But first a few words from this issue's Spin Doctor Strange, Bill Neville...
A lot of people seem to hate Smurfs. I think
this has to be because of the Saturday morning
cartoon version of the characters, which ran the
rather short gamut from maudlin to saccharine. I tend
to blame the "children's television watchdogs" for
this emasculation of Peyo's characters. The original
Belgian comics version of the Smurfs wasn't nearly so
shallow as the American television counterpart. It
was, in ways, comparable to Carl Barks's duck stories,
and to Asterix.
So it was with sadness that I learned of Peyo's recent passing. The saga of the Squirts was already in progress; I like to think he would have enjoyed the tribute. Terry and I certainly enjoyed vicariously stomping some of the more annoying little buggers.
A few acknowledgments: Welcome aboard to our newest contributor, Pam Fremon. The Trinket short is Pam's first comics work; I hope to see more. The junk food ad parody was inspired by a series of Hostess ad parodies written on the GEnie computer service by John Terra. If you have a computer and a modem, you should get an account with GEnie to read John's writing. In addition, GEnie has Silvernet, the electronic ELFQUEST holt, as part of the Comics Roundtable. Some fellow named Richard Pini shows up there now and then, too... And finally, a tip of the hat to Joel Ellis Rea for saying to me, "Hey, you know what you should do? Draw the elves Liefeld-style!" Hey, I know a good idea when I steal hear one!
And now... it's letter time!
Reading NEW BLOOD #6 was a truly elevated
experience. Skilled and inspired art combined with the
most potent "ELFQUEST spirit" yet to leak out of this title.
Every detail was graced with stunning wonderment.
Thank you for obliging my dream about what a non-
Wendy-and-Richard ELFQUEST story really looks like.
Not that the other stories have been bad, but they were,
shall we say, slightly less perfect. But that is only my
opinion. Let me carry on with my commentary on NEW
BLOOD #6.
I was surprised to see the newly introduced elf Runner be alive as far up in EQ history as to after the death of Bearclaw. As we didn't see him in what we might (or might not) call the "original" depiction of EQ history, I assume he's Nat Gertler's creation, and that Nat fancied him so much that he couldn't find it in himself not to include him. Or maybe he just thought the young Skywise needed a mentor and that none of the already present Wolfriders were right for the job. Either way I don't blame Nat one bit. I would also have included an elf of my own, had I written the story!
Listen to me. "...had I written the story!" As if I could ever write a classic like that. Yeah, right! See ya next month!
Tue Sorensen
<<street address removed from archive>>
This loyal reader is taking your request literally
to "keep those letters coming in and we'll keep reading
every one of them..."
The attraction of ELFQUEST for me has always been the intelligence and integrity with Wendy weaves into her superior artwork. The stories work on a magnificent visual level, as well as deeper levels - she and Richard have created a story with heart and soul, all the more unique because it is well thought out with distinct anthropomorphic cultures and practices and Wendy has remained consistent to them in an intelligent presentation. Her characters have distinct features and personalities and detailed costumes. It is always obvious that time and care goes into her work, and I would wait patiently through the months for the finished product because I knew it would be worth the wait.
After fifteen years I concede that Wendy has certainly earned the right to a respite from the demands of deadlines and all of the other headaches that come with being a pioneer independent comic. I have no problems with her choosing to rest on her well-earned laurels for as much or as little as she wants to and branching out into other areas. She and Richard deserve to enjoy the fruits of their success. What I don't care for is the seeming inability of her successors to carry on the intelligence and integrity of her work.
It's the consistency of the little things that made Wendy's work so special, and it's the little things that subsequent artists are missing. In the first SUMMER SPECIAL'S "Out of the Woods" it's the cookpot - you almost lost me as a reader permanently over that incredibly stupid violation of "the way." For that matter, the only story I liked in that issue was "Price of a Soul." Call me fickle and disloyal, but I have refused to buy subsequent issues except Lea Hernandez's story because I didn't like the stories or the art. NEW BLOOD #5 got another chance, but I was still disappointed. Details, you're blowing the details! Rather than having you mutter to yourselves about this reader complaining vaguely in generalities, here are the specifics in NEW BLOOD #5 to illustrate what I'm referring to about blowing the details.
- I feel that the overall drawing style is extremely limited. The artists seemed capable of depicting only a few facial expressions, and a stiff, fashion mannequin presentation of the elves, Nightfall in particular. There is nothing lyrical in the artwork. Lea Hernandez and John Byrne have captured a lyrical quality in their work, but in my opinion, everybody else has missed the boat.
- Being a parent and having experienced a pregnancy and delivery, I have seen many females in many stages of pregnancy, and I have never seen the bottom front of a ribcage well defined in the final stages of a pregnancy, so to me Dewshine looked very strange. In addition, I thought Dewshine's labor and delivery were physically unnatural and inconsistent with an elfin birth as presented repeatedly by Wendy. All right, I know this is a fantasy, but Dewshine wearing the same blood-free clothes she just had a baby in for chrissakes is pushing it, as is her body being voluptuous and tight-stomached immediately afterward.
- I was outright offended by the lack of the artists' understanding of the way clothing should fit, such as Dewshine's gravity-defying, ridiculous strapless rag, and especially Nightfall's off-the-shoulder bodice. If Nightfall's arm drapes were to fit that way all the time, she would have been a hunting casualty a long time ago because she couldn't draw a knife or pull a bow because her sleeves hampered her movements. And if the bodice were constructed the way it was drawn, it would be falling down constantly because there is nothing holding it up under the arms. I've accepted the firm perkiness of the elfin gravity-free C-cup breasts as a stylistic choice long ago, but at least Wendy presented clothing that was realistically wearable. The big-boob cookie-cutter school of schlocky art is creeping in, broadcasting that some artists have no concept of how clothing really fits and who cares anyway as long as the boobs are big?
- Whoever is responsible for the appearance of the baby needs to study anatomy of infants. Even elf infants aren't born with the proportions of an elf adult.
Lest you are throwing up your arms in disgust over my railings as you grumble that no one can be expected to get all of these things right, I remind you that Wendy did. I guess what I'm trying to convey is that I have no objections to new artists and writers presenting ELFQUEST, but they need to rise to Wendy's level in their presentation. Being familiar with drawing and painting in my own practice and profession (professional costumer for over twenty years), I realize that artists' styles are distinct and I wouldn't change that. However, my impression is that some of the new blood aren't even familiar with the ELFQUEST universe except only superficially, and that the new blood are making changes in Wendy's book in an effort to hammer out their own identities. This is their greatest error. What I see is the skimming over or ignoring of the details and integrity that is Wendy's artistic legacy. These details are what elevated her work, and this is what her successors need to rise to.
Minta Manning
<<street address removed from archive>>
NEW BLOOD #6? Not bad, not bad...
"Auspicious Beginnings" was pretty good,
although I find it hard to believe that no one but
Skywise saw or scented the "firefang." Other than
that, just who is this guy Runner? And what is Dewshine
doing there? She's not even a thought in Treestump
and Rillfisher's heads yet! Please get your time line
straight, guys!
"Power of two" I liked. I could just see Cutter getting into scrapes like this one. And nobody but good ol' Skywise to get him out of it - and earn himself a new headpiece in the process. I'd always wondered where he got it...
And now we come to "Choice of Direction." I really can't see this one happening. Cutter's orders were followed even when he was practically a cub during the Madcoil hunt. I just can't believe that the tribe would ignore their chief, however inexperienced, during a crisis.
Sydney Ashcraft
<<street address removed from archive>>
"I saw you born," said Skywise to Cutter - who
was born knowing his soul name, according to BLOOD
OF TEN CHIEFS. And Tam once said to Leetah, "Skywise
knows my soul name. He has always known it." So it
is clear that Fahr and Tam learned each other's real
names as soon as the younger one was born. There
are elements missing from the recent story about the
birth of Cutter. This new story cannot be accepted as
part of the real mainstream until and unless these
elements are included in it.
Benjamin Urrutia
<<street address removed from archive>>
We never said NEW BLOOD was gospel EQ, Benjamin - at least, not until #11, when the title takes a whole new turn! And as we grow the ELFQUEST universe, we're finding that we will need to make additions and adjustments to what has gone before, not for the sake of that "foolish consistency" that Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote of, but to enrich the overall story that is ELFQUEST, as well as to ensure those "details" that Minta speaks to. Everyone's got a tough, fifteen-year solo act to follow, and we're getting there. Keep letting us know how we're doing! - RP