As I type these words, SHARDS #1 is still a week or so away from rolling off the printing press, so as I did last issue, I'll keep the HIDDEN YEARS ball rolling until we have actual SHARDS letters - RP
You see what happens when elves get too
involved with humans? They end up turning nuts. Read
'em and weep...
I must admit I wasn't mad about Brandon's artwork to begin with. He just didn't quite seem to get the faces right, although his Tyleet came pretty (sic) close. But I was impressed by his rendition of Winnowill in HIDDEN YEARS #13. Talk about putting a new face on! What impressed me the most was that she looks nothing like her elfin self - except when she's angry! Then there's no mistaking her. Now that's art.
(Incidentally, does the Djun always carry a female wardrobe in his battle-wagon? Not for his own use, I assume - although who'd argue with him if it were? And by the way, is that a Guns 'N' Roses t-shirt he's wearing?)
Moving aside from the art for a moment: What is it about Winnowill anyway? She's like one of those counterweighted dummies (or Neil Innes' Urban Spaceman) - knock her down and she just gets up again. And each time she's more ambitious and destructive than before. This has to be the last time. Somehow, Cutter has to figure out a way to break her cycle of violence forever. He can't do it by driving a stake through her heart, assuming he could find it, so he'll just have to be a bit more subtle. I think I have the first glimmer of an inkling of how it could be done, so I'll just wait patiently (hah!) and see if my suspicions are correct.
Where was I? Oh yeah. By the time HY #14 rolled around, Brandon was only in 5th place in my estimation, behind Wendy, Jozef, Barry and Paul Abrams. But with #15, I'm happy to report, he's surpassed himself. The characters are, oh, 95% perfect. Consequently Brandon is now in joint-joint second place with Barry and Jozef. (As far as artists are concerned, you seem to have taken your own advice to heart: "Nothing grows without nurturing." Who are you going to surprise us with next?) Aside from the characters, the human city on page 28 is grimly impressive. The phrase "dark satanic mills" springs to mind. (Ah, but that's a phrase from the Industrial Revolution. If the Djun's successors ever get hold of advanced technology it'd make Orwell's 1984 look like utopia.)
Lee Mendham
<<street address removed from archive>>
Yep, I'm still reading ELFQUEST (at least some of
the titles) despite the fact that the pull it exerts on my
spirit is not quite the same as it was in 1979. Not that
I mean to grumble, or anything!
Something within me has decided that you should have a separate column for emailings, called "Sendings" or "Open Sendings" or "Opened Sendings." I suppose you already thought of that, eh? Well, thinking on that, I came up with the following questions: Do you suppose there might be viruses in the medium that the elves send through? There might even be other intelligences (Skipjacks?) which dwell (or touch upon) that ethereal realm. Might their interests not prescribe activities which would interfere with (or alter, rather than just interrupt) elfin telecommunication? Maybe they aren't actually attacking (or even aware of) the elves themselves, but just have to commandeer the medium in emergencies. Something! Different! I mean, the only conflict in the series seems to be territorial clashes with humans, alternating with inter-elf-community power struggles. Forever?
Check this out! How about if all the elves who had given birth suddenly got neurotically conservative? (This is the sort of thing that generally happens in a population when it gets overcrowded. Splitting the clan of Wolfriders was a really good idea! See, you're thinking like a scientist! That's one of the things that keeps your central plot line interesting!) They'd probably get themselves all wrought up about their teenagers carrying daggers! Slogans would start appearing on trees: "No More Wolfride-by Slashings!" Stop the Insanity!" "Sheathe the Blade!" "Enough is Enough!" "Recognition is Satan's Threat to Family Values!" What would happen if all their resources got invested (then hopelessly ensnared) in a "War on Dreamberries"? I mean, "the Way" is a pretty simple ideology to evolve. Sure, in a face-to-face community, where everybody knows everybody well, politics will be pretty simple and direct. Some would never look beyond "might makes right," and the gentle ones would have to work extra hard to ameliorate the harsh effects of those aggressive leader types. Lots of room for drama there, which you've been making some good use of. It's just that my teeth find themselves clenching the last couple of times the evil humans rose once again from their coffins of native soil to menace the Pax Elvana. Grumble grumble. Human leaders are naturally evil. 'rumble. Elf leaders are merely temporarily confused. 'umble. See what I mean? I'm haunted by the never-to-be-forgotten images of those WWII "Know Your Enemy" posters, where the twisted ogre in the opponent's uniform is devouring children with his four-inch fangs. 'mble. Hey, it's a thought.
Eric Palmquist
<<street address removed from archive>>
Just wait until you see how the world of Grohmul Djun translates into the world of Jink, a thousand or so years later. Telepathic "computer viruses" indeed! - RP
I do not like some of Ember's choices. The
first five were all right, but I didn't like her breaking up
Moonshade and Strongbow. "Even if it's not meant to
be forever" as Treestump said.
And I really did not like her choosing Leetah over Mender. Why should Cutter and Leetah be forced apart again? Isn't it hard enough for Cutter to lose Skywise?
Two-Edge is working with the humans??? I wonder what'll happen when he finds mother dearest in the neighborhood. This could be interesting...
I would assume that Rayek and Ekuar will be going with the "Shards" group. Funny. An entire issue without Rayek's posturing.
Wait a sec! Where's Venka?
Jennifer Sigman
<<street address removed from archive>>
I just wanted to say that I think it's great that
you let your characters' beliefs and opinions change
over time. Looking back you can see how Moonshade
has been Strongbow's devotee; she even gave up the
tribe to be with him back in Blue Mountain. It shows
a lot of realism that she can give him up for the good
of the tribe now.
It's great to be able to read ELFQUEST over and over again, rediscovering characters and even picking up on humor that was missed the first time around. It's like running into a long lost friend, and I congratulate you on it.
Just one other thing. Who let Piers Anthony steal a character? I certainly hope Jenny Elf wasn't a Wolfrider because, honestly, a cat?? Blasphemy?
Joy Louzon
<<street address removed from archive>>
Even though it's been a long time - too long, I am chagrined to admit - since we saw Jenny Elf in four colors, she will always be a Wolfrider. If you want the entire story, find a copy of Piers Anthony's book LETTERS TO JENNY. The ELFQUEST/XANTH crossover was brutally derailed back in 1991, but I really must get back on the horse and finish it. A note to myself... - RP
In my first letter some weeks ago I said that
HIDDEN YEARS was shallow or something like that because
I was so enthusiastic about NEW BLOOD and the
Forevergreen saga which I had just discovered. Of
course I was wrong, but I was blinded by the new and
unknown.
The power of SHARDS lies not so much within the story (as in the Forevergreen saga) but in the characters themselves (which doesn't mean the characters in NB aren't well developed - it's just that they have yet to build up a relationship and familiarity with us the readers like the one that ties us to the characters we've known for so long).
The story, too, has got a thrill again, and it is Two-Edge. I'm incredibly anxious for him to finally come back. That's really exciting.
Still, there's one little thing that bothers me, and that's Grohmul Djun. Not the character, but his appearance. I know you can draw humans who look like humans, but Djun looks like a Marvel superhero with nothing but (an impossible amount of) muscles all over his body. I've got nothing against a well trained body, but this portrayal is not realistic. Give him the body of Schwarzenegger if you must, so at least he looks like a real man - if not less ugly. (By the way, I liked "Djun" instead of "June" on the cover of HY #14!)
Hanspeter Kriegl
<<street address removed from archive>>
I've really enjoyed watching all of the changes
and growth in ELFQUEST: Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!
I applaud Brandon and Suzanne, and refuse to
say, "But it's not Wendy..." It doesn't need to be. It's
different, yes, but change is OK, often a good thing.
Whether it's Wendy or not, the drawings are still
marvelous, the colors still vibrant, and I still love it.
HIDDEN YEARS #15 made me cry, but in a good way, I think. Change again. Quite a lot of it. But if Strongbow and Moonshade can accept it, what am I to say? Just don't keep them apart for too long, okay? That especially goes for Cutter and his kin (including Skywise - I think they need a long talk under the stars.)
Thank you for the "extra" bit in HY 15, it softened the blow, as it were. And it was beautiful. Skywise has turned out to be a favorite character - it was nice to hear his song.
Janet Dahlberg
<<street address removed from archive>>
Moonshade is going through something of an adjustment period herself with Ember, over in HIDDEN YEARS. It's not all a bed of roses, but that's there and this is here. Keep writing, and we'll see you in 30! - RP