Welcome to ELFQUEST.
Those of you who have been both STAR WARS and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS (a safe assumption for many of us) might have been struck by a similarity in the openings to both films. The lights dim. The curtain opens. In silence, the titles and opening credits roll by. And then, suddenly, WHAM! The first, glorious fanfare from the orchestra grabs you and thrusts you into a world of action and adventure that doesn't let up.
Well, Wendy and I have no orchestra for you, but don't pause to catch too long a breath, at least for this first issue, for the Wolfriders will sweep past you in the night and leave you standing. Their old life is being destroyed; somehow, they must survive and forge a new existence in an uncertain world that is like the primitive earth and unlike it. It's rough!
But not all the time. After finishing up and sending in the first part of "FIRE AND FLIGHT," one comment that we received was that Cutter was coming across like "a little Conan." Thank goodness, we thought, at least he's not effeminate! Yes, the elf chieftain is a quick-tempered, not-always-wise-acting little cuss, but like all of the elfin folk that will come to inhabit the world of ELFQUEST, he has gentleness and compassion in him, too. Above all, we hope you'll come to think more and more of the Wolfriders as real people, even if they are short and have pointed ears. Because, you see, to us they are real!
A word about elves, hobbits, and Ralph Bakshi. Some of you may find similarities between the stories and characters of ELFQUEST and the words of Tolkien, or especially Bakshi's animated film, Wizards. Actually, the ideas for our stories go back a while, even before Wendy and I met. She was named for the character in Peter Pan, and it couldn't have been more appropriate, for the elfin-folk have been a part of her life (now ours) since the beginning. They are absolutely real. They live with us - they get into the cereal boxes and cut notches in the furniture and generally have a grand old time, telling us their tale. Seeing Wizards - the first true adult sword and sorcery cartoon - convinced us that maybe the time was right for elves.
Apparently IPS COMICS and Tim Donahue thought so too. When we sent in the samples to ELFQUEST, the response we got was immediate, enthusiastic, and incredibly gratifying. We thank everyone involved for aiding us in the spinning of our yarn. "FIRE AND FLIGHT" is just the first strand in the tapestry of Cutter's World.
So welcome to ELFQUEST. We are very excited about it, and we hope you will be too.
Richard and Wendy Pini