Elfquest

"Elfquest" (or "ElfQuest") is a cult hit comic book property created by Wendy and Richard Pini in 1978. The basic premise is a fantasy story about a community of elves and other fictional species who struggle to survive and coexist on a primitive Earth-like planet with two moons. Several published volumes of prose fiction also share the same setting. Over the years Elfquest has been self-published by the Pinis, then Marvel Comics, the Pinis again through their own company Warp Graphics and more recently DC Comics. Currently many issues of "Elfquest" are available online for free at the official ElfQuest site.

tory

Origins

The elves of Elfquest are descended from highly advanced humanoid aliens known as the High Ones, who had immense and quasimagical psychic powers and could not die of old age. When their homeworld's resources were depleted by overpopulation, several groups of High Ones went spacefaring to explore the wider universe and to find new planets to settle. They controlled their egg-shaped vessels by telekinesis and were able to adapt to any ecosystem by shifting their own shapes and metabolisms. As companions, they brought two of the last surviving animal species from their home, both of which gradually evolved during the journey (and subsequent events) into two more races of sapient near-immortals: the insectoid-descended Preservers and the simian-descended Trolls.

After journeying to many different worlds, one of these vessels came to a two-mooned planet called Abode (known to its inhabitants as the World of Two Moons), where human civilization had reached a level comparable to Europe's medieval period on Earth. The humans' artwork and literature depicted beings which they called elves, and which suggested to the High Ones that others of their kind had previously visited Abode. In order to facilitate contact with the humans and seek out more information about these previous visitors, the High Ones deliberately formed themselves to match the humans' existing images of elves, and similarly reshaped their egg-vessel to resemble a beautiful floating castle that matched the native architectural idiom.

However, by this time the evolved simians (proto-Trolls) had become resentful of their subservient status. As the 'castle' began to descend, the simians violently rebelled, disrupting the telekinetic controls enough to hurl the entire vessel and its contents back through time to Abode's paleolithic era. Staggering out from the crash-landing, the High Ones found that their psychic powers were greatly weakened on Abode, leaving them unable to defend themselves from the prehistoric cave-dwelling humans who fearfully attacked them. Forcibly dispersed away from the massacre outside the palace-shaped vessel, many of the initial elf survivors soon died, unable to adapt to the hostile environment; the others gradually gathered into several widely-scattered tribes. The High Ones' evolved simian servants also fled, mainly into underground caverns where they became larger and established themselves as the subterranean race of Trolls, treasure-seeking miners and metalsmiths whose original links to the High Ones were forgotten.

The main story begins 10,000 years later, with elves and other beings having adapted with great difficulty to their home. Each tribe of elves has its own set of adaptations and traditions, and most of them are unaware that any of the other tribes even existed.

The Wolfriders

The central characters are the Wolfrider elves, a tribe of ferocious hunter/warriors closely allied with wolves who serve as mounts, hunting partners, and friends. Their culture is roughly comparable to the Iroquois Native American nation. Within their founder group, a female High One named Timmain had been the only member to retain her shape-shifting ability. When winter came, Timmain shape-shifted into a wolf to hunt food for the starving elves around her. She sank very deeply into her wolf-form and eventually forgot her original identity, even mating with a native wolf to produce a half-wolf chimeric son whom she left to the elves to raise. They gave him the name Timmorn Yellow-Eyes and he became the first Chief of the Wolfriders, bringing the wolf pack and the stranded elves together to form a close symbiotic alliance. In addition to the close bonds with their wolves, the Wolfriders also have some basic psychic powers like telepathy, healing and plant manipulation.

The central storyline, beginning with the series known as the "Grand Quest" or "Original Quest", focuses on the tribe during the leadership of their eleventh chief Cutter. At the start of the story, the Wolfriders' regular forest life—intermittently interspersed by conflict with superstitiously genocidal humans—is lost when the humans set fire to the forest in retaliation for a previous battle.

The Wolfriders seek refuge in the underground caverns of their sullen, greedy, cowardly trade partners, the trolls. The elves claim that the trolls owe them sanctuary because of all the ways the Wolfriders have helped them over the years, but the corrupt troll king, Greymung, feels humiliated for being held at knife point by an elf and plots revenge. The elves are taken down a long tunnel toward what the trolls claim will be a land of bright promise, but is actually a trackless desert. Then their guide seals the tunnel behind them. Desperately inspired by a piece of "magic" lodestone that acts as a crude compass, they make an arduous journey across the wasteland until they encounter an oasis called Sorrow's End, populated by a tribe of sedentary, agrarian elves called the Sun Folk.

The Sun Folk

Compared to the Wolfriders, the peaceful Sun Folk have retained more knowledge about the High Ones and a greater degree of psionic abilities. However, there is one psychic phenomenon which has remained more common among the Wolfriders than among the Sun Folk, and which asserts itself to Cutter on arrival: "Recognition", a powerful involuntary compulsion to mate with another elf who has been identified by subconscious telepathy as a good genetic match, and therefore to produce optimal offspring. This powerful impulse can be resisted with difficulty, but at the cost of great personal stress. If the two individuals are not temperamentally compatible, they may part ways again as soon as a child has been produced, but otherwise they may form a lifelong pair-bond as "lifemates."

Cutter's partner in Recognition is the Sun Folk's beautiful and powerful Healer, Leetah. She immediately rejects him as a savage barbarian, especially since she is already partnered to her village's haughty chief hunter, Rayek. The love triangle between Cutter, Leetah and Rayek is the main focus of much of the first part of the story. Cutter and Leetah become lifemates, and Rayek leaves the village in search of a better home where he is not confronted by the sight of them together.

Once this conflict is resolved, the two tribes quickly unite with each side willing to adjust to the other for their mutual benefit. The Wolfriders enjoy the benefits of a more sophisticated culture with greater knowledge, while the Sun Folk benefit from a band of strong hunters and defenders of their desert refuge from humanity.

Six years later, the oasis sanctuary of Sorrow's End is breached by a handful of starving humans who approach the oasis. Although they are sent on their way (probably to die of thirst), Cutter realizes that more could follow and decides to take action. He goes on a quest with his soul-brother, Skywise, seeking other elf tribes as allies against humanity. Later, Cutter's son, Suntop, receives a warning from the Sun Folk's elder Savah about an evil to be avoided, and the Wolfriders and Cutter's family set out to find the explorers.

Blue Mountain

Continuing their quest, Cutter and Skywise learn of the existence of another elven tribe dwelling in a place called Blue Mountain. This previously unknown tribe, consisting of tall, thin, graceful elves, is known as the Gliders, and are worshiped by the humans as gods. The Gliders claim to be original High Ones and are nominally led by an ancient elf named Lord Voll. They are a conservative community that has degenerated into insular decadence dominated by the seductive, sinister Winnowill, who was once Voll's consort but who now has her own agenda.

The Gliders rarely venture out of their mountain except for the "Chosen Eight", the tribes' hunters and (if need be) warriors. Although they have their own powers of psychic levitation, the Eight ride massive birds with whom they share a strong bond, similar to that of the Wolfriders and their wolves. As the Wolfriders search for Cutter and Skywise, Strongbow shoots down one of the massive birds for food. Enraged at the death of their mount, the Gliders attack the Wolfriders and imprison them within Blue Mountain.

What follows is a difficult but enlightening journey, in which the elves' most basic assumptions about the world are turned upside down as they meet humans who are more good than they ever hoped, elves more evil than they ever imagined, and trolls more aggressive than they ever feared. Throughout these adventures, Cutter and his companions learn about the world and themselves in profound ways.

Themes

The series has been interpreted as having the theme that healthy individuals and societies must be willing to accept change in their lives and take advantage of it for the betterment of all.

For example, the more sympathetic elf communities, the Wolfriders and the Sun Folk, are the ones most willing to change their ways in the face of different circumstances and opportunities. By contrast, the less sympathetic elves, the Gliders and the Go-backs, are depicted as belonging to highly conservative cultures: the Gliders are obsessed with preserving their society from outside contamination, and the Go-backs are determined to return to an earlier ideal represented by the Palace, ancestral home to all the elves. However, in their fanatic conservatism, both the Gliders and the Go-backs have in fact changed even more than the sympathetic tribes but in far less beneficial ways, whether it be the Gliders' barren decadence or the Go-backs' warlike savagery.

The Elfquest universe

The world where the series takes place has many similarities to our own, but has two moons instead of just one. The history and continents differ somewhat, but the development of human progress remains largely similar.

Besides humans, elves, and trolls, there are also small winged humanoids called "Preservers" who originally came to the World of Two Moons in the Palace with the ancestors of the trolls and the elves. They are genderless and seem unable to breed, but as they are immortal and tough survivors, their number is relatively constant. Both the trolls and the preservers evolved from more animal-like ancestors, but because of the magic in the palace they became immortal and got the ability to speak and to think abstractly. Once on the World of Two Moons, natural selection caused the trolls to increase in both strength and size.

Besides the three alien races that came with the palace, the palace itself consists of two main parts: the magical material it is made of, and two magic scrolls that contain all the history of the High Ones. The palace is also where the souls of the dead elves come together to spend the rest of their existence.

exuality

The first five issues of the original Elfquest comic ("The Quest Begins") have some battle violence and no explicit sexuality. In addition to some intense battle scenes in issue #17 of the original "Grand Quest", there is a controversial orgy scene: controversial because many children had been following the comics and parents were not happy with the more explicit/adult content introduced later in the series.

The attitude of the elves towards sex differs greatly from that of human cultures because of their biological differences. Intercourse for the elves isn't an act of reproduction, which only happens as the result of Recognition. Some elves take more than one lifemate or lovemate, and having sex with someone besides your lifemate or lovemate is acceptable, though not something that would happen all the time. Sexuality and nudity among the elves are seen as natural.

To survive and multiply despite their low numbers, both the elves and the trolls have had to sometimes breed with close relatives. The troll Picknose and his mate Oddbit founded their own endogamous kingdom by themselves, causing their children to breed with each other and result in a new society of trolls. According to the creators of Elfquest, Wendy and Richard Pini, all the Elfquest elves are omnisexual and a lack well-defined concept of inbreeding, because of their very long lifespans and because Recognition makes it irrelevant to them. While the story has elements of implied incest, it and the elves' overall attitudes toward sex are used to illustrate the facts that the elves aren't human. Also one of the appeals of the series is the portrayal of a species that is truly alien in some ways.

Publication

The first Elfquest story was published in the underground comic book "Fantasy Quarterly" in the spring of 1978. "Fantasy Quarterly" was published by IPS (Independent Publishers Syndicate) based in Lansing, Michigan. Sandwiched between Elfquest's "Fire and Flight" parts one and two was a brief story written by T. Casey Brennan and illustrated by future Cerebus the Aardvark creator Dave Sim titled "Doorway to the Gods". Despite the obvious talent of the contributors, the quality of the publication was terribly disappointing to Wendy and Richard Pini. The cover was only slightly better than newsprint (the exterior was printed unglossed with a very limited color palette) and the paper used inside of the comic book appeared to be newspaper. The poor quality of this publication convinced the Pinis that they could produce a higher quality publication on their own. After borrowing money in order to start WaRP Graphics, the Pinis started publishing with "Elfquest" #2 (published tabloid size with glossy full color covers and a character portrait print on the back cover by Wendy; a format that would continue throughout the series entire run). This story continued the Elfquest tale started in "Fantasy Quarterly". Later, the Pinis' company WaRP Graphics would reprint the story from "Fantasy Quarterly" as "Elfquest" #1 with a new front cover and full color portrait print for the rear cover.

This series was one of the early successes that marked the establishment of a phase in underground comics at which a new market of alternative independent comic books emerged that were closer to the comics mainstream. "Elfquest" was also one of the first comic book series that had a prearranged conclusion, and that was highly praised for its innovative theme. The fact that a female artist/writer (Wendy Pini) was the creative principal of the series was also notable.

The original series ran for 21 issues (although the last issue consisted entirely of letters and behind-the-scenes material) and was followed by numerous sequels and spinoffs under the WaRP Graphics (later Warp Graphics) imprint. Some of the later stories introduced other artists and writers and also included some "alternative" stories and self-parodies. The sequels were the eight-part series "Siege at Blue Mountain" and the nine-part series "Kings of the Broken Wheel". The spinoffs were: "New Blood" (35 issues), "Hidden Years" (29 issues), "Two Spear" (five issues), "Kahvi" (six issues), "Shards" (16 issues), "WaveDancers" (old: six issues; new: one issue), "Blood of Ten Chiefs" (20 issues), "The Rebels" (12 issues), and "Jink" (12 issues). Following these spinoffs was an anthology series simply titled "Elfquest" (known to fans as "Elfquest 2") that ran for 33 issues.

The original series was re-edited into 32 installments with some additional pages, and published by Marvel Comics's Epic imprint. This gave the series some much-needed mass-market publicity, although none of the sequels followed suit. There have also been graphic novel collections in both color and black and white, as well as novelizations and original anthologies based on the series.

The series has also served as the basis for several novelizations and short story anthologies. The full-length novel "ElfQuest: Journey to Sorrows End" included both text, and several black and white illustrated plates, was published by Playboy in November 1982, and Berkley in March of 1984.

Recent developments

In March 2003 it was announced that after 25 years of self-publication the Pinis had licensed all publishing and merchandising rights in the series to DC Comics, although the Pinis retain creative control.

DC's publication of "Elfquest" material began in July 2003 with "The Elfquest 25th Anniversary Special", reprinting the very first issue of "Elfquest" with brand new computer coloring and lettering by Wendy Pini, and two short interviews with the Pinis. This was a taster for "The Elfquest Archives", which began in November 2003. When complete this series will reprint the first eight graphic novel collections in glossy format with new coloring and lettering. Fans have complained that the publication schedule is disappointingly slow. Volume 2 was originally scheduled to appear in fall 2004 but after some delays was finally released in March 2005, 16 months after Volume 1. Part of the reason for the delay is that Wendy Pini was undergoing hip replacement surgery. [ [http://www.elfquest.com/edits/WendyWords_06_21_04.html Wendy Words - June 21, 2004 ] ]

Meanwhile, September 2003 saw the publication of "Elfquest: Wolfrider Volume 1", beginning a series of bimonthly manga-sized black-and-white reprint collections which arrange the story into chronological order for the first time, beginning around 600 years before the events in the original series. "Wolfrider Volume 2" is followed chronologically by "Elfquest: The Grand Quest Volume 1", the first in a series reprinting the original storyline, including the additional art drawn for the Marvel version. In this series the original artwork has been rearranged into new panel layouts for clarity in the physically smaller manga format, which sometimes involves Wendy Pini adding extensions to the original artwork. Unfortunately, sections of the original work are however missing, for example in "ElfQuest: The Grand Quest Volume 11" the story involving Tyleet and her adopted human son Little Patch is not in the volume though later in Volume 13 Tyleet mentions Little Patch constantly while discussing the dream she had while encased for 10,000 years by the preservers.

A newer book, "Elfquest: The Searcher and the Sword" was published in July 2004. Critical reaction has generally been favorable; the major criticism leveled at the book is that it is overpriced for its size (96 pages).

The latest story is the four-issue comic series "Elfquest: Discovery", published between January and July 2006.

DC Comics and Warp Graphics split in 2007, it remains to be seen if any further stories will come about.

In March 2008 Warp Graphics began uploading previously published stories to the elfquest.com website, for reading on the web. They intend to make the entire series available online over the course of 2008.

Adaptations

Elfquest has been adapted into a range of media.

Film

Warner Brothers has recently announced its intention to bring the Elfquest saga to the big screen, with Rawson Thurber serving as writer, producer, and director. The format (live action, CGI, traditional animation) is as of yet unknown. [ [http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i2a7c68761043a405623185ae5f0c885e Elves gather at Warners] , "Hollywood Reporter", July 9, 2008]

Animated video series

In the early 90's, an ad for a multi-volume animated adaptation of Elfquest appeared in the comic. A few issues later the Pinis told readers they'd withdrawn from the deal, and to ask for refunds. Those who didn't eventually received a 50 minute vhs tape from Abby Lou Entertainment, copyright 1992. Covering the first volume of the book, it consists of color still images taken straight from the comic, some minor animation, and spoken dialogue.

Role playing games

A licensed tabletop Elfquest RPG was produced by Chaosium in 1984, utilizing the Basic Role-Playing system which had first appeared in the game Runequest and some original illustrations by Wendy Pini, including the character sheets. Only 3 supplements were produced for the game, "ElfQuest Companion" – which included random character generation tables, and was included in the hardback second edition. "Sea Elves" – noteworthy for introducing information and art provided by the Pinis describing the Sea Elf tribe long before they appeared in any of the comics. "Elf War" – which contained several adventures outside of the comic-book continuity.6 boxed sets of 25 mm white metal miniatures for the game were released by Ral Partha.

Both the role-playing game and the comics themselves have sprung a number of online games (mostly MUSHes). A listing of these is available from [http://www.elfquest.com/fan/FanLinks.html Fan Links on the Official "Elfquest" site] .

Music

In 1987, Off Centaur Publications released "A Wolfrider's Reflections: Songs of Elfquest", a collection of filk songs.

ee also

* Elves in "Elfquest"
* List of characters in "Elfquest"
* List of "Elfquest" publications

References

External links

*official|http://www.elfquest.com
* [http://ourgazebo.net/amysalcove/library/elfquest/synopsis/eqsynopsis.htm Detailed Story Synopsis]