By: Wendy Pini, Richard Pini Publisher: Elfquest Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: Elfquest Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 228 Publication Date: December 12, 2007 Release Date: December 12, 2007
Elfquest- Archives. Volume 4 Always loved the art work and story line that Wendy Pini created in the original comic books. I was elated to see that she compiled several magazines into a hard back version. My only question to Wendy is When are going to the the animated versions?
5 stars for content, 2 for new color edition I have been reading Elfquest for 20 years now, and the stories, particularly this book, reach levels of depth that are very rare in comics today. The fourth book of the original Quest is by far the best of the series in terms of pacing and storytelling power. This new version is very pretty to look as far as first impressions go, and I have read the Original Quest in at least 3 different forms now, from the original soft pastels of the Starblaze Donning editions, to the Father Tree versions that were more cartoonish. When I first read the new editions from DC comics, I was a little overwhelmed at first. As others have noted, the first volume is way over saturated in color, and while I liked it overall the main strength was that everything was so much clearer. The next two books are obviously a learn as you go kind of thing. Wendy appears to be trying out different things in Photoshop and it shows. Very inconsistent and too much reliance on auto features with prearranged shapes for leaves, grass etc.
While Elfquest has made the leap to `hi-def' amazingly well, the colors used in the Archive edtions are sometimes distracting. Also, Wendy appears to have a new habit of using the Paintbucket function on EVERY PAGE and it gets really annoying after a while. She literally has colored the entire page for most of each book. A few white pages would have let the art stand out in the panels and not be so overwhelmed. Maybe she thought it was a cool feature and just kept on plugging. But page after page of solid over saturated colors like these , for example yellow fading into purple that grates on the eyes - you almost have to squint to make out the text.
And, for the record, I hate, hate! the yellow tone that is virtually washing through almost every page. Someone, take away the super bright yellow selection in Photoshop as well as Paintbucket. She needs to find another color! Actually, antiquated as it might be, hand painting and drawing should come back some of the time instead of Wacom tablets and Photoshop, please! There was a time when Elfquest in color breathed life, now it is flat, lifeless and just plain garish. This is not to say it's all bad. A handful of pages really stand out and make the chills race down my spine. The last 15 pages when the truth about the elves is at last revealed are just perfect. Couldn't be better. Why that sort of subtlety and beauty couldn't have been the norm for the entire book, I'm not sure. Was Wendy in a rush? DC riding her a little? Whatever the difference it's very noticeable. Maybe ? They had another artist take over parts of it, an it's not Wendy at all. This is supposed to be the Authoritative Edition, but now that the Pinis and DC comics have parted ways, they will probably let this set go out of print and someday we will see yet another `authoritative' edition. Hopefully with the colors toned down out of Crayola Crayon status. So buy if you are curious, but be aware that this is another in what has been a long line of incarnations of the Elfquest series.
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