I have a few questions to ask, but first I want to know just what part in the creation of ELFQUEST Mr. Fake Rubber Tree plays. Is he maybe the guy who gives support to the crew when they're feeling overworked or stressed out from deadlines? Actually, he does look like the quiet, listening, and understanding type...
Hmmm... yeah, well, anyway, I just finished reading NEW BLOOD #18. WOW. I love the first page. I'm growing to love Yun more and more every issue. But why does she have that sad look on her face? How do you pronounce "Yun" anyway? I say it like "sun" but with a "y." And what about Dodia? Is the "o" long? (Well, no, actually, it's kind of round. "Yun" is pronounced with the same sound as "good." "Dodia" is pronounced "doe-DEE-uh." All of which makes a perfect segue into a plug for THE BIG ELFQUEST GATHERUM, a November publication, which contains not only the best from the earlier two Gatherums, plus a bunch of great new material, but also a pronunciation guide for every name in ELFQUEST that we could find! - RP)
And my last question is more like a suggestion. Or maybe a begging, pleading kind of thing. See, I've noticed that a lot of the comics are coming out with a Swimsuit Issue. And I got to thinking today that a real awesome swimsuit edition could come from ELFQUEST. Of course I'd want to see Yun, Dodia, Kahvi, Leetah, Winnowill, Venka, Shenshen, Nightfall, Clearbrook, Tyleet, Moonshade, and there's this one Sun Villager girl that I see sometimes who always dresses in black and has long black hair. Just to name a few... Oh, and of course you'd also have to satisfy your female audi- ence with male elves. (I didn't include any WaveDancers because every issue is like a swimsuit issue.) So I'm happy, you're happy, we're all happy... We're all just a bunch of happy little screaming idiots.
Anyway, PLEASE? Yun is just so yunny - I mean, yummy! See? You gave her that name on purpose! Curse you!
Jason Burns
<<street address removed from archive>>
We're deep in the heart of the Forevergreen
storyline, and I must say that I'm pleased. I had been
hoping for tighter continuity between the EQ titles, and
more importantly an ongoing storyline.
Dart and Yun seem to remind me of two best friend elves practically a world away. This is not a bad thing, since the differences between the pairs are much more interesting. Yun could use some fleshing out, but I like the fact that Dart is reluctant to lead. I think he's learning to follow through with his actions whether it affects him or the whole of the New Blood. Ironically, his wariness of being in charge also makes him the best candidate for it.
Another thing I like to see is Barry Blair coming into his own here in ELFQUEST. I'm beginning to identify him with the New Blood elves and their look; it seems like everyone else is too. Lotsa atmosphere in this issue; it's practically dripping with it. Keep it up; things like this give NEW BLOOD a different feel than HIDDEN YEARS.
The big guy with the pointed ears really scares me (and who said Barry could only draw skinny people?), but it's nice to see someone who can take Windkin down a peg.
No problems with the story so far, except that I think the only thing that held "Water-Leaf" together as long as it did was Richard Pini and plot necessity.
Michael Brady
<<street address removed from archive>>
How this will affect Dart's mind will be
interesting to see. It's almost hard to believe that once
upon a time elves and humans were able to get along.
It will be something to behold once Dart is able to free
the others where the elf/human relationship will go.
They may never truly trust one another but theoretically
they can coexist, trading goods and services. If
the "five fingers" can get past the old stories and
prejudices, that is.
What impressed me the most however about issue 18 of NEW BLOOD was Barry's work. It just jumped out and made me take notice. The panels where there were no real color differentiations were just plain beautiful. How anyone could not appreciate Barry's contributions to this title is beyond me.
I am enjoying the new "action" and "adventure" direction this title is taking. My only request is that you continue to do what you're doing.
Steven Leitman
<<street address removed from archive>>
ELFQUEST is the best thing I have ever read.
The art is great; the stories are great; everything
about it is great. It seems to me, that we may be able
to expect a major crossover. First of all, the New
Blood elves being leafwrecked on an island on the
Vastdeep Water, might mean the WaveDancers are
nearby. Then two of the WaveDancers near the ruins
of Blue Mountain and Windkin meeting a former
dweller of Blue Mountain might mean that the ruins
are close to the lost city of the Hoan-G'Tay-Sho
humans. If this is so, please tell me I'm right. If I'm
wrong, I have but one thing to say: Oh, puckernuts!
Kevin Ward
<<street address removed from archive>>
Well, Kevin, how about small puckernut? Dart and his Dirty Dozen (yeah, I know there's not a dozen of them, but it makes such a lovely sound to say) have been washed ashore not on an island, but on the coast of a new land. If the Sun Village is located on what would be the equivalent of North America, then the NEWBLOOD elves traveled over the equivalent of the Gulf of Mexico to land in sort of South America. Believe it or not, we actually have a map of the entire World of Two Moons now, and one of these days we'll print it in all the EQ titles. But for now, take it as fact that Blue Mountain is nowhere near the lost city in the Forevergreen - the humans who took Door all those ages ago have migrated one very long way to get where they are.
As for crossovers, I'm of two minds about that. I think the occasional meeting between groups can be fun, exciting, and intriguing. I also think that too many comics companies these days have come to rely upon crossovers as a crutch to shore up a weak story. We do have some ideas about crossovers, but they'll happen only when the story calls for them: we won't make up a story just to get a WaveDancer into Grohmul Djun's swimming pool. - RP
And now, Why I Love The Internet, Part
Whatever. It starts as...
Date: Mon, 11 Jul 1994 09:28:53 PST
From: randy stamm
<randy_stamm@CCMAIL.UOREGON.EDU>
Subject: Re: NewBlood #something
Maybe I missed something here -- I understand how the Humans get to only 3 fingers, but how do they get the pointed ears? Primitive 'surgery' could do it, but then they would be smaller than 'normal' human ears, and these definitely aren't smaller..
Rand
And then leads to... - RP
Date: Tue, 12 Jul 1994 14:46:03 -0400
From: Jennifer Eastman
<jen@LL.MIT.EDU>
Subject: Re: NewBlood #something
>>>Maybe I missed something here -- I understand how the Humans get to only 3 fingers, but how do they get the pointed ears? Primitive 'surgery' could do it but then they would be smaller than 'normal' human ears, and these definitely aren't smaller...
You never know -- maybe as kids, they pulled a collective "Bobby Brady" and hung from their ears in an effort to make them pointy. :)
-- Jen
Which leads to... - RP
Date: Wed, 13 Jul 1994
From: "Ulrich Schreglmann (CIP 90)"
<uhschreg@CIP.INFORMATIK.UNI-ERLANGEN.DE>
Subject: Re: NewBlood #something
>>>Maybe I missed something here... and these definitely aren't smaller...
I guess the same way these African tribeswomen get lower lips they could cover their faces as far as up their foreheads with: by stretching them.
Which leads to... -RP
You know, I'd just love to see the devices
that do this in a future issue. Richard? You couldn't
sort of suggest drawing one to Barry? We could call
them "the earmarkers." :-)
Cool and Long Ears!
(C)OOL mcmxciv
Which leads to... - RP
Date: Wed, 13 Jul 1994
From: BigBad Harvey
<wnl100@PSU.EDU>
Subject: Re: NewBlood #something
At 1:58 PM 7/13/94 +0200, "Ulrich Schreglmann (CIP 90)" <uhschreg@cip.inform wrote:
>>>I guess the same way... I'd just love to see the devices that do this in a future issue. Richard? You couldn't sort of suggest drawing one to Barry? We could call them "the earmarkers." :-)
Actually, if you look in NB#18 (newest one)-scene where Windkin is being defiant to Aramak... it appears that there is a little blue wedge in Aramak's ear (This didn't look like paint to me). Probably, these wedges are put in the ear at an early age, and the ear eventually "grows" to be pointy, and the wedges are inserted again every now and then to make sure the points stay that way. Kinda like the "foot wrapping" thing that used to go on in China, ya know?
Fornit Some Fornus,
--Neale, saying "Treat bacteria with respect... they're the only culture some people have!"
I guess at this point it would be superfluous
to say, "Hear, hear!" Keep those comments coming in,
everyone, and see you in 30! - RP