Home
about Stephen Hunt's SFcrowsnest.com
EUROPE'S MOST VISITED SF/F WEB SITE
   

ElfQuest: The Searcher And The Sword by Wendy and Richard Pini
pub: DC Comics. 94 page graphic novel hardback. Price: $24.95 (US), $37.95 (CAN). ISBN: 1-4012-0183-0

check out website: www.DCcomics.com and www.elfquest.com


It's hard to believe that I read the first 'ElfQuest' collection back in the early 80s. Apart from the difficulty in collecting the individual issues, it was an unusual interest for a die-hard SF reader to want to check out a comic about elves.

I think what struck me at the time was that 'ElfQuest' was internally consistent and they were using primitive science without really understanding why things worked that way. The best example of that being the lodestone carried by Skywise to find the direction in their travels. To them, it was a magic rock rather than a piece of magnetic ore.


With this book, we have a new adventure of the Wolfriders who now they are settled are having problems replacing their weaponry now that the tool-making trolls have left. They also have a human female, Shuna, living amongst them after she fled her abusing father and is now past adolescence and wants to encourage relations between the elves and humans. These twin plots intertwine through this graphic novel, illustrating things aren't as easy as you would imagine them to be.

Wendy Pini has turned from colouring with a brush to doing it by computer now having discovered how flexible the graphics software was with her line illustration with not a pixel in sight. It's a shame that the richness of the colours of the contents wasn't altogether caught on the cover but that's personal opinion and probably more an editorial decision.

Those of you familiar with Wendy Pini's art and text style will recognise she's remained consistent throughout her 'ElfQuest' books. I think it would help the novice reader discovering this book had there been some sort of glossary or identification of the major characters to know them better though. Although Wendy Pini does identify as she goes without getting bogged down with it, I can't guarantee that you can get into it cold.

Mind you, as DC also have 6 volumes of the other 'ElfQuest' books, you might well want to dig into these first to see where all these characters have come from.

Considering the 'ElfQuest' comics were produced independently by the Pinis and reprinted both by Marvel and DC should also indicate that they have a vast following who will no doubt be happy to buy this new adventure. Seeing Cutter and his Wolfrider Clan again after all these years has been fun and can't wait for the next one.

GF Willmetts


HobbitsFREE SF MAGAZINE
Sign up for the Crowsnest SF e-magazine - full of funny reports and gossip. Be the first to find out about hot science fiction happenings & news! 
        

more on the magazine...

CHAT ABOUT THIS STORY

NEWS ARCHIVE

 

OTHER REVIEWS - September 2004

Aliens vs Predator

NEW. Add this news to your own web site for free!

Books - Science Fiction

The Mammoth Book Of 20th Century Science Fiction Volume 2

Fitzpatrick's War by Theodore Judson

Five Great Novels by HG Wells

Time's Eye by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter

The Ophiuchi Hotline by John Varley

Galactic Geographic Annual 3003: Earth Edition by Karl Kofoed

Skyfall by Catherine Asaro

Angel Stations by Gary Gibson

Grasp The Stars by Jennifer Wingert

The Children Of The Atom by Wilmar H. Shiras

Recursion by Tony Ballantyne

No Phule Like An Old Phule by Robert Asprin with Peter J. Heck

The Silver Gryphon edited by Gary Turner and Marty Halpern

Books - Fantasy

Sketchbook by Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell

Dragon's Treasure by Elizabeth A. Lynn

Not Really The Prisoner Of Zenda by Joel Rosenberg

The One And The Golden Circle by Don Allen Beene

The Wild Reel by Paul Brandon

Books - Horror

The Mammoth Book Of Vampires edited by Stephen Jones

Alone With The Horrors: The Great Short Fiction Of Ramsey Campbell

Magazines

The Third Alternative # 38 - Summer 2004

Challenging Destiny issue 18 - July 2004

Graphic Novels

ElfQuest: The Searcher And The Sword by Wendy and Richard Pini

DVDs

The Terrahawks: The Complete Series

Format changes

Dreamer Of Dune: A Biography Of Frank Herbert by Brian Herbert

Noise by Hal Clement


CHAT ABOUT THIS REVIEW

Advertise Here (More ...)

 

   
HTML Text AOL
nest home | search engine | site directory | library | tools | about us |  

... www.sfcrowsnest.com © 2004 C
Want a free SF/F Zine? Then send an e-mail to: hologramtales-subscribe@topica.com