First issues are, of course, a cause for celebration. "Hot noogies, the sucker is finally real!" But there's a special thing that happens when the second issue of a comic book or magazine or any other periodical appears. It's an urge, as undeniable as Recognition (about which you will start to learn some things in this very chapter), that compels artists and publishers to take a brand-new copy of issue #1 and a brand-new copy of issue #2 and lovingly place them side-by-side on the living room (or studio, or den, or...) floor. It's a ritual that proclaims, "This is no longer a one-shot affair, here. This is a series!" There is something magical, that affects even the most jaded of us, about seeing continuity right there in front of our eyes. And imagine the geometrical fun to be had with four issues, or eight, or twenty.
About continuity, however... Some comics titles include a "What has Gone Before" feature, usually here on the inside front cover. I've always felt that that allows a kind of laziness in certain readers in that they don't have to go back and read the previous issues. Well! Naturally, I would love to assume that if you've just discovered ELFQUEST with this issue you will be inexorably motivated to find the premier issue as well; and if your comics shop retailer is out of ELFQUEST 1, then you will mercilessly chivvy him or her until you get your copy. But we've always listened to our readers (I said we listen, I didn't say we necessarily accede to what they say-- there will be no "900" numbers to call for the saving or killing of characters) and if lots of you like the idea of a little synopsis before each chapter of the story, and if lots of you write in and say so, well then...I'll think about it! In fact, I'll even try it once:
Since the beginning of memory, elves and humans have been bitter enemies in this nameless, prehistoric world. Near the forest home of a tribe of elves called the Wolfriders dwells a band of humans who hunt and sacrifice elves. The tribe's chief, Cutter, rescues a captured elf and kills a human in the process. For revenge, the humans set fire to the forest, destroying the tree-homes of the Wolfriders, and forcing the elves to take refuge in the caverns of the trolls. The trolls, however, also mistrust the elves, and in order to rid themselves of their unwanted visitors, trick the elves into escaping through a tunnel that leads not to hoped-for woodlands, but to sun-swept waste...
Hm.
Hmmm. Kind of pales beside the real thing. I really think you should find a copy of ELFQUEST 1 and read it first to get the true flavor of the story, and then you should start in on this issue. Don't worry, we won't leave without you...
--Richard Pini
PS. I hope you've gotten the idea that we do enjoy hearing from you. We can't make any promises about replying to each individual letter, but we do read everything sent to us-- and that is a promise. Warp Graphics is still Wendy and Richard Pini at its heart, and that's what keeps ELFQUEST ticking.