Customer Reviews

Elfquest: The Grand Quest - Volume One

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I have been a huge fan of Elfquest ever since I found an earlier hardbound full-color edition sitting on a shelf in my local library at the age of 12. Being a girl who was completely alienated by macho superhero comics, I instantly fell in love with this complex story full of riveting characters, tense action, and steamy sexuality. Both innocent and dark, thrilling and comforting, this story has it all. The artwork is simply gorgeous. While this comic was done years ago in a more traditional format, it converts easily and wonderfully to the manga digest-size due to its early manga influences (in the days when an artist could get ridiculed for liking manga). But while it is definitely influenced by the Japanese style, in never imitates or knocks it off. Instead, artist Wendy Pini stays true to her own unique style, deftly combining beautiful lines with dangerous curves. This is no rip-off, thank god, and no old-fashioned comic, either. It's immortal.

There are many books in this epic series. Start with this one that you are looking at right now, "Elfquest: The Grand Quest". If you like it, you can keep buying the manga editions as they are released, or you can check out the new full-color hardcover edition that has come out, which is absolutely stunning. I believe it's called the "archive edition" or something like that.

Elfquest: The Grand Quest / 1-4012-0136-9

If I were rating the content of this comic book alone, I would give it five stars immediately, but I do want to note that there is a better version of this comic book available - a version I already owned when I accidentally picked this up at a trade swap, thinking it was new material I hadn't seen before!

Everything in this comic is included (and then some) in the Elfquest Archives Vol. 1 - which has larger pages, more detailed drawings, and gorgeously breath-taking color on every page. The content itself - the pictures, plot, and dialogue - is the same between both versions, as best that I can tell, and the full archive version has more resolution - this book only covers up to the very beginning of the Zwoot stampede, and thus does not cover the resolution of Cutter and Leetah's romance arc, nor anything after that.

Really, this book covers probably half of the archive, so even though the archive costs more, you're getting a lot more for your dollar. And if you already own the archive, you don't need to purchase this volume.

~ Ana Mardoll