Final Quest #15 - Delayed.

Well, I just downloaded it on my iPad.

Awesome letter btw , Manga ... I love it!

Dr Dre gets a hummer from compost elves and then it's Woodstock time. Wtf.
Something with Savah I do not understand.
This is literally so all over the place, I will need to reread it several times.

Zadzi wrote:

Dr Dre gets a hummer from compost elves and then it's Woodstock time. Wtf.
Something with Savah I do not understand.
This is literally so all over the place, I will need to reread it several times.

Now this makes me REALLY want to read it!

manga wrote:

Dear Abby;

My lifemate has been stolen.  That's the only way any of this makes any sense [...] Instead of healing she was indulging in mind-bending experiences.  When she did come home, she babbled things that sounded like the after of some bad mushrooms and acted like they were pearls of wisdom.[...] She had a successful career and a valued talent in the community. Now she spends her days staring vacantly at colored lights.[...]
She's even gotten a bug in her head about body modification as some kind of spiritual goal!  

THAT was awesomesauce!

Okay, take pity on a poor soul who has to wait until tomorrow. DO Leetah et al heal Cutter's madness by way of a gigantic and explicit sex-magic orgy? Because I've been predicting (hoping for/dreading that) that for ages!

It's really not focused, but we've seen worse issues. This one is rather pointless
The art is OK
And we see some lost characters coming back

So in terms of regular "comics" in print - it should come out tomorrow in the US?

Yes, it is due out on the 27th. I set my ipad to the next day manually so I can buy this a day early. I keep doing this for some reason every time, and I might have to talk to my therapist about it.

S
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YES!!!!!! My boy Chot is BAAAAACK.

Oho! Finally, some good news

.... wait... please don't tell me Jethel's still with him?!

Nah, he's still in some crocodile's stomach

I wonder how long it takes for wendy to murder him with that rock-slide she mentioned some years ago.

I thought you were kidding about the hummer, but now, having read the issue, I'm not so sure. O_O

In the main, I liked the art. Wendy sure does hate drawing the Wavedancers, though, doesn't she?

This issue. Sigh.

[All spoilers below]



The art is the art. The newly created drawings continue to get better and better, as far as I'm concerned. There were even a few panels in #15 where Nighfall didn't look like a desiccated skeleton--win! The reused art continues to be a sticking point. If I see that paperdoll cutout of Moonshade one more time...Wendy has literally used it at least four or five times. And there's basically only one image of Korafay which gets its limbs jumbled from time to time. Sure, the Wavedancers live underwater, but that can't explain why Korafay has double-jointed knees. Noticed a few sloppy color errors, par for the course.

Zadzi wrote:

Dr Dre gets a hummer from compost elves and then it's Woodstock time. Wtf.

Yup. There is definitely a "reach-around" happening at one point. I laughed out loud at the look on Dr. Dre's face. He's like "yeah, you know you want this. Hummmmm." And a lot of those fungus elves creep about at a very convenient height. I think it's inadvertently suggestive, which honestly just makes it feel a bit gross. Like, I don't think Dr. Dre and the others were really having an orgy, so why did they have to take off their clothes?? Do we get any explanation at all? Redlance's roll in all this was underwhelming. Our speculation on this board was way more interesting!

Random question: who made Cutter (and Leetah's) new furs? Chitter? I assumed Moonshade was out of the tanning business.

I love the idea that the fungus elves dislike Leetah because she's a healer. They've embraced the cycle of life, including the process of death and decomposition, to the point that her skills have become repulsive to them. That's pretty cool. Also, I'd bet that they're the what's left of the Rootless Ones, Savah's original group of early generation immortal elves. Humans scattered them and drove Savah's group into the desert, but maybe other survivors went into deep cover in the woods. Certainly, they seem quite magical, just like Savah herself. Of course, the way her name came up in conversation with Cutter was a little contrived, but it was still a cool reveal.

I don't like the new explanation of Dr. Dre's powers. He brings the low high, and the high low, and hums everything into a stupor. WTF does that even mean. It sounds like he's the elves' drug dealer.

I throw my hands up over Moonshade and Strongbow. I seriously care less and less about them the more time they spend mooning and angsting over one another. They're 1000 years old, but they act like teenagers wallowing in the drama of their failed relationship. And now Moonshade's internalized the idea that her self-exploration is somehow "selfish." Good job, Strongbow!

Chot and Door are back. Fine. And Door's intentions are not friendly. It seems a little late to introduce a new villain. If only he'd come along sooner to inject some tension.

Rayek/Ekuar/Two-Edge. This makes only the barest amount of sense. Why exactly did they have to confine Rayek? So he couldn't defeat the murderous human fleet...even though that's exactly what the elves need right now? He's powerful enough to kill every human in the world (according to him), why does anyone think the Djunmen stand any chance of harming him? And I can't believe the reason he's refusing to allow Winnowill to be healed in the palace is because he can't guarantee that she'll love him as much as he loves her. That really is "character murder." RIP nuanced-and-interesting Rayek.

The palace-ex-machina has been removed from the board--Venka says violence would "poison" the power of the palace. Is that what happened to it when the High Ones were massacred in its halls? Did it have to go dormant to recover? In any event, this mostly seems like a convenient way to sideline an overpowered element in the story. It's clumsy, and a little ham-fisted, but it obviously had to be done somehow.

The Wavedancers are the worst part of this for me. Not only do we see a ton of recycled art in their scenes, but the whole plot with Salt and Spray is almost incomprehensible. I had to read it several times to understand it at all. At first, I thought Salt was getting legs so he could walk to the palace...but then why was Spray getting a tail? Eventually, I realized they would both have tails for the ocean portion of the voyage and legs for the overland hike. But that is not clear. And why give Salt legs in the water? He can't "practice" walking. Just leave him with his tail until they reach land and shape him there. Such a weird, confusing, unnecessary scene. And Spray's proportions didn't look elegant to me for some reason. I always thought a Wendy-drawn mermaid would be incredible. Spray...was underwhelming.

Ember is pretty harsh on Daboi. Yikes. Looks like the Wolfriders will reunite.

Interesting that Sunstream and Brill are at the same impasse as Cutter and Leetah. Liked that detail.

Shuna suggests that the Djunsmen are coming to conquer the humans of the Iceholt continent as well as to murder the elves. That's a really good point. Then she says that even a "peaceful" alliance of Iceholt humans and elves would be unlikely to defeat the Djunsmen. Uh, how about a non-peaceful alliance. Or are they just going to lay down in front of the tanks? Stuff like this is where the plot really frustrates me. I get that Wendy's a new age hippy, but if you inject real-world elements like imperialism, genocide, and asymmetrical military technology into your story, treat those themes with the gravity and realism they deserve.

For me, this was not as good as the preceding few issues, both in terms of the art and especially the story.

Well, it was ok, but I feel like the big cliffhanger she always leaves us with, never get..solved? I feel I never get any answers? Just new questions.
And the art...well....I do not dare complain about copypaste on FB, and I kinda understand it, little time and all, but...maybe copy paste you own art then?
http://elfquest.com/read/index.php?s=WDa&p=82

and look on page 13 in the new issue, the picture of No Ripple.


....I don´t mean to be mean, I just really like No Ripple, and seing her drawn by Wendy was something I looked forward to.

Erin1978 wrote:

In the main, I liked the art. Wendy sure does hate drawing the Wavedancers, though, doesn't she?

I think she might hate most of the Wavedancers period.  She pretty much says as much in her most recent interview on the EQ Show podcast.  She had no part in designing the tribe (it isn't the first time she's mentioned this, but it's always shocking to me.  She and Richard are so emotionally attached to the EQ world and its characters, it's amazing to me that they gave other artists complete free-reign.)  She thinks there were "problems" in the conception of the Wavedancers, and she's been gradually nudging them in a direction she can live and work with.  I'm surprised she's hasn't killed a bunch of them just so she can stop cutting-and-pasting them into crowd scenes.

Blackbird wrote:

And the art...well....I do not dare complain about copypaste on FB, and I kinda understand it, little time and all, but...maybe copy paste you own art then?
http://elfquest.com/read/index.php?s=WDa&p=82

and look on page 13 in the new issue, the picture of No Ripple.

Whoa. That's terrible. I imagine she and Richard own the rights to that art...but that still doesn't seem right. Amazing catch.

It isn´t the first time through FQ she has used copypaste from the Wavedancer book she didn´t draw And the young ones don´t seem to grow at all ( Moonmirror was a character I had high hopes for ) but little Korafay aged in the speed of plot of course.

Aaargh...I wanted to post that picture on the facebook thread, but I don´t dare. They are going to bury me if I try.

Blackbird wrote:

It isn´t the first time through FQ she has used copypaste from the Wavedancer book she didn´t draw Razz And the young ones don´t seem to grow at all

I noticed that too about the young WD, and there was some debate on here about it. I didn't read much of the WD series, so I don't recognize a lot of the reused art. I liked Wendy's rendition of the characters in the Discovery. We didn't get a sense for most of the tribe, but they looked pretty good. Strange that she'd dip back into the comic series for art.

This feels on the boundary of acceptable behavior, no? It's one thing to copy from yourself, another to lift someone else's drawings. Even if she has the right to do it legally, is it correct to do artistically?

Yeah, she has. I have the Readers collection book, and liked it really much, but some of the art isn`t-...great. That is why I was so disappointed that she don`t draw them herself. Discovery was much better for the Wavedancer, agree! Maybe she had better time to actually do it right then.

That was my thought to, she has the right to do it, and her friends Heather, Sonny, Rob(?) and all the others will hate on my for saying anything about it, but I am disappointed about it.

...was it this issue or 16 Wendy so proudly said she did some excellent work.

I do like Rayek getting smacked in the head.

Wendy on FB: "Elfquest - the Final Quest #15 contains some of the most beautiful work Sonny Strait and I have done together. We both have such a deep love and understanding of the organic, that must be why."

Shadowpath wrote:

I do like Rayek getting smacked in the head.

There are a lot of ways to smack a head. A sledgehammer is a bold choice.

Wisp wrote:

Wendy on FB: "Elfquest - the Final Quest #15 contains some of the most beautiful work Sonny Strait and I have done together. We both have such a deep love and understanding of the organic, that must be why."

*Neighbours start knocking on my door because they're worried about the hysteric laughter coming from my house*

Shadowpath wrote:

I do like Rayek getting smacked in the head.

There are a lot of ways to smack a head.  A sledgehammer is a bold choice.[/quote]
I really feel that should have knocked him out a bit longer.
...Then again that's not the first time he's gotten knocked out by Two-Edge's hammer.

HAHAHAHAHA

That sledgehammer in the face thing seemed rather excessive.

Also, like Wisp, I was very confused as to what the hell the point of the whole Salt / Spray shapeshifting was.  It seemed like the long way around of an exppanation, and just came off as confusing.

I also agree with Ember being harsh about Daboi. It just came off as callous, and why? Because he didn't want to live with the elves? I mean, he became a doctor instead, it isn't like he became some corrupt fighter or whatevr. Just bizarre behavior.
Tier continues to look less and less interesting, it was somewhat jarring seeing him in this issue. He just looks so pale and milquetoast now, with this shampoo commercial hairdo that is all fancy.

Strongbow and Moonshade teen soap opera has officially run out of lather for me.

Did anyone notice how vapid Skywise's facial expressions were throughout this issue? There was something not all there even when he was expressing concern for Cutter.

I am really curious about the Savah connection. I also liked the parts with Leetah and the compost heap elves. And I loved the scenes with her and Cutter.

Seeing Door with Jethel was kind of awesome, because I just can't wait to see how it all goes down. Part of me really wants some comic relief but I know that isn't gng to happen.

As for the whole Dreahn naked hummer thing...when I first read it last night I was literally stifling my tittering and from another room my bf thought I was having a sneezing fit, so he kept exclaiming Bless You!, which just made me explode into laughter. I kept looking at Dr Dres expression in that scene and couldn't stop hearing Barry White singing.  Reading that scene followed by the naked hippy woodstock thing was just so damn weird. I just do not 'get' the whole raising lower and vice versa thing, I mean I get it, but it just reads like something overly obscure and contrived.

I think it is that these scenes are moving around so fast, it is constantly cut cut cut scene one after the other, you start reading something and it is generally completely off the wall and a bit dramatic, but then a page and a half later or less than a page later, here is another storyline/character to read, and so on, and so on, until we have been taken and pulled into so many differnt directions. It is jarring, and really pulls me out of the story. There is almost zero room for any kind of character motivation, or depth, or even understanding in this way of storytelling. I mean, i was so happy to see Shenshen again but then Shuna is doing all the talking, and wheee!, we are off again to another direction. I just feel dizzy but not really as interested as I would have liked.
I sense that maybe this style of storytelling is being done deliberately to make the stakes seem higher, to give a sense of urgency...but what is lost in all of this is depth, and suspense, and really with so much going on (too much, if you ask me,there are really some very unnecessary elements here which are recurring and being interjected repeatedly in an annoying way), the narrative itself comes off like constant throat clearing with no actual speaking.

CHOT IS BACK!



So, concerning Jethel. I know Wendy said a long time ago that she wanted him and Chot to die in a rock slide. So the question is, did Jethel die? Or didn't Chot find him after seperating from Dart and Co?