ElfQuest - Perhaps the best comic you have never read.

... anyone here ever heard of the comic ElfQuest? The first couple of issues are kind of campy - but it's like no other comic you have probably ever read. The Original Quest (20 issues) is perhaps the most intelligently written comic - ever.

And now they're available online (legally) on the ElfQuest website. So for your benefit I will link the issues!

http://www.elfquest.com/gallery/imag..._digitaleq.jpg


ORIGINAL QUEST

Issue #1

Issue #2

Issue #3

Issue #4

Issue #5

Issue #6

Issue #7

Issue #8

Issue #9

Issue #10

Issue #11

Issue #12

Issue #13

Issue #14

Issue #15

Issue #16

Issue #17

Issue #18

Issue #19

Issue #20

SIEGE AT BLUE MOUNTAIN

Issue #1

Issue #2

Issue #3

Issue #4

Issue #5

Issue #6

Issue #7

Issue #8


KINGS OF THE BROKEN WHEEL

Issue #1

Issue #2

Issue #3

Issue #4

Issue #5

Issue #6

Issue #7

Issue #8

Issue #9


And there's much more here but not written or drawn by Wendy Pini.

To each, their own.

I tried to read a few of them, back in the day. Don't ask me which issues, I do not know (or remember). I just know that they were not for me. Rather than campy, I`d use the word childish, like for fans of Rainbow Brite or the Smurfs.

Like i say, they weren`t my thing at all.

'ever heard of'? Back in the day, this was a very well-known series. Possibly one of the most successful indie titles out there (but then Marvel produced it through their 'Epic' imprint).

I've often considered reading it, but never have. :(

~ Le Messor

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Originally Posted by Flightpath07

To each, their own.
I tried to read a few of them, back in the day. Don't ask me which issues, I do not know (or remember). I just know that they were not for me. Rather than campy, I`d use the word childish, like for fans of Rainbow Brite or the Smurfs.
Like i say, they weren`t my thing at all.

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Rainbow Brite? Smurfs? Really? Here's a few select scenes, and tell me if they look childish, Rainbow Brite'ish or Smurf'ish to you...

There's a reason I linked those specific sets of books. They're done by the original creators. They later opened it up to other writers, which for the most part, I did not care for, because I felt like they didn't get the characters. There ARE some campy moments, in the series. But that's to establish the "innocence" which, as you can see from the images, really is forced to get turned around and thrown out if they hope to survive.

It's like an comic person say, "All I read of Alpha Flight is Mantlo's run. It's just not my thing."

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Le Messor

'ever heard of'? Back in the day, this was a very well-known series. Possibly one of the most successful indie titles out there (but then Marvel produced it through their 'Epic' imprint).
I've often considered reading it, but never have. :(
~ Le Messor

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You should. At least the three sets I linked. They're all free to read on their website now. (And I kindly linked directly to the issues) :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tawmis

Rainbow Brite? Smurfs? Really? Here's a few select scenes, and tell me if they look childish, Rainbow Brite'ish or Smurf'ish to you...It's like an comic person say, "All I read of Alpha Flight is Mantlo's run. It's just not my thing."

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Flightpath07

To each, their own.Like i say, they weren`t my thing at all.

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Wasn't trying to diss what you like, Tawmis. Just stating my opinion.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Flightpath07

Wasn't trying to diss what you like, Tawmis. Just stating my opinion.

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No, I get that. :) Trust me, I took no offense. I was just surprised you said whatever it was you read was "childish, rainbow brite and smurfs" like. That's why I selected a few panels that from the original quest that showed anything BUT that. I was more trying to imply that whatever you read from ElfQuest, since you can't remember, may have been written by other writers. After Original Quest, Siege at Blue Mountain and Kings of the Broken Wheel (the three original series, by the creators) - they opened up ElfQuest to let everyone and their mother write it. As a result, titles such as Hidden Years, Shards, New Blood, Blood of Ten Chiefs, Kahvi, Two-Spear, Jink (don't get me started...), and The Rebels (so, so, so very painful), all emerged. Some of them were good - some of them were good in parts - some (Jink and especially The Rebels) were down right horrible (and I have no idea how Richard and Wendy Pini were okay with those stories being published under the ElfQuest brand).

So, the reason I linked all the issues of the Original Quest, Siege, and Kings, was because these were great pieces. Whatever you may have read, may have been elsewhere in the ElfQuest universe of titles - and for that, I wouldn't fault you AT ALL, for thinking it wasn't your thing. But you may have read the "Bill M. version of Alpha Flight" for the ElfQuest Universe. :) (Although The Rebels would fall under whatever horrible writer did Llan the Sorcerer in Alpha Flight - as long as those issues exist, Bill M's work, to me, is like the work of the gods).

I am not saying, "You have to read this!" I linked it for those who might be interested. As Le Messor said, they (WaRP, as they were called back then), were one of the most successful indie comics, in the time, that being an indie comic seemed pretty out of the freaking question. Marvel even gave a nod to them in Uncanny X-Men #153 (I believe it was) for "Kitty's Fairytale."

http://goodcomics.comicbookresources...eggs1-15-3.jpg

If you're ever so inclined to see if perhaps you just read some bad stories, and want to give the above a shot. Awesome. If you don't care, one way or another, awesome as well. I am merely trying to share a series of comics, I thought were amazing; in writing, art, tone, characters and development.

I picked up issue #17 of ElfQuest out of the 25 cent box last week.
I read it and liked it.
I am going to get it in trade in August when it comes out.

Btw, I'd read the Hell out of Rainbow Brite, if I could.
And I'll read just about anything with characters with pointy ears. Ears are my weakness.
DEFINITELY my weakness.

So how do feel about Spock?

Also, I did by chance found some elfquest in the bargain bin recently. Haven't read them yet but also found Jinx. Only got them because of the suggestion and because the creators were going to be at Phoenix comic con.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Crackity Jones

Btw, I'd read the Hell out of Rainbow Brite, if I could.

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Oh, this made me LOL.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Flightpath07

Oh, this made me LOL.

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It is true, though!
I had those sprite doll things that I played with as a little girl.
As I watched Thundercats and He-Man, they sat next to me on my indoor trampoline. I'd make them war with my My Little Pony dolls.
Best childhood EVER.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Crackity Jones

I picked up issue #17 of ElfQuest out of the 25 cent box last week.
I read it and liked it. I am going to get it in trade in August when it comes out.

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I am looking forward to the trade also, despite owning the original B&W magazine, Marvel reprints, and the graphic novel versions...

I will always support any format of the Original Quest. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mekko Hotvle

Also, I did by chance found some elfquest in the bargain bin recently. Haven't read them yet but also found Jinx. Only got them because of the suggestion and because the creators were going to be at Phoenix comic con.

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I ask one thing of you. If you ever read JINX, do not base it on ElfQuest, if you dislike it. It's so far removed from ElfQuest, it's not even funny. Wendy & Richard created ElfQuest, they did the Original Quest (linked in the original thread), which ran 20 issues (or 21 if you count the bonus, but it had nothing to do with the story - just art and notes). Then they did Siege and Broken Wheel (also both linked above), all under the WaRP Graphics banner (their company). A few years later, they opened ElfQuest to a bunch of other writers and artists - and it went EVERYWHERE. JINX is in the far, far, far, future. As in REBELS. Neither of which I cared for. They did some series that focused on specific characters, KAHVI and TWO-SPEAR, which were all right. But without focus - it seems like these writers just ran everywhere with these characters, and it didn't FEEL like ElfQuest, for the most part (which is why I specifically linked the three original series by the creators). THAT is what you should just ElfQuest on. :)

Although they recently did ELFQUEST: DISCOVERY through DC Comics a few years ago; which was good, but very confusing if you didn't read the other stuff. And now they're doing ELFQUEST: FINAL QUEST, which so far has been good (but again, a little confusing if you didn't read the previous stuff, to understand why some characters are where they are) - I think, because it feels like in part, not only are they supposedly closing the door on ElfQuest - but it feels like they're also cleaning up what other writers may have done to some of the characters. Nothing is going to beat the original three series.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Crackity Jones

As I watched Thundercats and He-Man, they sat next to me on my indoor trampoline.

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Own all of them on DVD. Well worth it, I might add. He-Man I can still watch. Thundercats is a little more difficult, because Snarf is EXTREMELY annoying now that I am older. His voice...

He-Man was an interesting series, but I think the voice-acting has to be some of the worst ever. The voices REALLY don't match the characters at all.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Flightpath07

He-Man was an interesting series, but I think the voice-acting has to be some of the worst ever. The voices REALLY don't match the characters at all.

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Wasn't there only, like, 2 guys in the 80's who did ALLL the voices for ALLLL the cartoons?
Because I assumed there was.
ALLLL cartoon characters sounded the same to me. Unless they were a girl, obviously, but yeah.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0126158/...=tt_cl_sm#cast

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Flightpath07

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0126158/...=tt_cl_sm#cast

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Thanks, Flightpath07.:D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Crackity Jones

Thanks, Flightpath07.:D

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M'lady.

The recent AF Post Byrne thread made me dig this up... sorry about the Necro Post (6 years... is that too long?)

And I am not sure if this forum does Spoiler tags because when I go to Advanced, it all looks wonky and I can't tell if one of the buttons supports "Spoiler" tags...

But Wendy & Richard Pini returned to ElfQuest to celebrate 40 years of pointed ears... for a series (ran - what? 30 issues?) called "Final Quest."

I won't go into details - but the series makes a horrible mistake.

It assumes you, the reader, have read everything. It exiles any chance of new readers picking this up and enjoying it. It also exiles readers, who may not have this stuff memorized. Granted, you can read all the old stuff - free, legally - on their site (see first post) - but it's not friendly at all for anyone to try and pick up and run with.

And it's just... poorly written, and poorly drawn (in my opinion) because Wendy employed someone named Sonny to help with art and coloring.

The problem is - Wendy as an artist has ranked as one of my favorites (from her original three series, see the first post) - and what I saw in Final Quest was not growth, but reversal, for me anyway.

And the ending... is... just... Game of Thrones ending level. I mean it.

So they launched another limited series called "Stargazer's Quest" which focuses on Skywise and his daughter Jink, as Wendy continues to try and tie everything together. And again, exiles any potential new readers.

The problem lies here - mentioned in a previous post in this thread (http://alphaflight.net/showthread.ph...ll=1#post95132) ...

After Original Quest, Siege at Blue Mountain and Kings of the Broken Wheel (the three original series, by the creators) - they opened up ElfQuest to let everyone and their mother write it. As a result, titles such as Hidden Years, Shards, New Blood, Blood of Ten Chiefs, Kahvi, Two-Spear, Jink (don't get me started...), and The Rebels (so, so, so very painful), all emerged. Some of them were good - some of them were good in parts - some (Jink and especially The Rebels) were down right horrible (and I have no idea how Richard and Wendy Pini were okay with those stories being published under the ElfQuest brand).

She's trying to tie in all this stuff that other people did that were free to write whatever (if they ran these ideas past Wendy and Richard first, I'd be very surprised, because so many of these are very un-ElfQuest)...

So she's trying to wrap it all up, make it all make sense... and it's like Alphabet Soup... you can have a ton of letters, make some words, maybe a sentence or two, but good luck making all the letters make sense...

It's been disappointing. Yet I collect it because it's ElfQuest.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tawmis

sorry about the Necro Post (6 years... is that too long?)

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Given what I just typed on that other post, no. :D
Spoiler html is spoiler and /spoiler, if the next thing I write looks like a spoiler:

-> Open Spoiler<-

I don't know if this worked

The original was about 30 issues, yes. The others; there's a reason I've never read them, but having not read them I can't judge if they're worth my time to read, but if I do read them I've made that judgement already and now I've gone all cross-eyed.

~ Le Messor
"You can't judge a book by the cover. But you have to."
~ Le Messor

Yeah, the Marvel Epic Reprint ran 33 issues - https://www.mycomicshop.com/search?T...fID=1055159P01

But Siege and King's Wheel are worth reading - mentioned in my first post.
http://alphaflight.net/showthread.ph...ll=1#post94643

And you can read the original series (which you read as the reprint) in their original B&W (and to me, superior format) - and I am not sure if the Marvel Epic reprint cut out some of the stuff (like with the Go-Backs "celebrating before war")...

http://alphaflight.net/showthread.ph...ll=1#post94643

I like colour if I can get it - and the 'this is not Rainbow Brite or Smurfs' scene you linked to is definitely in the version I read.

If Epic censored what I read, I'm not sure I want to see what they left out. ;)

~ LM

Normally, I favor color too. I think, perhaps because I read it in B&W when it came out (my first issue was #2, back in 1978 or 79). And I feel it was drawn in B&W - that the color doesn't fit right with it (for me). Again, probably because I knew it first as B&W for many, many, many years.

Ironically, I think the Epic series, may have even added a few panels here and there. I had it, but it was one of the many things lost in my moves across the states, and I never went back and got it. Surprised to see online, issues go for more than $1, since they're officially just reprints.

I think they did add panels (it came up in my researches) because the original B & W series had a different page count to a Marvel standard at the time, and they needed natural break points.

I haven't seen the B & W art, so can't really comment on that; but the colour feels natural to me, not tacked on, which I have seen before. But only noticed in things I originally read in black and white.