Mur-mers of an Earlier Time
by Richard Pini
Illustrations by Wendy Pini
Once upon a time, on the World of Two Moons, there
were elves who lived in the forest, and others who lived in
the desert, and others who lived in a tall
hollow mountain, and still others
who lived in the frozen north.
"But wait!" readers cried,
"Why are there none
who inhabit the sea?"
Truth to tell, the storytelling world of Elfquest has always been host to ocean-dwelling elves - just as it has always had elves who live in places we haven't yet explored (but that's another story entirely!). Readers relatively new to the Elfquest saga will, perhaps, be familiar with a mini-series entitled WaveDancers that appeared in 1993 and 1994 by a trio of talented young Australians, Julie Ditrich, Bruce Love and Jozef Szekeres. For those readers, this "what-if" tale (tail?) is all that is known about seagoing elves.
Yet it was years earlier that mer-elves actually made their debut in the cast of characters that populate the World of Two Moons. Back then, a company called Chaosium worked with Wendy and me to develop an Elfquest role playing game; to help jump-start players' imaginations, we presided over the creation of several tribes of elves not yet written about in the comic book story. One of these groups was called, simply, the Sea Elves and they were the true precursors to the finny friends you've just read about in this issue. The first WaveDancer art was done by none other than Wendy (with additional art for the game book by Elizabeth Cerritelli) and I'm pleased to share some with you here.
(So where did "WaveDancers" come from? In the game, that was the name given to the dolphin-like friends of the Sea Elves - but when it came time to hang a moniker on the elves themselves, I decided that WaveDancers was too good not to use. Sorry, Flipper and crew, we'll find something else to call you guys!)
So please welcome once again for the first time, the real WaveDancers!
A Different Sort of Recognition...
by Kathryn Bolinger
Illustrations by Steve Blevins and Kathryn Bolinger
There have always been elves in my life... mermaids, fairies, and a host of other feral spirits. They have been an integral part of my world and my psyche from earliest childhood. Creatures of my passionate imagination, these shadowy entities became my teachers, my friends, my comrades at arms... the brothers and sisters of my soul. Throughout my life, they have traveled with me.
I brought elves to Weatherford, Texas.
Not that they hadn't been there all along, but I think most people had forgotten how to see them. When my family moved to Weatherford, a small farming community bordered by remote highways, open fields and dense black oak forests, our nearest neighbor lived more than a mile away. Our "back yard" enclosed twenty-four acres worth of twisted, stubborn little trees, curling vines, tall fields of grass, sand, dirt, moss and leaves. While playing in that vast territory, I encountered red-tailed hawks, white-tailed deer, badgers, rabbits, snakes, coyotes, lizards, armadillos, opossum, more than a few disgruntled skunks... and the occasional lost and wandering cow. To this blend of abundant life and varied terrain, I brought my unbounded imagination.
I created playmates, creatures of the land and sky... forest spirits who dwelt in lofty branches and travelers who swept across the plains on great-horned beasts. I became part of them, learned their names, sang their songs, obeyed their rules. Together, we explored the land, fought battles great and small... lived a grand adventure! I experienced "recognition" for the first time when I was eleven years old. It struck when I picked up a copy of the first Elfquest graphic novel... I flipped through the pages and found a world I knew. Here were elves and wolves and grand quests for survival! I'd never seen anything like it before, but it drew me in... clutched at something in my soul... called to me in a language that I already understood. I recognized in Elfquest a reflection of the world I had created for myself. I had always believed in elves. It took only the smallest leap of faith to believe in Pini elves.
And with that leap of faith, I soared into the World of Two Moons. I followed the original Quest to it's end. I read the comics, though it often required a trip into Ft. Worth, Dallas, or San Antonio to find them. Inspired by the work of Walt Disney, Arthur Rackham, Alphonse Mucha, Erte, Eric Kincaid, Haruhiko Mikimoto and Barry Blair, I had drawn a variety of elves before -- beautiful, fluid, wide-eyed soul-spirits -- but now, touched by the incredible "realness" of Wendy Pini's flesh-and-blood elves, I began to think differently about my own drawing. I concerned myself with the emotion and the story behind an image, the power of a glance, the tug of a reluctant smile, the anguish and the joy. Elfquest forever changed the way I drew.
At the 1994 San Diego Con, after surviving five incredibly tumultuous and sporadically profitable years in the comics industry, I finally met Barry Blair and Wendy and Richard Pini. Though we'd never spoken before, I felt a certain kinship with all of them. Seeds of enchantment, planted when I was a child, began to grow as we spoke... remembered glimpses of worlds I had loved, wild adventures and magic filled my head and touched my heart again. I returned to my home in New York... elves once again traveling with me.
Not until months later, when I had concluded my previous commitments and cleared some room in my schedule, did I approach Warp about the WaveDancers. Though I knew the series had fallen out of print, I thought the idea itself still had much potential. Tentatively, Richard agreed. Needing only that single vague concession, I dove into the project with a dedication that became a stubborn passion. The WaveDancers in me began bubbling to the surface... manifesting themselves in sketch books and note pads, demanding a little more attention with each passing day. I drew them and painted them. Fanciful wanderers, they drifted nameless through the currents of my imagination until I approached Richard about writing the book. He handed me a list of about twenty names. My task: discover the unique WaveDancer behind each name and flesh them out. The elves themselves made it easy. I believed in them, and it showed.
When I returned to Poughkeepsie, I had a notebook full of loose sketches and character descriptions of each new WaveDancer. Steve Blevins, the artist whose wonderful pencils I had already seen in Hidden Years, lent his talent to the mix.. tightening my sketches and designing some WaveDancers of his own. Barry joined us, offering suggestions and vital commentary. Together, we managed to define the tribe.
After a series of brainstorming sessions with Steve, Barry, Richard, and Wendy, I embarked on the story. The WaveDancers became a part of my daily routine; I lived with them, swam with them, dreamed with them... it really didn't take long at all to fall in love with them. Elders and children, lovers and lifemates, siblings, friends, rivals and mischief-makers -- they sprang to life, demanding my attention and suggesting stories of their own. How could I refuse?
"You can't refuse recognition!! No one can!!!" - Cutter, Blood of Ten Chiefs
From my earliest brush with "recognition," from that first glimpse of Elfquest, I have felt drawn to it. Recognition answered brings together individuals whose best qualities compliment each other, for the purpose of creating something very special. This issue of WaveDancers is the product of recognition. There's simply no more appropriate way to describe it.
After many long months of hard work, soul-searching and focused imagination, I've finally become a part of that grand creative endeavor that inspired me so long ago. It feels wonderful to find myself part of Elfquest once again, not only as an ardent fan... but also, this time, as a fellow creator and contributor. These WaveDancers, their colorful history, their triumphs and sorrows, are mine to share. I've treasured them and nurtured them throughout their creation, but now it's up to you!
May you grow to love them as I do.
All my best,
Kathryn Bolinger