracked up to be. I mean, who wants to live when all his friends are gone? Particularly to live forever without love or tenderness? Myself, I'd go with the wolves.
M.J. Schweiter
Somerville, MA
***** You make some interesting observations regarding the "Ways" of the four groups of elves we've seen so far, though we hope that this issue has shown that a very simple analysis doesn't lead to all the answers. On the subject of Recognition and the gene pool: yes, a lot of inbreeding does take place. However, the creation of a fictional world allows us to set things up genetically so that the elves don't run into the same problems that we would under the same circumstances. With any luck, the rule book for the ELFQUEST role-playing game (due early 1984) will codify such things in greater detail than is possible for the comic.
I wanted to write and mention something that I
didn't realize before in issue #16. That is Rayek's
first words. He says, "Strength and courage you
may have, Wolfrider, but wits? Never!" It wasn't
until after I had started reading the ELFQUEST
novel again that I realized that he was referring to
the Trial of Head, Hand and Heart. I may be slow,
but I get there eventually. Thanks again.
Brian Thue
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
***** Actually, you got there first! The echo of Rayek's own words from EQ #3 was something we were cackling about from the moment Wendy put that little twist in. Which of us hasn't done a similar double take at a sound or sight from many years past?
I tend not to write letters to graphic book
publishers since I find it hard to address comments
to a particular issue of a book. Rather, I am
inclined to form my opinions around general
aspects and trends in the characters and the
storylines. This is especially true of a book like
yours where each issue is merely a chapter within
a greater framework. Still I will try to make a
couple of comments specific to issue 16 before I
wander off into generalities. The cover was
terrific! It really had the ability to reach out and
grab you in the store; and since I'd read the
previous issues, the cover brought forth dozens of
questions. Who was she crying for? Had Cutter
died? Or was it something totally different?
Visually it was striking. The color balances with
the warm reds and browns surrounding the bright
hardness of the whites of her robes and eyes, thus
focusing our attention on her beautiful green
eyes, was excellent. The emotion on Leetah's face
spoke volumes - but enough on the cover and on
to the story. It was interesting the way in which
you "dramatically" chose to return Rayek to the
story. I can't believe many ELFQUEST readers
ever really thought he was gone for good and that
it wasn't only a matter of time before he returned.
The only real complaint I have about the story is
that at the end of #15 the burning question in my
mind was, who were these strange elves and what
was their relation to the so-called High Ones or
any other elf clan for that matter? This was
completely shoved aside or ignored in order to tell
Rayek's story which was longer than I thought it
needed to be. Aside from this I enjoyed the story,
especially the way it was used to show that the
aftermath of a battle can at times be just as
traumatic as the battle itself.
Brian L. Wilson
Minneapolis, MN
You've led us on quite an adventure over the
past several years. During that time, I've noticed
what I feel is an evolution in Wendy's drawing
style. It's not so much that the characters have
aged, I think, as that the artist herself has
matured. Lines and details are ever so slightly
finer, the faces are less round and childlike and
display more individual character. On the whole,
there is a sense of confidence. In some cases, I
find an oversimplification of certain details and
objects for my taste, but I wouldn't want to be
responsible for drawing this story with any more
detail than it already has. I particularly like
Wendy's command of expression, and her range
of characterization.
Damon Hill
Atlanta, GA
About your insert A DISTANT SOIL - is WaRP
going to have its own stable of comics like DC or
Marvel? If so, how can I submit artwork and
stories? If not, 'tis a shame, because I think it is
an idea whose time has come. ELFQUEST is far
and away the best book on the market, and the
only one I read regularly. I'm sure WaRP Graphics
would use the same standards of excellence for
other stories that are used for ELFQUEST.
Nancy McClernan
Pennsauken, NJ
***** We're sure going to try. To be honest, I'm not looking to put forth great volumes of product, to try to compete with the majors or even the larger independent companies. The other magazines I've chosen so far to publish - A DISTANT SOIL and MYTH-ADVENTURES - have a certain quality to them that "feels" (there's no better word for it) to me like ELFQUEST does. My choices are personal that way; hopefully, they also reflect the tastes of our audience.
Regarding submissions, they are always welcome; just remember always to send copies of your work along with a self-addressed, stamped envelope if you want your sample returned. And send your best.
ELFQUEST is the greatest thing to come
around since the comic book. ELFQUEST is a life
saver. Sometimes I get real mad at myself, mad
enough to take New Moon and cut off my own
head, so I go into my room and get out the EQs
and start reading. I'm always relaxed in a few
minutes. But what is really good about EQ is that
you can read it over and over again and still get
new ideas and thoughts about it. In my opinion,
ELFQUEST is the best elf/troll/beast/human/love
story/thriller/fantasy comic book.
Hendrik D. Gideonse
Cincinnati, OH
***** And to the first wag who suggests that ELFQUEST is the ONLY elf/troll/beast/human/love story/thriller/fantasy comic book, an all expenses paid trip to the Guttlekraw Lounge, where you will be the main ingredient in a brand new type of finger food. Heh heh.
See you all next issue!