In my previous review, I mentioned that the Archie Comics version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was one of the only comics I read as a young person.  This is true.  But also in the mix were the three volumes of The Complete Elfquest that I scored at Pro Libris, my favorite used book store in my hometown (still there almost 40 years later, as of writing this review).  Somewhere in junior high, I first encountered Cutter and his crew, and something about their adventures really hit with me.

They went in a box and there they sat until a recent trip home to Maine, when I grabbed a few boxes to bring back with me to my current home.  In one of those boxes were the three volumes of Elfquest.  So, I took a trip back in time and gave the first volume a read.  It holds up.  There’s a large cast of characters, yet Wendy and Richard Pini manage to give them each unique qualities, from character traits to design.  The problems begin fairly simply.  Big, violent humans rampage against the Wolfriders, and they’re forced to flee their homeland.  They’re betrayed, and end up in a hostile land.  Things get more complicated, and the cast expands greatly, when they arrive at another settlement of Elves who have very different customs.

There’s romance, action, hints of Science Fiction beneath the surface of Fantasy, and plenty of other things to keep the reader interested.  As with the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I’m impressed by how fully formed and confident the writing and world feel.  This was, if I understand correctly, an independent, if not self-published comic, from a time when that sort of thing was even harder to get out into the world than it is today.

This edition is in color, though I believe the comics were originally in black and white.  The color is pretty well done, and quite vibrant, thanks to the glossy paper it’s printed on.  It looks like it might be an early use of digital shading, but perhaps not, as I’m not sure how advanced that was in 1988.

Reading this really took me back.  I’m hoping to read the next two volumes of this series soon.  Though this very much tempts me to get a copy of the Dark Horse, seven volume, mega-collection.  I gather the complete original story is contained in volume 1 of that series, but the comic has come back time and again for more than 40 years, enough to generate six more big volumes.

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