Elfquest: The Discovery (Elfquest DC Ed) [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

So, Sunstream (previously Suntop) is a big boy, all grown up and now also recognized. And to a wavedancer! The wolfriders are happy, the wavedancers less so, and this book deals with the meeting between the two tribes.

Is this fun? Sure. The wavedancers were an interesting addition to the story, and for those of us more fond of Cutter's kids than Cutter himself, seing Sunstream in action as something else than the genius medium was certainly a treat.

But after reading it, I was left with a certain feeling of deja vu. Conflict between chief and second in command? Between chief and tribe? Inter-tribal problems due to recognition? We've seen it all before. In addition, I felt that very little comes out of the whole encounter, even if the lives of the wavedancers certainly is changed for good.

A downside with the book is the artwork. Though Pini's art is far superior to most of the artists who have worked with Elfquest, the same praise can't be given to her photoshop skills. The sloppy outlines and coloring just aren't nice to look at, no matter how pretty the elves. I liked the lightness and the generally colorfull feeling of the art (as considerable parts of the story takes place in the palace) - it went well along with the generally high-spirited expectations of the story. But I'm inclined to feel that Pini is letting the manga influence go a little too far. Nobody has died from putting more than four panels on a page yet!

In the end, it's a cute little story that brings preciously little invention to the universe. But for a mini-series and an hour of enteretainment, there's nothing wrong with that.

I cut my teeth on FIRE AND FLIGHT and FORBIDDEN GROVE. Being yet unable to read, I forced my parents and even my older brother to read them aloud to me, pointing to each character so i could tell who was talking. I learned how to read by flipping through editions of the original eight books, and so began my love of art and the written word. Now, in my adulthood, I've become a closet Elfquest junkie yet again, and I've wondered why I ever put them down. I've never felt much interest in the later volumes, since it the broad-sweeping yet ultra-realistic style of the original eight seemed to be Pini-exclusive, something the newer artists never appeared to capture. As a result, I've traversed the familiar pages of the first eight books countless times over, never venturing further.

That said, you can imagine my enthusiasm to see a new addition to the saga with the Pini's original artwork and storytelling. That enthusiasm waned some when I removed the packaging from my copy and opened the cover. The story focused on the meeting of the Wolfriders with yet another elf tribe, these being a kind of aquatic sea-elf. I confess I had structured in my mind my own idea of what a Pini sea-elf could be and was eager to see what the venerable Wendy would do. What I found was not what I had hoped. I always valued the Elfquest saga for it rustic and down-to-earth look, a good example of which was the costuming of the wolfriders being obviously hand dyed and sewn, within the limits of a primitive people. The sea-elves however looked like they belonged less in the pages of Elfquest, and would seem more at home swimming alongside Disney's Little Mermaid. Dressed in Day-Glo colors and bestowed with somewhat silly monikers such as Salt, Foam, and Tumble, this new tribe of elves are far departed from the world of two moons i remember as a child. The original characters that make appearances in this story are changed as well, looking more like animae art than ever. Every once in a while, about every to pages, you'd see some of Wendy's original art surface, but the majority was vastly different.

The way the art is structured of the page is disappointing as well. What I loved about Elfquest to begin with was its cinematic quality. Just reading one novel would make you feel as though you had sat down in front of an epic big screen movie. The art had movement and sequential action that i haven't seen equaled in any other graphic novel endeavor since. The three-dimensional colors and the varying page set-up made for a unique experience. This story however had none of this. It was more closely arranged to a Manga look, with never anymore than four, equal-sized panels per page.

As far as story goes, it seemed a bit trite. There really was nothing new brought to the on going story-line, with the same motif of tribe-meets-tribe, tribes-clash, tribes-resolve-differences-and- bond-for-the-greater-good that has already appeared several times in Elfquest history. The new characters seem hopelessly one dimensional while the old ones seem trivialized and goofy.

I think taken as a stand-alone story, it's worth reading. There are enjoyable passages, and as i said before, the old-Pini art shines through from time to time. But, ultimately, if you're and old Elfquest fan looking for newer material, look to the Hidden Years anthology, or even the slightly more composed THE SEARCHER AND THE SWORD story. This one is pretty good, but something other that the Elfquest we knew.

I love EQ, and I love the new DC archives version, comparing this to that shows the decline in art and story telling. Still I love to see the "family" of EQ together and moving forward. Seeing Sunstream and Ember both grown up is always a treat. I found Serge's obsession not to go into the palace hard to swallow and more than a bit irritating. There were some panels that show Wendy Pini's amazingly beautiful art, then there are some pages that are disappointing to say the least. Probably the worst thing is the palace. This is the home of the elves, and what do they do--stand around gaping. There is none of the individuality of the sun village or the holt. What is so good about a shiny BORING palace? Maybe Surge did have the right idea after all.