Recently I received a sample of artwork from a young artist. The accompanying letter, painful in its naive hopefulness, was a request for information on starting up a comics publishing company, as Wendy and I had done ten years ago. The writer wanted to stop wasting time and to make a successful career in comics. The art which was enclosed wasn't very good.
For days I wondered how to reply. Answering the nuts-and-bolts questions about printing and distribution would be easy, but how could I tell this person that, given comics as they are today, he doesn't stand a chance? That he has neither the talent to outshine the competition nor the experience to survive the sharks who abound in the communal pool.
Two Charlies provided the solution for me. Chaplin once said, "Everyone has the right to earn his own disillusionment." Darwin said, in essence, there's a jungle out there and it's survival of the fittest. So I answered the request with what information I could, plus a "good luck."
The real question here is not "What did I finally do?" but "Why did I hesitate?" What was I, in my way, trying to protect this kid from? From finding out that sometimes the business end of the comics he so seems to love can be a stone heartbreaker? That some of the people he now admires have feet of clay and two faces? That the so-called cutting edge of comics these days is a bleak amalgam of cynical hopelessness and decay?
I'm not making this up. In the 1960s, media coverage of comics was of the "It's hip! It's camp! Pow! Zowie!" variety. In the 70s, it became "How to Make Money Investing in Comics." And now, to borrow a newspaper article headline, it's "Comics For The Apocalypse." The Dark Knight prowls a city in a world gone rotten to the roots. The citizens of Palomar dream on in an endless, futureless stupor. Worried Watchmen bewail a world winding to war. Comics' theme-of-the- decade club says, "Don't look to the future, because there is none. Quest thou no quests, for there's nothing worth going after. Life's a bitch and then you die."
(Barnyard epithet deleted)!
We, the collective "we" of writers, artists, publishers, readers, ultimately get just what we want. Mistake me not, exploration of dark themes is a perfectly valid subject for comics, but do we really desire it for the appetizer, entree, and dessert of the four-color feast? Is it that we see only a grim world around us, and so cope with it through comics the way we did 40 years ago in World War II? To take the world's twisted mindset as our own?
Still, we fought back then. Can anyone out there enlighten me as to why so few of us are fighting back now? Why there are so few honest stories of spirit and triumph, of homeric struggle and the victory of natural will? Why pettiness and sarcasm and repetition seem to carry the day?
In July 1987, the world's population surpassed five billion humans. At the same time there were a few hundred bald eagles left, a few thousand wolves and great whales.
Good luck, kid. Good luck.
-- Richard Pini
ANNOUNCEMENTS. The WOLFSONG album, advertised back in issues 19 and 20 of the original Elfquest series, will not be released. We have not heard anything from either The Ffactory or their lawyer in several months, even though we have tried repeatedly to get some information from them. We have forwarded all of your questions and complaints -- no reply. If you cannot easily obtain a refund, consult your Postmaster. As far as we can tell, The Ffactory is still located at 8102 23rd Avenue #4, Brooklyn NY 11214 (phone: 718-232-4460).
The APPLE/WARP Hotline is no longer in service; it worked well, but we need the additional phone line for other business.
YEARNINGS 3 -- the annual fanzine of the Elfquest Fan Club -- is available now. It's the year's best of EQ fan fiction, art, poetry and other goodies. The cost is $7.00 and you can order directly from Diana Davis, Shadow Island Graphics, PO Box 2831, Norcross GA 30091.
And now to your letters.
Elfquest SABM #4 is easily the best issue of the new
series. The art is back to the level of the first series and
the story is amazing! I've always liked Rayek though
he's never been a favorite; still, that threat he makes to
the Go-Backs is one of the most impressive moments in
Elfquest. I loved the moment of shared grief between
Treestump and Clearbrook; they are my two favorite
characters and I wish that they would have larger parts
to play in the story. Also (I never thought I'd say this)
Clearbrook looks even better now than she did with the
long braid.
Laren Farmer
Ottawa, IL
With one blow, Rayek has lost whatever was left of
my sympathy for him. It has been declining for a while,
but always I have found some excuse for his behavior.
That blow and his hateful words were the last straw.
Now, I see him as a dangerous egocentric misogynist.
Self-pity is no excuse for violence. I don't understand
why the Go-Back women didn't hit him back!
I wonder at the marked increase in violence in Elfquest. I mean, it makes sense in this particular story being as one of the most common strategies to keep people "in their place" is violence or the threat of violence. Refer to reality -- the lynching of blacks (still happening today), rape and wife abuse. Winnowill is no different that any other megalomaniac in this aspect. Brave to the people who compared her to Hitler. My question is will the violence continue after the story is over?
The fact is that the comic industry is a white male dominated industry catering to stereotyped ideals of masculinity. It is unnecessarily violent and sexist. Even the alternative comics are not exempt from this. The established crowd is largely made up of people who go for violence and sexism. Being as Elfquest is for the most part neither, the cards are stacked against you from the start. You will most likely never get rich doing humane comics. This is why I get nervous seeing so much violence in Elfquest. Are you preparing to sacrifice your ethics for money? I hope you don't sell out, because as you can see from Elfquotes, you are reaching an unusually high percentage of women and thoughtful men of all ages. We may be a small group but I think we are worth it.
Denise Tuggle
Portland, ME
We think so too, which is why nothing in Elfquest is done without reason -- including violence. Consider a disease that invades a part of your body. You could opt to ignore it and hope you heal. You could attempt some kind of medication. Or you might find that amputation is the only solution. Is Winnowill in fact a disease?
If Winnowill has a historical counterpart, it is
probably Nietzsche, not Hitler. Nietzsche is often
confused with fascism, but that is simply a result of
misreading his works, a matter too detailed to discuss
here. Winnowill seems to have a notion of morality akin
to that of Nietzsche, that of a separate master morality
vs. a slave morality -- she feels there are separate moral
criteria for her as a leader and for her people. She is
"beyond good and evil."
Nietzsche once wrote that "fear is the means by which the community is preserved." Winnowill asks her human servant (old EQ #15), "Do you fear me?" He replies yes, but that he also loves her. Winnowill is merely confused; she believes she must be feared to be loved and obeyed. That is hardly true love. Savah, in the same issue, says that evil is "the absence of love." If Winnowill does not have love (or has only a perversion of it), what does that leave her? The answer comes shortly thereafter, as Leetah chases the wounded Winnowill up the stairs, shouting, "You have nothing, no one!" Winnowill responds in true Zarathustra style, "I have my power -- feel it!"
So are we to conclude that the moral of Elfquest is that good is love (or being loved) while evil is power? Superficially, perhaps so. Yet Cutter exercises power and the dominance of his "will to power" as much as Winnowill does -- for example, in his mental battle with Strongbow. Is Cutter thus evil? Of course not. Then how are the Wolfriders and Gliders different?
Neither the Wolfriders nor the Gliders can be termed democratic in any meaningful sense. Both are ruled by chiefs, as are the Go-Backs and Trolls. The Wolfriders may allow more suggestive input than the other groups, but this is only natural given that they are a wandering tribe often faced with new and bewildering environments. The Gliders, as an insulated culture, where no new or alternative ways of life can be imagined, much less encountered, would naturally devalue group input. Winnowill uses this indifference to the new for her own ends, and makes the situation even worse. In the new series, she can no longer tolerate any but the most essential, putting the rest into limbo.
The Gliders are hardly evil, any more than the Wolfriders are good. The Gliders may be decadent; by this I mean they've stagnated, turned in upon themselves. The "final solution" Winnowill has cooked up is the natural response of any culture built on the idea of intolerance: order as fear. She doesn't want to kill the "impure" -- that is clever propaganda -- she wants to destroy the different, that which she cannot understand. Hitler, Stalin, and those who killed the native American Indians all practiced this intolerance. Winnowill is the dark side of us all. (Ever wonder why she is so appealing? That's why.) A "healed" Winnowill, whatever the cause of her original injury, will simply embody the realization that she can lead and be loved at the same time, and perhaps also the realization that the greatest power is to be loved. That is the strength of Cutter and Lord Voll -- to be "loved as well as respected."
Michael Rinella
Albany, NY
When I saw the "elven orgy" in (old) issue #17 I paid
it no mind; it was tastefully done, it flowed smoothly
and it added to the story. When I saw the dancing
sequence in SABM #1 no perverted thoughts came to
mind. But when I saw Skywise and Aroree, I had to
stop and applaud. The beauty of nature begins in the
sky and these two put the beauty of nature back in the
sky. Still tastefully done.
Other scenes were great. The last page of issue #4 with Two-Edge and Rayek -- "I don't care about your kid, you shouldn't either. I don't care 'bout nuthin' and nuthin' bothers me. Now excuse me, Rayek, while I have a nervous breakdown." And Kahvi had her child. If anyone writes in asking, "How could you?" why not reply, "We didn't. She did."
Michael Coyle
Childersburg, AL
Well, Wendy, your artwork is again showing some
very revealing aspects of the elves -- hoo, boy! How
they ranted and raved at Leetah and Nightfall's dance
in SABM #1 -- I can't wait to see their reaction to
Skywise and Aroree's joining! My reaction? *Sniff* and
a big lump in my throat. Despite what some say, I can
truly feel pity for Aroree; she acts like a frightened
child. Say, does she have a weak heart?
Something that's always been emphasized in Elfquest is the importance of the children. Seems like they're playing a bigger role than anyone right now. I wonder if Kahvi really knows what she's getting into by not telling Rayek about his child. Yellow eyes? Kahvi will probably have a fit if the child ends up possessing the same powers as Rayek. And as for poor little Windkin, we can only hope he is rescued in time. Surely this is the greatest evil Winnowill has done!
Melissa Langsetter
Kirkland, WA
You always stressed the importance of children in
Elfquest, and Woodlock and family have always
represented the family unit. So why weren't they there
when Lord Voll was shown the new generation of
children? Pregnant women have managed to
accomplish quite a bit, and Rainsong could have made
the journey. Kahvi went hunting bear when she was
pregnant. Now we've heard hardly anything about
them, let alone their healer child who was going to be
so important. Which brings us to the point of
Wolfriders remaining Wolfriders and not turning into
Sun Villagers (or Villagers into cheap imitations of
Wolfriders). What did you do to poor little Dart?!? He
was such a neat little kid in the first EQ series. Now
you've turned him into a twig-bodied, puff-headed
reject out of the cast of Elflord!
Now Newstar is a clone
of Shen-Shen, wearing a doily on her head and acting
like a stuck-up, giddy little geek! They don't even look
like Wolfriders any more. Rainsong wears a basket on
her head, Dart doesn't wear a speck of leather, and they
dress like Sun Villagers. And the jack-wolves were a
stupid idea!
Marci Doerksen
Richard Elliott
Calgary, Alberta
Well, heck, it looks like leather to me. Actually, y'know, it is conceivable that Woodlock and family might just honestly and truly be more comfortable where they are now. It happens. I figure if Wendy, a true daughter of the Golden West, could learn to like living out here in the cold and wilds of upstate New York, anything's possible!
I've always had a particular soft spot for Skywise,
and have followed his growing relationship with
Aroree with interest. I've always thought that the two
make an excellent couple, despite all the pain she's
brought to him (and to the Wolfriders) and in spite of
the essential shallowness of her character. The latter, I
believe, is merely a reflection of her cloistered existence
inside Blue Mountain. When she was first introduced,
she did show an admirable sense of mischief in the
adroit (and quite funny) manner in which she deflected
Skywise's initial advances. Now that she's abandoned
Blue Mountain, it will be interesting to see how her
character develops.
And yet, clever people, you still keep your readers guessing. Even though you've finally given them the opportunity to explore their love physically, you've still left numerous forces at large which could drive the couple apart again. what of a rather vindictive Scouter? Will he ever be able to see Aroree as anything but an enemy? Would the Wolfriders accept her into the tribe as they did the two Go-Backs? And what of Aroree herself and her "...pressing, honest guilt?" the preliminary cover for SABM #5 shows Skywise wearing a scowl that he saves for battle or for the deepest affront. Why do I have this premonition that Rayek's "decision" will have more than a little to do with Aroree?
An interesting contrast shows itself between Rayek and Skywise and their relationships with women. Rayek, his arrogance and possessiveness barely diminished from his Sorrow's End days, has once again managed to isolate himself from any form of love. Kahvi hides his own daughter from him, not wanting him to "lay claim." Skywise has shown uncanny restraint and compassion with Aroree, even to the point of sending her away for her sake, when his slightest word would suffice to keep her by his side. Love vs. ownership.
And that brings me to the second part of my letter: the appeal of Elfquest. I think I've finally put my finger onto that elusive quality that separates Elfquest from the majority of fantasy fiction: compassion. You care, not only about the story and its characters but also about your readers. You have the audacity to display love, friendship, compassion, even sex, as openly as lust, greed and violence are explored on TV and the pulp paperback markets (and with considerably more tact, to boot).
No doubt you will receive a seemingly endless stream of letters condemning this issue of SABM (and Elfquest in general). All I can say is, take it in stride, and defend your position. Force people to think about what they feel, themselves, and not what others would have them think. (And come to think of it, a story with such strong characterization and quick pacing is probably the most effective technique, far more so than boring, didactic speeches.) It does seem to be what you want to do with SABM anyway. If the twenty issues of the original EQ were really a "self-quest" then SABM is most certainly about censorship. You've pointed that out again in your editorials. What is Winnowill but the very embodiment of all those who would ever limit our options in order to "save" us from ourselves?
Frederick Rahm
Etobicoke, Ontario
About that Blue Mountain elf, Hatrack. Would you
care to include a picture of him (or her) in some future
issue? I would like to see what he looks like.
Chris Tweney
Bowling Green, OH
High Ones preserve me-- what have I started? See you all next time!
-- Richard Pini