Elfquest Hidden Years

A collection of short stories, _Hidden Years_ fills in some missing spots in the storyline, mostly from the time period before the 'Shards'and Kings of the Broken Wheel timeline. It was really nice to see that a story could indeed be covered in the equivalent of one issue of a comic book. My favorites are the story depicted on the cover and the origin story for Skywise. No spoilers here, just go out and get it.

Wendy is arguably the best comic book artist of our time, and this little gem has got to be her greatest work ever. This is the very first book by the Pinis that I bought. (Which may I recommend that you don't get this first. You will be very confused, even though the stories are great in themselves.) This one book started the Elf-mania in my family. Now, I buy all of them, even the off-the-wall side stories that are more humorous than anything (see "New Blood" and "Worldpool"). It's really great artwork and rich color are the best. And Strongbow is a heartthrob.;)

Wendy Pini has certainly outdone herself! Her artwork has always been versatile, changing to fit the mood of the story. In this graphic novel, she used vivid watercolors to tell the tale. It's amazing! The stories are also superb, in the honored tradition of Elfquest. My favorite story is the one about Tyleet and her adopted human cub, Little Patch. Wendy Pini is definetly my favorite artist! :)

In a slightly smaller format than the original paperback volumes, the Elfquest tales that occurred between the great espiodes of the elfin adventures on The World of Two Moons are all presented in full, glaring colors that really blinds your eyes which are more accustomed to the gentler tones of the colorized comic-book collections. Here you meet Strongbow and his wolffriend, Kyavek and her winged boyfriend, Ember and her coming-of-age discoveries, Tyleet and her foster kid, and Skywise and his ill-fated parents. Personally, I feel that the gentle little Tyleet had inherited her mother's child-hunger, so she had a chance to fulfill her aching maternal instincts with an abandoned infant from a nearby human camp. Pretty sappy, in my opinion. But all the Elfquest fans get to unlock even more mysteries about their most favorite elfin characters as well as color-saturated new stories to boot!

Outstanding artwork, four compelling tales - and one tearjerker for the ages, the final story "Starfall, Starrise".The visual work of this volume is, praise the pharaohs, presented IN COLOR. Better yet, the coloring is a return to the exquisite work done for the long-out-of-print Donning editions of EQ (from the mid-80s); the hues, shading and detail make the characters all but three-dimensional!All five stories are of quality, but by far the two standouts are "Little Patch" and "Starfall, Starrise". The former deals with Tyleet's daring decision to raise a human foundling as her own child - and as an elf; the joy and heartbreak - sometimes both at once - of her life with one who is, at once, dearest and farthest from her. Despite the very quiet tone of the tale, it is one of the most thought-provoking in the entire series.The latter story, which concludes the book, deals with the tragic circumstances of Skywise's birth. The conclusion of this tale is a masterstroke - the revelation that the "killer" actually tried to save the baby's mother, and that HE suffered the greatest horrors. The last page of this story... well, if there could be one "signature" image for the Elfquest saga, this would be it.