Эльфквест: История комикс-серии

Comic book series

Elfquest (or ElfQuest) is a comic book property created by Wendy and Richard Pini in 1978. then the Pinis again, more recently DC Comics, and, since 2013, Dark Horse Comics. All issues of Elfquest published prior to 2014 are available online for free.

The first Elfquest story, "Fire and Flight", appeared in February 1978 After borrowing money in order to start WaRP Graphics, the Pinis started publishing with Elfquest #2. It was printed magazine size with glossy full color covers and a character portrait print on the back cover by Wendy, a format that continued throughout the series' entire run. This story continued the Elfquest tale started in Fantasy Quarterly. Later, the Pinis' company WaRP Graphics reprinted 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 in which a new genre of alternative independent comic books emerged that were closer in content to mainstream comics. Elfquest was also one of the first comic book series that had a prearranged conclusion. It was highly praised for its innovative themes. The fact that a female artist/writer (Wendy Pini) was the creative principal of the series was also notable. The original series – generally referred to as "The Original Quest" or "OQ" – ran for 20 magazine size issues (spanning about seven to eight years in terms of the main storyline), released three times a year. Color compilations followed, published by the Donning Company under its Starblaze imprint as Books 1 4. Two more series were published in a reduced comic book size format, but still in black and white: Siege at Blue Mountain (8 issues) and Kings of the Broken Wheel (9 issues), later collected and published in color as part of a second edition of the graphic novels as Books 5 8. The stories take place three years after the original quest.

In the 1990s, the Pinis rebranded slightly (WaRP became Warp) and then began to publish multiple titles concurrently, many with overlapping storylines, introducing many new artists and writers to the series. The (initially) color titles New Blood, Hidden Years, and Shards for the most part carried the main storyline forward from the prehistoric to the medieval period of the World of Two Moons (now named Abode), occasionally featuring non canonical stories. The historical background of the Wolfriders was filled out in Blood of Ten Chiefs, Two Spear, and Kahvi. The future of Abode was explored in The Rebels and Jink, set at a time when humans have reached space and colonized other worlds and the elves have all but disappeared. A fifth tribe of elves, the WaveDancers, was introduced only to be redacted from continuity. A one shot issue re introduced the sea elves with a new cast of characters. The first ten issues of Hidden Years were collected in two color volumes, Hidden Years and Rogue's Challenge (Book 9 in the continuity of the second edition of graphic novels). Selected stories from the first ten issues of New Blood were collected as New Blood and Bedtime stories. Towards the end of their runs, in the mid 1990s, most of these titles reverted to black and white in North America, though some were published in color in Europe. In large part as a response to the shrinking direct market in the mid 1990s, continuing storylines were collapsed together into a single 64 page anthology series introduced by the one shot Metamorphosis. The new series was simply titled Elfquest (Volume 2), and ran for 33 issues.

The series has also served as the basis for three novelizations (Journey to Sorrow's End, The Quest Begins, and Captives of Blue Mountain) and five Blood of Ten Chiefs short story anthologies (some of which served as the basis of scripts in Blood of Ten Chiefs comic book series). The music CD A Wolfrider's Reflections is an album of folk songs based on elements from the original quest. Several collectibles, calendars, apparel, a role playing game, and figurines have been sold over the years. The full length novel ElfQuest: Journey to Sorrows End, which included both text and several black and white illustrated plates, was published in Playboy in 1982, and by Berkley in March 1984.

In 1985, the original series was republished by Marvel Comics' Epic imprint in 32 installments. This gave the series some much needed mass market exposure. On account of Marvel's 22 page format, these new editions featured additional bridging pages which broke the narrative at different points than in the original Warp comics, which were 32 pages. Marvel's license was only for the original series, which was already completed, so none of the sequels followed suit. Most of the additional material (bridging pages and panels) was incorporated into subsequent print collections and the online edition.

In March 2003, after 25 years of self publication, the Pinis licensed all publishing and merchandising rights in the series to DC Comics, although the Pinis retained creative control. DC's publication of Elfquest material began in July 2003 with The Elfquest 25th Anniversary Special, reprinting the first issue of Elfquest with new computer coloring and lettering by Wendy Pini and two short interviews with the Pinis. This was a teaser for The Elfquest Archives, hardcover color compilation volumes which were released beginning in November. This series planned to reprint the first eight graphic novel collections in glossy format with new coloring and lettering. Fans complained that the publication schedule was 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. 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 involved Wendy Pini adding extensions to the original artwork. Some sections of the original artwork are not included, for example in ElfQuest: The Grand Quest Volume 11, a standalone 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 was generally favorable; the major criticism leveled at the book is that it is overpriced for its size (96 pages). After the four issue comic series Elfquest: Discovery, published in 2006, no more new stories appeared until the Final Quest, beginning in 2012.

In March 2008, Warp Graphics began uploading previously published stories to They intended to make the entire series available online over the course of 2008, but the issues proved too numerous to upload within the year. Uploading of all comics was completed on March 13, 2009. Only about half of the prologue appeared there, deliberately, as a teaser leading to the print and digital publication planned for 2013 by Dark Horse Comics.

In October 2013, Elfquest Special: The Final Quest was published as a one shot by Dark Horse Comics. It included the material originally seen at Boing Boing plus the rest of the Final Quest prologue. The Final Quest series began publication by Dark Horse Comics, with the first issue released on January 22, 2014. The entire Final Quest series ran for 24 issues. The final issue, #24, was released on February 28, 2018, exactly 40 years after issue #1 of the Original Quest was first released.

In November 2019, a new series debuted from Dark Horse Comics. Titled Elfquest: Stargazer's Hunt, the story focuses on Skywise.

The world in which the series takes place – eventually called Abode by its human inhabitants, but originally referred to as the World of Two Moons – superficially resembles Earth, with geography that is marginally similar. There are some unusual prehistoric survivals among the fauna, and in early storylines Abode could have been described as Earth with two moons, hence its original name. As the story moves forward however, and Abode's history develops, it becomes apparent that its human culture and technology is distinguished by the twenty thousand years of influence by the elves, who have left an indelible mark on human society, though their existence is unacknowledged and unofficially suppressed by Abode's world government. The elves of Elfquest are descended from highly advanced humanoid aliens called High Ones by their descendants. When their homeworld's natural resources became depleted due to overpopulation, they went spacefaring in order to find new planets to settle. Some of them returned to their dead homeworld, and ended up awakening their immense psycho kinetic psychic powers and biological immortality. They eventually resumed spacefaring to explore the wider universe, using telekinesis to create egg shaped vessels and pilot them to new worlds, adapting 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 Preservers and the simian descended Trolls. After journeying to many different worlds, one of these vessels came to Abode (known to its inhabitants as the World of Two Moons), where human civilization had reached a level that was almost identical to Europe's medieval period on Earth. Observing the humans, the High Ones saw the humans' artwork and literature depicted angels, deities, spirits and other ethereal beings which suggested to the High Ones that others of their kind had previously visited that world. In order to facilitate contact with the humans, before landing on the world, the High Ones deliberately formed themselves like elves and reshaped their egg vessel to resemble a beautiful floating castle that matched the native architectural idiom, so that they could stay long enough to seek out more information about the previous visitors. The palace itself consists of two main parts: the magical material of which it is made, and two magic scrolls that contain all the history of the High Ones. The palace is also where the souls of dead elves come together to spend the rest of their existence. However, by this time the evolved simians (proto Trolls) had become resentful of their subservient status and wished to permanently remain on the world. As the High Ones began to make the 'castle' descend, the simians violently rebelled, disrupting the High Ones' 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 any of them unable to defend themselves from the prehistoric cave dwelling humans who fearfully attacked them.

Wendy Pini, Sonny Strait, Carol Lyon, Delfin Barral, Brandon McKinney, Barry Blair, Jerry Braccia, Jeff Zugale, Janine Johnston, Paul Bonanno, Ken Hooper, Steve Blevins, Craig Taillefer, Barb Kaalberg, Charles Barnett, Daniel Shelton, Mat Nastos, Bill Neville, Al Nickerson, Jen Marrus, Rick Ketcham, Paul Abrams, John Byrne, Terry Beatty, O. F. Roko, Lorraine Reyes, Justin Bloomer, David Boller, Dennis Fujitake, Kathryn Bolinger, Colin Chan, Wendi Strang Frost, Carla Speed McNeil, Chris Schenk.

Wendy & Richard Pini, Sonny Strait, Brandon McKinney, Bern Harkins, Christy Marx, Andy Mangels, Terry Collins, Joellyn Auklandus, Kim Yale, Sara Byam, Wendi Lee, John Ostrander, Barry Blair, Vickie Murphy, Kathryn Bolinger, Christopher Lane, Pam Fremon, Bill Neville, Carla Speed McNeil.

Besides an unofficial homage in Marvel's X Men #153 (Kitty Pryde wears an Elfquest T shirt throughout the issue, and a sprite named "Pini" appears on p.16), Elfquest has been adapted into a range of media. A scene from Elfquest between Cutter and Leetah in Sun Village was also performed as part of a theater rehearsal in Fantastic Four #242. While not an adaptation in the strictest sense of the term, Piers Anthony's 13th Xanth novel Isle of View introduces a character named Jenny Elf, a Wolfrider who was magically brought to Xanth from Abode after a tragic accident. Jenny Elf, by the author's own admission, is a tribute to a young girl who was paralyzed by a drunk driver. Jenny Elf continues to be a character in subsequent Xanth novels. Warp Graphics published the first volume of a graphic novel adaptation of Isle of View entitled Return to Centaur.

In 1982, the Pinis announced in Elfquest that talks had been initiated by Nelvana to produce an animated film based on the story, which was contemplated to open after issue #20's anticipated release in late 1984. While described as being in the "very early planning stages", nothing further was ever mentioned about this project. The Pinis signed a development deal with film producer Edward Pressman in 1994, with Jeremiah Chechik planned as the director. In 2008, Warner Bros. announced its intention to bring the Elfquest saga to the big screen, with Rawson Thurber serving as writer and director. The format (live action, CGI, or traditional animation) is yet unknown. However, Elfquests official Facebook page confirmed that Warner Bros. ultimately said "no"; the ostensible reason is that Warner Bros. didn't want the film competing with their film The Hobbit. In 2013 there were rumors of recapping the project on behalf of the producers of a fanmade trailer which appeared a few years prior.

In the early 1990s, 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 that readers should 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. The animated video is available for free on the official ElfQuest website.

Stephanie Thorpe and Paula Rhodes produced a short web trailer entitled Elfquest: A Fan Imagining. The Pinis donated original art for the fundraising campaign, and lent an original dress to the production. The short premiered at the Screen Actors Guild in April 2011 and the cast featured Taryn Southern, Casey McKinnon, Jessica Lee Rose, and more.

A licensed tabletop Elfquest role playing game 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. Both the role playing game and the comics themselves have inspired a number of online games (mostly MUSHes).

A line of action figures was briefly produced, featuring Cutter, Leetah (with a small Petalwing figurine), Picknose, and Tyldak. A proposed second series that would have included Skywise, among others, never reached production.

Two board games featuring the Elfquest world have been published. In 1986, Mayfair Games released ElfQuest, a competitive game where players lay tiles to build the board as the game proceeds. Players play one of four elf tribes as they try to find the elf homeland, or as the troll tribe that tries to prevent the elf players from finding the homeland long enough until they can "build a dome" over it. In 2015, Cheeky Dingo games released the ElfQuest Adventure Game, a cooperative board game, where the players take four elven characters on a campaign of adventures based on stories from the comic books. The game was funded via Kickstarter.

In 1987, Off Centaur Publications released A Wolfrider's Reflections: Songs of Elfquest, a collection of filk songs. In 2013, several unreleased Elfquest songs by Julia Ecklar were also included on her solo album, Horsetamer.

One particular anecdote was the creation of a mission insignia for one of the experiments taken aloft by Space Shuttle Columbia with mission STS 87, which was dubbed 'Enclosed Laminar Flames', abbreviated to ELF, in 1997. As the Elfquest series was quite popular in those days, Dennis Stoker, who sponsored and managed the experiment and a huge fan of the series, asked Wendy Pini to contribute to the experiment in designing an insignia. The result is a circular insignia depicting the experiment, holding the names of the primary contributors (including the University of Iowa), set against a dark blue, star spangled background and a unique elven character, wearing a green and black suit with star motifs accompanying the experiment. The character, dubbed "Starfire", became a first in space – never before had a comic styled character ever been created in reference to a space going mission, let alone actually traveled to space. Wendy Pini was particularly proud of this, stating that while "Superman may hail from a distant planet in the universe, it is an elf that will be the first comic book character to actually be in (near Earth) space."

In March 2021, the Pinis announced a new audio movie production via live stream focusing on the first five issues of the original comic book series. The full cast audio drama is planned with Dagaz Media and The Fantasy Network (TFN), using crowdfunding to allow fans to support the Pinis directly so that they can retain their independent voice and vision for the project without corporate changes. Two crowdfunding pledge campaigns, one with TFN and the other through Kickstarter, were both successful, raising over $300,000. Pre production commenced in June 2021. As many as 40 cast members were attached, including: Alejandro Saab as Cutter, Cree Summer as Savah, Amber Benson as Nightfall, Osric Chau as Skywise, Zehra Fazal as Moonshade, Hugo Pierre Martin as Redlance, Will Friedle as Strongbow, Divinity Roxx as Leetah, Pun Bandhu as Rayek, Robert Picardo as Picknose, Aaron Douglas as Treestump, Clare Kramer as Clearbrook/Rainsong, Jonathan M. Woodward as One Eye/Woodlock, Nicole Maines as Dewshine, Thomas Trinh as Scouter, Ray Porter as Spirit Man/King Greymung, Yasha Jackson as Shenshen, Tim Russ as Sun Toucher, Abie Ekenezar as Ahdri, Jeffrey Vincent Parise as Bearclaw, Lisa Coronado as Joyleaf, and David Mizejewski as Rain.

In January 2024, it was announced Fox Entertainment and Bento Box Entertainment will produce a one hour adult animated series based on the comics.