Editing Elfquest (section)

==Publication history==
The first ''Elfquest'' story, "Fire and Flight", appeared in February 1978<ref name=MarvAge/> in the [[underground comic]] book ''Fantasy Quarterly'', published by [[Lansing, Michigan]]-based IPS (Independent Publishers Syndicate). That company closed after publishing the first issue of ''Elfquest''.<ref name=MarvAge/> Sandwiched between the two parts of the ''Elfquest'' story was a brief story written by [[T. Casey Brennan]] and illustrated by [[Cerebus the Aardvark]] creator [[Dave Sim]] titled "Doorway to the Gods". The quality of the publication was disappointing to Wendy and Richard Pini. The interior was printed on newsprint, and the cover was printed, in a limited color palette, on only slightly heavier, uncoated paper stock.

===WaRP Graphics===
{{main|List of Elfquest publications}}
The poor quality of this publication convinced the Pinis that they could produce a higher quality publication on their own.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hall |first=Wayne |date=2014-01-23 |title=ElfQuest: The Final Quest #1 Review |url=https://majorspoilers.com/comic-book-reviews/elfquest-final-quest-1-review/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140728043212/https://majorspoilers.com/comic-book-reviews/elfquest-final-quest-1-review/ |archive-date=2014-07-28 |access-date=2015-08-10 |publisher=Majorspoilers.com}}</ref> After borrowing money in order to start [[WaRP Graphics]], the Pinis started publishing with ''Elfquest'' #2. It was printed magazine-size with glossy full-color covers and a character portrait print on the back cover by Wendy, a format that continued throughout the series' entire run. This story continued the ''Elfquest'' tale started in ''Fantasy Quarterly''. Later, the Pinis' company WaRP Graphics reprinted the story from ''Fantasy Quarterly'' as ''Elfquest'' #1 with a new front cover and full-color portrait print for the rear cover.

This series was one of the early successes that marked the establishment of a phase in [[underground comics]] in which a new genre of [[alternative comics|alternative]] independent comic books emerged that were closer in content to mainstream comics. ''Elfquest'' was also one of the first comic book series that had a prearranged conclusion. It was highly praised for its innovative themes. The fact that a female artist/writer ([[Wendy Pini]]) was the creative principal of the series was also notable.

The original series – generally referred to as "The Original Quest" or "OQ" – ran for 20 magazine-size issues (spanning about seven to eight years in terms of the main storyline), released three times a year.<ref>WARP graphics also published a nonintegral "OQ" #21 in 1984.</ref> Color compilations followed, published by the Donning Company under its Starblaze imprint as Books 1-4. Two more series were published in a reduced comic book-size format, but still in black and white: ''Siege at Blue Mountain'' (8 issues) and ''Kings of the Broken Wheel'' (9 issues), later collected and published in color by Warp Graphics under its Father Tree Press imprint as part of a second edition of the graphic novels as Books 5-8. The stories take place three years after the original quest.

===Warp Graphics explosion and implosion===
In the 1990s, the Pinis rebranded slightly (WaRP became Warp) and then began to publish multiple titles concurrently, many with overlapping storylines, showcasing the work of new artists and writers on the series. The (initially) color titles ''New Blood'', ''Hidden Years'', and ''Shards'' for the most part carried the main storyline forward from the prehistoric to the medieval period of the World of Two Moons (now named Abode), occasionally featuring non-canonical stories. The historical background of the Wolfriders was filled out in ''Blood of Ten Chiefs'', ''Two-Spear'', and ''Kahvi''. The future of Abode was explored in ''The Rebels'' and ''Jink'', set at a time when humans have reached space and colonized other worlds and the elves have all but disappeared. A fifth tribe of elves, the WaveDancers, was introduced only to be redacted from continuity. A one-shot issue re-introduced the sea elves with a new cast of characters. The first ten issues of ''Hidden Years'' were collected in two color volumes, ''Hidden Years'' and ''Rogue's Challenge'' (Book 9 in the continuity of the second edition of graphic novels). Selected stories from the first ten issues of ''New Blood'' were collected as ''New Blood'' and ''Bedtime stories''. Towards the end of their runs, in the mid-1990s, most of these titles reverted to black and white in North America, though some were published in color in Europe.

In large part as a response to the shrinking direct market in the mid-1990s, continuing storylines were collapsed together into a single 64-page anthology series introduced by the one-shot ''Metamorphosis''. The new series was simply titled ''Elfquest'' (Volume 2), and ran for 33 issues.<ref>[http://www.elfquest.com/pubs/DecadesInPrint.html Decades] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130525060853/http://www.elfquest.com/pubs/DecadesInPrint.html|date=May 25, 2013}}</ref>

===Other media===
The series has also served as the basis for three novelizations (''Journey to Sorrow's End'', ''The Quest Begins,'' and ''Captives of Blue Mountain'') and five ''Blood of Ten Chiefs'' short story anthologies (some of which served as the basis of scripts in ''Blood of Ten Chiefs'' comic book series). The music CD ''A Wolfrider's Reflections'' is an album of folk songs based on elements from the original quest. Several collectibles, calendars, apparel, a role-playing game, and figurines have been sold over the years. The full-length novel ''ElfQuest: Journey to Sorrows End'', which included both text and several black-and-white illustrated plates, was published in ''[[Playboy (magazine)|Playboy]]'' in 1982, and by Berkley in March 1984.

===Marvel===
In 1985, the original series was republished by [[Marvel Comics]]' Epic imprint in 32 installments. Distributed on newsstands, this gave the series much-desired mass-market exposure. Because of Marvel's 22-page format, these new editions featured additional bridging pages which broke the narrative at different points than in the original Warp comics, which contained 32 pages of story. Marvel's license was only for the original series, which was already completed, so none of the sequels followed suit. Most of the additional material (bridging pages and panels) was incorporated into subsequent print collections and the online edition.

===DC Comics===
[[File:Elfquest - Wolfrider Volume 1.jpg|270px|thumb|''Elfquest: Wolfrider'' #1, 2003.]]
In March 2003, after 25 years of self-publication, the Pinis licensed all publishing and merchandising rights in the series to [[DC Comics]], although the Pinis retained ownership and creative control.

DC's publication of ''Elfquest'' material began in July 2003 with ''The Elfquest 25th Anniversary Special'', reprinting the first issue of ''Elfquest'' with new computer coloring and lettering by Wendy Pini and two short interviews with the Pinis. This was a teaser for ''The Elfquest Archives'', hardcover color compilation volumes which were released beginning in November. This series planned to reprint the first eight graphic novel collections in glossy format with new coloring and lettering. Fans complained that the publication schedule was disappointingly slow. Volume 2 was originally scheduled to appear in fall 2004 but after some delays was finally released in March 2005, 16 months after Volume 1. Part of the reason for the delay is that Wendy Pini was undergoing [[hip]] replacement [[surgery]].<ref>[http://www.elfquest.com/edits/WendyWords_06_21_04.html Wendy Words] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204060446/http://www.elfquest.com/edits/WendyWords_06_21_04.html|date=February 4, 2012}}</ref>

Meanwhile, September 2003 saw the publication of ''Elfquest: Wolfrider Volume 1'', beginning a series of bimonthly [[manga]]-sized black-and-white reprint collections which arrange the story into chronological order for the first time, beginning around 600 years before the events in the original series. ''Wolfrider Volume 2'' is followed chronologically by ''Elfquest: The Grand Quest Volume 1'', the first in a series reprinting the original storyline, including the additional art drawn for the Marvel version. In this series, the original artwork has been rearranged into new panel layouts for clarity in the physically smaller manga format, which sometimes involved Wendy Pini adding extensions to the original artwork. Some sections of the original artwork are not included, for example in ''ElfQuest: The Grand Quest Volume 11'', a standalone story involving Tyleet and her adopted human son Little Patch is not in the volume, though later in Volume 13 Tyleet mentions Little Patch constantly while discussing the dream she had while encased for 10,000 years by the Preservers.

Another book, ''Elfquest: The Searcher and the Sword'', was published in July 2004. Critical reaction was generally favorable; the major criticism leveled at the book is that it is overpriced for its size (96 pages).

After the four-issue comic series ''Elfquest: Discovery'', published in 2006, no more new stories appeared until the ''Final Quest'', beginning in 2012.

===Online release===
In March 2008, Warp Graphics began uploading previously published stories to {{url|elfquest.com}}. They intended to make the entire series available online over the course of 2008, but the issues proved too numerous to upload within the year. Uploading of all comics was completed in March 2009.<ref name="elfquest1"/>

In September 2012, the latest series' ''Final Quest'' prologue story began publication at a rate of one page per week at [[Boing Boing]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Beschizza |first=Rob |url=http://boingboing.net/2012/09/05/introducing-elfquest.html |title=Introducing Elfquest at |publisher=Boing Boing |date=2012-09-05 |access-date=2015-08-10}}</ref> Only about half of the prologue appeared there, deliberately, as a teaser leading to the print and digital publication planned for 2013 by [[Dark Horse Comics]].

===Final Quest===
In October 2013, ''Elfquest Special: The Final Quest'' was published as a one-shot by Dark Horse Comics. It included the material originally seen at Boing Boing plus the rest of the ''Final Quest'' prologue. The ''Final Quest'' series began publication by Dark Horse Comics, with the first issue released on January 22, 2014.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.darkhorse.com/Comics/24-293/Elfquest-Special-The-Final-Quest-one-shot |title=Elfquest Special: The Final Quest (one-shot) |publisher=Dark Horse Comics |date=2013-10-09 |access-date=2015-08-10}}</ref> The entire ''Final Quest'' series ran for 24 issues. The final issue, #24, was released on February 28, 2018, exactly 40 years after issue #1 of the ''Original Quest'' was first released.

===Stargazer's Hunt===
In November 2019, a new series debuted from Dark Horse Comics. Titled ''Elfquest: Stargazer's Hunt'', the story focuses on Skywise.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.darkhorse.com/Blog/3780/dark-horse-books-presents-elfquest-stargazers-hunt|title=DARK HORSE BOOKS PRESENTS: "ELFQUEST: STARGAZER'S HUNT COMPLETE EDITION"|website=www.darkhorse.com|accessdate=25 February 2024}}</ref>