From: dmhartma@students.wisc.edu
Subject: NEW BLOOD #23 (SPOILERS)
(via Compuserve)
It is I, post-hog and Apprentice FAQ-Keeper, taking time out of my schedule I cannot afford, to comment on the latest NEW BLOOD issue!
I enjoyed it very much. Anyone who had already decided that they didn't like NEW BLOOD because "nothing happens" should check out this issue. It isn't overplotted, but things do happen, and it has a balance of action and character development.
Door, Door, Door, Door, Door... Whooooeeee! No longer am I left wondering whether or not he'll make a good villain. He seemed fairly weak at times, in earlier issues, but now it looks like that was only because he hadn't yet made up his mind. Now he's IN CHARGE big time. His rockshaping has become very menacing, and it shows just how powerful he is. I mean, think of how long it took Ekuar to shape that elf-high tunnel in SHARDS, and now look at the way stone flows and leaps instantly at Door's command in this issue. He was grand and dark toward the end of the issue, of course, in the dramatic storm scenes, but what really grabbed me was the bit on page 8, where his servant drops the bowl. The instant fear in the child's eyes-- Door's face in panel 5-- the grasping, lunging stone-- aie! Spooky.
As other listmembers have said, Aramak seems more sympathetic now. I think this is partly due to the glimpse we had of his past in the last issue (and I loved that flashback, by the way, in issue 22... the child Aramak really looked like he would have grown into the adult Aramak we see now). I also noticed an interesting and sympathetic depth developed in Aramak's relationship with his main guard (who I've been calling "Wolverine," for obvious reasons). We see some private exchanges between them: "The storm is upon us, my friend," Aramak says seriously. They express their fears to one another, and they stick close together throughout the issue. When Door's powers swoop Aramak over the wall, the guard leaps down at once-- he plummets into the middle of the mob, flinging himself entirely in harm's way so Aramak can escape. When we see Aramak peering from the bushes, weeping, I saw it not only as fear and sorrow for the destruction of everything he has believed... but also because his loyal Friend (who Door just spiked to death) died so that he might live. It was a deep subtext worthy of the best of EQ, seems to me. A lot of emotions and ideas, expressed with a minimum of words and pictures.
Some folks have mentioned that Windkin's cell used to have two wooden bars across the door, and now it has one. I'm afraid so. And the two bars it used to have were big round log-type things, all the way from side to side. This reminds me of the way the hero used to get out of impossible predicaments in the old Saturday afternoon serials, like Flash Gordon and so on... one week, at the end of the short, you'd see the hero chained in a car and the car going over a cliff and exploding. "The End? Tune in next week!" The next week, you'd see the same scene, only right before the car went over the cliff you'd see the hero open the door and jump out. "Hey, we didn't see that last week! And last week he was chained hand and foot!" So, while it may not be consistent, or "fair," at least this switching-cells gimmick has a time-honored history in entertainment fiction, hmm?
Another odd thing... in the storm scenes near the end, Aramak is wonderfully depicted as getting soaked and bedraggled. His kerchief sticks close to his head, and his hair hangs limply and looks wet (for example, see page 19, panel 2). But some of the other characters look comparatively dry, despite the drenching rain, especially Windkin and his soft, wavy curls. Not a giant problem, but I sure wish my hair would do that.
Yay, Willowsnap! Willowsnap is written and drawn without a hitch, as far as I'm concerned. It talks too much, and spits goop with little provocation, and cheerfully helps its beloved highthings. Way back in issue 21, there was a single page devoted to Willowsnap that made me grin all day... page 21, where Willowsnap is flying up to the fortress to find out just what in the Sam Hill is going on. It grumbles to itself, and swoops up to the windowsill, and as it peeks inside, it says softly, "Peek peek". In this issue, the same kind of stuff... always in character. "Now wha Wiwwowthnap thoo?" Not to mention its thor- ough scolding of Ahn-Lai, the painted boy. I love it!
If I were to draw crude parallels with human physiotypes found here on Earth-1, I would say that most of the humans we've seen throughout EQ have been Caucasian types, Meditteranean types, and some Asian types. By "some Asian types" I mean the physiotypes of Native Americans (whose ancestors are said to have crossed from parts of Asia over the Bering Strait) and Indians (from India). But on page 13 of this issue, there's an interesting little boy, who is told to blow the horn to summon the soldiers. Physically, he is much more of an Earth-1 African type. Not a physiotype we've seen as much of in EQ thus far, and nice to see here.
So there you have it. What will happen to the elf-human attack force, now that Door has siezed power? What will become of Ge-o'ka and Aramak, who are questioning their deepest beliefs? And what about Scarecrow's brain? Tune in next month for another exciting episode!
Dorinda
As a bard in the live action gaming group of
Amtgard, I find ELFQUEST to be a wonderful source of
characters, inspiration, and stories to tell around the
campfire. We bards are known for our love of music,
great stories, as well as an avid love for women, which
is what this letter is devoted to.
It's perfect how Yun turned out. As the daughter of Skywise she makes a great character. I thought it was cute how the wisps of hair come forward in front of her ears, almost making it look like she has the headpiece that Skywise wears. As her character develops, I wonder, like everyone else, what will happen if she ever does meet Skywise.
In NEW BLOOD #22 a radiantly beautiful depiction of Savah as her thin frame in the blue dress is lit by the little palace. Usually Savah has been drawn among bright lights, or under the noonday sun. But within those five panels I saw a Savah whose beauty was brought out by something similar to candlelight. As the faint light of the palace helped her features emerge from the darkness, I saw an elfin woman, perhaps in her twilight, and yet with the grace and dignity that some women acquire with old age.
Gregory Goodwin
<<street address removed from archive>>
Keep those cards, letters and ripples in the
luminiferous aether coming in, and see you in 30! - RP