Announcements...
About the Elfquest Videotapes-- Final Final Update. On October 31, 1991, the license to produce these videotapes expired; the tapes are not authorized, and as far as we know, do not exist. Call 818-799-3537 regarding refunds. If you do not get satisfaction, contact your local postmaster for advice.
ELFQUEST back issues-- we are out of back numbers of KINGS OF THE BROKEN WHEEL. Please do not place any further orders. Try your Yellow Pages for "Comics" or "Magazines-- Used" for shops where you might find back issues.
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The end of the year, and the beginning of a new one, are good times for reflection. Especially around here at Warp Graphics, where we keep going pretty much all the time, not paying lots of attention to nine-to-five or weekends. Usually the week between Christmas and New Year's Day is quiet; that's because most everyone else-- those who are sensible-- have taken vacation and are off from work themselves! So it's a nicely easy-going time, few phone calls, and I get lots of end-of-year things done, like taxes and the cleaning off of my desk. As a kind of bonus, there are stretches of time when I can kick back and watch as the afternoon light fades and the street lights come on, and think about the year gone by and the year to come. These are special times; they only happen in the winter, at year end.
So it's a good time for the writing of A MATTER OF OPINION. I got a newspaper clipping from a reader out in Santa Cruz, California. You may recall that I wrote of a wonderful place out there called Elfland. Elfland is a stretch of old redwood forest that lies near and around the campus of the University of California at Santa Cruz. It is an enchanted place, and people who feel that magic go there and meditate, or make offerings to the elves and spirits, or set up places of private worship. When I was there last, there was a controversy brewing over whether the trees were to be cut down and Elfland bulldozed to make way for more University buildings; the feeling among the students was hopeful that they could stop the construction and save Elfland.
Well, articles from the SANTA CRUZ SENTINEL of December 16 and 17 tell me that the logging took place, and that about 200 trees were cut down. Protesters attempted to halt the operation, but in the end were unsuccessful. The articles seem to be saying that not much of the area of Elfland was taken, but still... One of the altars, built into a circle of trees, was destroyed, and there's no way of knowing-- without going back there-- just how the whole place has been affected. Is there some strange correspondence working here? --the world of humans is encroaching on the world of Elfland, just as is happening to the Wolfriders.
We also heard, as we do periodically, from our friends at Wolf Park in Battle Ground, Indiana. Way back when, we "adopted" a pup named Betsy, and later helped to raise money for some new fencing for the preserve, so we keep in touch. The latest newsletter contained a handwritten note from Pat Goodmann, the "wolflady" there: "I will probably retire Betsy from the pack when she goes into heat, and Sergei can join her... they can share a retirement which I hope they will enjoy."
Retire... I had to go back through the files to see just when it was that we first met Betsy; turns out to be summer of 1982-- almost a decade ago. Betsy was a pup then, not yet come into her first heat. How the time has flown! Sure, we know that she's had several litters of pups of her own, some of which have gone to various zoos around the country and some of which are still at the Park. But ten years... Makes me want to take another took at our own wolf-substitute Feisty, who turned ten herself back in November. She is a little slower these days, though no less feisty. Nature runs its course, whether we pay attention to it or not; it is a wonderful, majestic, terrible, implacable thing. How many generations of wolves do you suppose the Wolfriders knew during their long wait?
The world changes, people change, the land changes, wolves change. And ELFQUEST changes too. This issue is the final chapter in the KINGS OF THE BROKEN WHEEL storyline, but it is not the last issue of ELFQUEST. Next issue, number 10, begins a series that we're calling THE HIDDEN YEARS. Haven't you wondered what sorts of things happened to the Wolfriders during all those gaps and jumps in time since we first started telling their stories? We have-- and these issues are our way of sharing what we've discovered.
And then there's ELFQUEST: NEW BLOOD, a very exciting project that gives us the chance to say to other comics professionals, "Here's our sandbox, the World of Two Moons. How would you play in it?" We are, to say the least, most intrigued by some of the answers we've received. More details next issue-- for now, shade and sweet water!
Richard Pini
Afterword...
High Ones! I love a love story! And that is
what KINGS OF THE BROKEN WHEEL has turned out
to be. It is dedicated especially to "those who
remember"-- those who cry inside with an
unnameable longing-- those who would do just
about anything, even walk on the dark side, to
catch a glimpse of "Home." If you identify with
Rayek or Winnowill-- or even with characters
who move between light and shadow like
Strongbow-- this one's for you!
We teach what we need to learn. Just as Cutter's life lessons seem (though I don't always consciously plan it that way) to be particularly relevant to my own growth issues, each and every ELFQUEST character has attracted a certain following along his or her path. Take Skywise (down, girls, down!). How often you've written us asking if he'll ever get himself recognized! Well, he has! Thousands of times over! By whom? Just look in your bathroom mirrors!
Whenever Richard and I finish a series, the first thing we ask ourselves is, "What's next?" Sometimes it's a bit of a struggle 'til we can crack the sled out of the ice and mush toward our new destination. This time, however, we knew where we were headed well before the completion of KINGS. Since, like Skywise, every ELFQUEST character is a star in his or her own right, each carrying a pack full of personal stories just waiting to be spilled, WaRP would be off its collective nut not to explore those possibilities, don't you think?
For instance...did you know Tyleet once had a child? What about Cutter and family? They have so much catching up to do. Think it'll be easy? Remember Bearclaw? Ever hear the phrase "like father like son?" Ember, a rebellious, misbehaved teenager?! Gee, she used to be such a sweet little kid too! Will her first lovemating (any guesses with whom?) straighten her out or send her over the edge? Oh, yeah, yeah, we haven't forgotten about Skywise's mom! Want to see what happens when an elf gets caught in the bloody aftermath of wolfpack rank shifting-- especially if that elf's a stickler for the Way like Strongbow? Get the idea? For the next we-don't-know-how-many issues, beginning with number 10, we're going to take an up close and personal look into the lives of some of our most popular, intriguing and elusive characters. You can probably tell we're excitedly fastening our seatbelts here-- this is a ride we've been itching to take for some time! These stories will appear under the title of ELFQUEST: THE HIDDEN YEARS. They can take place anywhere, anytime on or off the world of Two Moons. They will surprise you, scare you, honk you off and make you say, "Wha...?! Waitaminnit!" And if that's not enough, they're all being painted in the lush, illustrative style I used on HOMESPUN and the BEAUTY AND THE BEAST graphic novels. Our b&w issues, printed in rich half-tone, will take on new depth and mystery. And our color Graphic Novel #9, due out this very year of'92...mmmm mmmm! Just wait and see!
Why this risky trip into the deep woods with our characters? Well, you see, bionic women are dangerous. I mean, once you've been through that kind of overhaul, what else can scare you? Seriously, I should say, when you've been touched by a miracle, what is there to fear... ever? How did the surgery go? Just the way all your prayers and well-wishes and healing spells and gifts of special crystals, energy colors and scents intended it should go. I was up and walking on the second day and home by the sixth. The first thing we did was walk Feisty around the block (yes we still have her, and yes she still is). My strength grows each day and in a few months I shouldn't even need my cane. Except for some impermanent muscle aches, the pain in my left leg is gone. Thank you... thank you with all my heart for sending so much love and for sharing your personal healing experiences with us. It's certainly part of the reason why I'm back to work so fast!
So, now... into the briars, friends, into the swamp, the muck, the icky, delicious depths of the unconscious where we make no promises and take no prisoners!
AAAYYOOOOOOOAAAAAAHHHHH!!!
Wendy Pini