Well, well, well. You crafty old ELFQUEST guys, you. Putting that little bit of THE REBELS into the back of each of your other comics. You probably thought, "Now that everybody sees how neat this is, they will have to rush out and buy all the copies of REBELS they can find." And it worked. I bought all the JINK issues I could find, too. I read JINK first (because it had at least one actual elf in it), and I thought, "Okay, I should probably keep an eye out for these -- they're pretty nifty." Then I read THE REBELS, and I was literally rolling on the floor laughing, reading bits out loud to my husband -- HE even read them when I was done! (He quit reading ELFQUEST after the original quest.) So. Your fiendish plan has worked. Way to go Thanks for doing ELFQUEST.
Lisa Payne
And a big thank you right back! The way I
figured, there had to be some people reading the "core"
ELFQUEST who weren't aware of the "future" EQ titles, or
who hadn't yet cared to crack one open. Letters like
yours let me know we made the right call. - RP
From: Iperg@eqsun.geo.Arizona.EDU
THE REBELS is really starting to take off. It took a long time to get acquainted with everybody -- Jink has already finished a story arc -- but it turned out to be well worth the time. There is a good mixture of shared interests and conflicts of same; and a good combination of known and yet-to-be revealed factors. I hope that REBELS can start some longer story arcs now. REBELS #6 seemed very rushed, especially for a rescue of that magnitude; I would have liked to have seen it handled over several issues. In any case, I am eagerly awaiting further developments. (Especially since their main mystery, in the words of the Red-Herring Meister, Richard Pini, is going to be "What did happen to the elves, anyway?")
I really like the way Cosmo was shown dealing with the trauma of purposefully killing someone. Particularly in comics and other fictions, people often seem to take killing in stride. But in real life, such things have large repercussions. So showing Cosmo dealing with the effects made REBELS go up a couple of notches on the realism scale. The emotional release scene with Chandra and Scorch was beautiful; very cathartic. I hope this is only the first step, though, since such a thing would take a long time to deal with. Seeing Cosmo freeze in a similar battle situation, and perhaps having someone injured as a result, would be a logical follow-up.
Ah, so Cosmo is the leader now, is he? At least until someone wants to do something else, that is. Chandra, Scorch, and Rosie all were insubordinate at one point or another, and I bet Shimmer would have been too, if he weren't so busy being fixed this issue. Hope the Cam Triompe has a big brig!
Rosie is certainly showing a lot of initiative (not that anyone could ever tell a preserver what to do anyway). I hope that we can see her grow as a character. She already seems to have gone beyond the emotional capacities of a preserver; she is able to cry, which Petalwing did not do even after One-Eye's death and Clearbrook's "attempt to make wrapstuff." (Of course it could simply be because having human genes gives her tear ducts. But we already have to lay size, and possible sex and lack of wings, at that door. No sense in borrowing trouble.) Her special bond with Shimmer might be important in resisting the influence of the Neverending Mothership.
I'm glad Shimmer got fixed, even if his loyalty could now be in doubt. I am comforted by the fact that the Mothership tried to suppress and replace Shimmer's ego; he seems to have regained it quite nicely. Now if the Mothership had tried hidden or subliminal programming instead, I would be much more worried. Right now, I'm more concerned about the information gained from Shimmer making it through the corroded interface and rotted synapses of the Mothership.
Interesting effect with Shimmer's three sets of arms. I think he is projecting an illusion rather than actually shaping the arms, although either ability is potentially useful.
Now for the most exciting sighting! Elves! Wishful thinking makes the blue-grey on the top of the elf's head into Skywise's hair, but a cold dose of reality whispers that it is just reflections from the palace. The elf is light-skinned, which could eliminate two powerful contenders, Rayek and Suntop. Of course, with the palace and freed from the magic-draining effects of Abode, I assume any elf could pilot the palace, or change the color of their skin: so it could be anyone. (Major cop-out, I know. Off the record, I vote for Skywise and Timmain.)
Someone speculated that the tradition of female rulers might be due to Winnowill displacing the Djun. Hmm, "The Grand Aerie within the city of Wayfair..." might point to some Glider connection, although the seat of power does not appear to be in Junland where Winnie is now. The woman is not in uniform, so I assume she is a civilian leader. Is she supposed to be the Doma? The room and throne are different than the ones seen in JINK #2, although the symbol in back of the throne is similar... of course, this is in Cosmo's dream, so it might not correspond exactly with real life.
Piecing together snippets from REBELS and JINK, combined with the "World Map Inside!" we're starting to get a clearer picture of Abode. Torlon Graaf, L'cota, and (I think) Cam Triompe all come from Hearthstone, so it looks like many / all people from there are black. Judging from the ranks attained in the Skyward, among other things, it looks like the continent of Iceholt holds the most power on Abode. Bellambara says that she is the first Junlander to obtain the rank of Commander in the Skyward in JINK #2 (which is not even the highest rank). Most of the people pictured from Hearthstone seem to be either Ensigns or Lieutenants. Judging from the lack of people wearing sunglasses, and the discontent with Abode, there are not that many colonists in the Skyward either. Wayfair, in Iceholt, has the Skyward Academy, a major university, and is perhaps the capitol of Abode. It is interesting that Iceholt seems to be the seat of power, since Junland had a powerful state in Cutter's time, as did Sunholt, and Hearthstoners did the most exploring.
As a side note, it is rather ominous that the Junlanders seem to hate the "Wolfrider demons" so much. Cutter tried to leave no trace in the short time they were there, they were in wrapstuff for almost 10,000 years, there did not seem to be much animosity towards elves when they emerged, and they seem to be helping the humans now. So when did the Junlanders have time to come to hate the elves? If anyone had a legitimate gripe, it would be the Sunholters.
Lesley A Perg
All to be answered in time. Keep those
Shim-o-Grams coming in, and see you in 45! - RP