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The Complete ElfQuest #3
The Complete ElfQuest, Volume Three
The legacy of Wendy and Richard Pini's ElfQuest continues! Experience the dreams of the Wolfriders during their deep sleep as they await the passage of ten thousand years to reunite the tribes--and enjoy the lavishly colored stories of the tribe's history.
432 pages, Paperback
First published September 17, 2015
34 people are currently reading
251 people want to read
About the author
Wendy Pini
614 books389 followersWendy Pini is one-half of a husband and wife team with Richard Pini that created, most notably, the Elfquest series.
Wendy was born in California and adopted into the Fletcher Family in Santa Clara County. Early on, she developed as an artist and was the illustrator of her high school year book. She submitted samples of her artwork to Marvel Comics at 17 that were rejected.
Pini attended Pitzer College and received her B.A. in the Arts and joined the Los Angeles Science Fiction Society.
In 1972, she married Richard Pini and began illustrating science fiction magazines, including Galaxy, Galileo, and Worlds of If. In 1977, Richard and Wendy established a publishing company called Warp Graphics to publish their first Elfquest comic. Elfquest was self-published for 25 years and in 2003, licensed to DC Comics. The comic series has won several awards, including the Ed Aprill Award for Best Independent Comic, two Alley Awards, the Fantasy Festival Comic Book Awards for Best Alternative Comic, and the Golden Pen Award.
Wendy has illustrated other works, including Jonny Quest in 1986, Law and Chaos in 1987, and in 1989, two graphic novels of Beauty and the Beast. Recently in 2007, she completed a graphic novel entitled The Masque of Red Death.
Wendy has received several awards over the last four decades, including the San Diego Comic Convention Inkpot Award, the New York State Jaycees Distinguished Service Award, the Balrog Award for Best Artist, and was inducted into the Friends of Lulu Women Cartoonists Hall of Fame in 2002.
Wendy and her husband currently reside in Poughkeepsie, New York.
Wendy was born in California and adopted into the Fletcher Family in Santa Clara County. Early on, she developed as an artist and was the illustrator of her high school year book. She submitted samples of her artwork to Marvel Comics at 17 that were rejected.
Pini attended Pitzer College and received her B.A. in the Arts and joined the Los Angeles Science Fiction Society.
In 1972, she married Richard Pini and began illustrating science fiction magazines, including Galaxy, Galileo, and Worlds of If. In 1977, Richard and Wendy established a publishing company called Warp Graphics to publish their first Elfquest comic. Elfquest was self-published for 25 years and in 2003, licensed to DC Comics. The comic series has won several awards, including the Ed Aprill Award for Best Independent Comic, two Alley Awards, the Fantasy Festival Comic Book Awards for Best Alternative Comic, and the Golden Pen Award.
Wendy has illustrated other works, including Jonny Quest in 1986, Law and Chaos in 1987, and in 1989, two graphic novels of Beauty and the Beast. Recently in 2007, she completed a graphic novel entitled The Masque of Red Death.
Wendy has received several awards over the last four decades, including the San Diego Comic Convention Inkpot Award, the New York State Jaycees Distinguished Service Award, the Balrog Award for Best Artist, and was inducted into the Friends of Lulu Women Cartoonists Hall of Fame in 2002.
Wendy and her husband currently reside in Poughkeepsie, New York.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
March 8, 2025
This third, The Complete Elfquest TPB volume, was surprising because I hadn't realized that Wendy and Richard Pini had licensed other creatives to write and illustrate Elfquest: The Hidden Years. The book was in color and continues the whimsically cartoony style pioneered by WaRP Comics. Wendy worked with the writer and artist to ensure a measure of continuity, but the reality is that fans can tell that there was a change.
The Hidden Years issues were all about ancillary character development, filler stories, and unconcluded storylines requiring completion. There are also Dreamtime stories designed like a puzzle to be fit together to hint at the future of Elfquest. Though some may find these stories too expository, I did not. They were beneficial.
When you have a large cast, all too often some insightful characters get pushed to the back burner for want of attention. In a story such as Dreamtime, each character shares aspects of their dreams that are designed to fit like a mosaic to foreshadow a future, both revealing and hidden.
As usual the writing was really good, but the artwork is a little lacking. Wendy readily draws the Wolf riders beautifully with loving strokes. Richard is notably absent from the credits. He usually edits and collaborates with every aspect. Did he not participate? Still, I can't rate lower than great.
The Hidden Years issues were all about ancillary character development, filler stories, and unconcluded storylines requiring completion. There are also Dreamtime stories designed like a puzzle to be fit together to hint at the future of Elfquest. Though some may find these stories too expository, I did not. They were beneficial.
When you have a large cast, all too often some insightful characters get pushed to the back burner for want of attention. In a story such as Dreamtime, each character shares aspects of their dreams that are designed to fit like a mosaic to foreshadow a future, both revealing and hidden.
As usual the writing was really good, but the artwork is a little lacking. Wendy readily draws the Wolf riders beautifully with loving strokes. Richard is notably absent from the credits. He usually edits and collaborates with every aspect. Did he not participate? Still, I can't rate lower than great.
August 16, 2019
Having made it through the first two massive volumes that reproduced the original art in black and white, imagine my shock and delight when I found the first half of this one in vibrant, one might even say lurid, colour!
ElfQuest continues to set the bar incredibly high for characterization, world-building and storytelling. Can't wait to return to the Holt at least one more time...
ElfQuest continues to set the bar incredibly high for characterization, world-building and storytelling. Can't wait to return to the Holt at least one more time...
January 23, 2024
Mit Hidden Years bin ich damals eingestiegen und hatte viel Nostalgie dafür. Die Geschichten sind toll und schön gezeichnet (die fünf vollfarbigen Hidden Years Hefte von Wendy Pini 😍😍😍) aber so im Kontext mit den Stories davor, meandert es ein wenig vor sich hin. Viele Zeitsprünge, hatte dauernd das Gefühl, ich würde was verpassen. Aber das war halt so eine Periode zwischen mehreren großen Geschichten. Trotzdem toll!
March 29, 2018
Say what you want about Elfquest but they are a style, and nearly a genre, of their own. And it has staying power, being nearly 40 years since the publication of their first black and white magazine in 1978. They are now currently wrapping up the series in The Final Quest arc, but that’s not what this review’s about. If it must be given a label, I suppose you could call it fantasy (with some Sci-Fi elements in there), but it is not your standard fantasy series. It stands as a truly unique product.
The Complete Elfquest Vol. 3 collects various issues of the Hidden Years series, which came out right after Kings of the Broken Wheel, but for some reason excludes issues 6 and 7- not that it is much of a loss, after issue five the series took a serious downward spiral. The Pini’s, overworked from simultaneous projects, farmed out the writing and art to new people with a mixed bag of results. The writing was actually good, however without Wendy Pini’s art Elfquest loses its flavor. And the art in issues 8 and 9 here, compared to the five before it, feels flat and lifeless, and just off from what a reader of the series is used to. I know all comic art is technically flat, but it shouldn’t feel that way.
The first five issues however are some of the best art I’ve ever seen Elfquest produce. They are in full color, designed to be in full color, which is a rarity for the series. And beautifully mesh art, action, story, and words together. It took me awhile to get through these issues due to my stopping and staring at for half an hour at each gorgeous page. I was so swept up in the art that I sometimes forgot the plot to the story.
The Hidden Years issues do not compromise a story arc, but are independent stories which focus on a different character in the times between when Kings of the Broken Wheel concluded. But it is not necessary to have read any of those previous issues in order to enjoy the stories. Just keep on and you will pick up the gist of the meta-plot. They are well crafted stories in their own right.
The last 150 pages are taken up by the Dreamtime story, originally published in Elfquest II in the mid 1990s. It is a string of stories, in black and white, each focusing on a different member of the Wolfrider tribe and the dreams they had during the long sleep (over 10,000 years) they endured chasing the villain Rayek. It is a fun story, very dreamlike as it should be, and utilizes different artistic styles and points of view than the rest of the series. Some may find it to become tedious after about fifty pages, I certainly did, only because I was expecting something to happen, but this story is more about character introspection than character action.
This is more a collection of interlude stories. The next main arc Shards should be included in the next collected volume. Despite that, there are some fantastic tales in this volume and I encourage you to take a look.
The Complete Elfquest Vol. 3 collects various issues of the Hidden Years series, which came out right after Kings of the Broken Wheel, but for some reason excludes issues 6 and 7- not that it is much of a loss, after issue five the series took a serious downward spiral. The Pini’s, overworked from simultaneous projects, farmed out the writing and art to new people with a mixed bag of results. The writing was actually good, however without Wendy Pini’s art Elfquest loses its flavor. And the art in issues 8 and 9 here, compared to the five before it, feels flat and lifeless, and just off from what a reader of the series is used to. I know all comic art is technically flat, but it shouldn’t feel that way.
The first five issues however are some of the best art I’ve ever seen Elfquest produce. They are in full color, designed to be in full color, which is a rarity for the series. And beautifully mesh art, action, story, and words together. It took me awhile to get through these issues due to my stopping and staring at for half an hour at each gorgeous page. I was so swept up in the art that I sometimes forgot the plot to the story.
The Hidden Years issues do not compromise a story arc, but are independent stories which focus on a different character in the times between when Kings of the Broken Wheel concluded. But it is not necessary to have read any of those previous issues in order to enjoy the stories. Just keep on and you will pick up the gist of the meta-plot. They are well crafted stories in their own right.
The last 150 pages are taken up by the Dreamtime story, originally published in Elfquest II in the mid 1990s. It is a string of stories, in black and white, each focusing on a different member of the Wolfrider tribe and the dreams they had during the long sleep (over 10,000 years) they endured chasing the villain Rayek. It is a fun story, very dreamlike as it should be, and utilizes different artistic styles and points of view than the rest of the series. Some may find it to become tedious after about fifty pages, I certainly did, only because I was expecting something to happen, but this story is more about character introspection than character action.
This is more a collection of interlude stories. The next main arc Shards should be included in the next collected volume. Despite that, there are some fantastic tales in this volume and I encourage you to take a look.
February 20, 2017
I love this Comic
August 30, 2020
Some of the stories are really good, but the dreamtime sequence went on for a bit too long.
September 29, 2021
Die Story nimmt Fahrt auf. Ich bin gespannt, wie es weiter geht. Ich traue Rayek immer noch nicht. Irgendetwas hat er ganz falsch verstanden. Und so einfach ist Winnowill nicht zu besiegen. Die kommt doch eh zurück. Ich bin aber trotzdem gespannt, wie es weiter geht. Warum ist Rayek nur so besessen von den Hohen?
January 10, 2024
ElfQuest is a beautiful exploration of people and culture in a fantasy world that started back in the 1970's and still runs to this day. On this world humans are still very much in their barbaric cavemen days while elves are the fierce hunters but also fun loving children of the forest who just want to be left alone. We meet Cutter and his clan of Wolf Riders just as they're escaping a deadly clash with the humans of their area that results in them burning down the whole forest and its through these elves' eyes that we get to explore this lush world and storytelling.
Back when I was introduced to this world in middle school by my cousin, I was immediately taken with the stunning artwork and the way these characters were portrayed. The Wolf Riders and the other elves in the story are very obviously part of the same race, but show a wide variety in every aspect of their design depending on where in the world they settled (much like actual humans in our world). From the beginning we have a large handful of characters to keep track of, elf, troll and human alike, and yet it never felt like a struggle to keep track of them because of their design and how their names just fit them so well...
Read my review on the full series at Well, Are They? A Queer Review blog
https://wellarethey.blogspot.com/2022...
Back when I was introduced to this world in middle school by my cousin, I was immediately taken with the stunning artwork and the way these characters were portrayed. The Wolf Riders and the other elves in the story are very obviously part of the same race, but show a wide variety in every aspect of their design depending on where in the world they settled (much like actual humans in our world). From the beginning we have a large handful of characters to keep track of, elf, troll and human alike, and yet it never felt like a struggle to keep track of them because of their design and how their names just fit them so well...
Read my review on the full series at Well, Are They? A Queer Review blog
https://wellarethey.blogspot.com/2022...
February 14, 2024
The Complete Elfquest stops being the complete Elfquest. Ths volume contains The Hidden Years # 1-5, 8-9 1/2, and Dreamtime, which it says is a graphic novel but was also serialized. The black-and-white, well-rendered line art I loved has also been abandoned. The first 5 issues are in color, possibly because they were painted. Most of the rest of the issues have gray tones which may be black-and-white copies of the original colors. Also in this volume Wendy Pini starts sharing the burden with other writers, pencilers and inkers.
The whole volume bounces around in time. I assumed the hidden years meant the time when the Wolfriders lived after the palace disappeared. And there are a few stories from that time, but most of the stories take place after the reunion and one story takes place before Cutter was even born. None of the stories in this one grabbed me. I wasn't interested in the side characters, or in the middle issues which focused on Rayek. And analyzing fictional characters' dreams has never been my favorite trope.
The whole volume bounces around in time. I assumed the hidden years meant the time when the Wolfriders lived after the palace disappeared. And there are a few stories from that time, but most of the stories take place after the reunion and one story takes place before Cutter was even born. None of the stories in this one grabbed me. I wasn't interested in the side characters, or in the middle issues which focused on Rayek. And analyzing fictional characters' dreams has never been my favorite trope.
January 9, 2018
My rating for this graphic novel is more a 3 1/2 than a 4 but close enough.
This is volume 3 of 4 mega graphic novels called The Complete ElfQuest. It's the smallest of the them so far at just over 400 pages. The first had over 700, the second had over 500.
I liked this volume the least of the first three I've read so far. It contains stories from The Hidden Years and the graphic novels Rogue's Challenge and Dreamtime. The Hidden Years stories were in color and Rogue's Challenge and Dreamtime are in black and white.
I liked The Hidden Years stories alot and the other two... not nearly as much.
I ordered a copy of this for my own collection before I read this library copy and I wish I would have waited. I don't think I would have gotten my own copy if I'd read it first. Still, the artwork is as stunning as always.
This is volume 3 of 4 mega graphic novels called The Complete ElfQuest. It's the smallest of the them so far at just over 400 pages. The first had over 700, the second had over 500.
I liked this volume the least of the first three I've read so far. It contains stories from The Hidden Years and the graphic novels Rogue's Challenge and Dreamtime. The Hidden Years stories were in color and Rogue's Challenge and Dreamtime are in black and white.
I liked The Hidden Years stories alot and the other two... not nearly as much.
I ordered a copy of this for my own collection before I read this library copy and I wish I would have waited. I don't think I would have gotten my own copy if I'd read it first. Still, the artwork is as stunning as always.
July 20, 2020
This was a fun little peek into the in-between years during and shortly after the kidnapping of Cutter's family. I mostly just see this as bonus snippets, so obviously some stories are going to be better than others. I enjoyed Cutter finally getting some revenge against Rayek, and I like the contrast that's brought up in that storyline between Mender and Leetah. My only real complaint is that the dreamtime issues tend to drag on after a while, and that the guest artists were a little too horny for their own good. Otherwise a pretty good addition to the series.
Read
March 17, 2023There's not a running thru-line of plot to this volume; it's not so much a continuation of the story as it is more just a collection of tales. I was happy that it included a couple colored images, as I really missed that in the prior volumes. I'm a little lukewarm about it (although I love Tyleet and Venka and getting to see more of them in this was very good) in compared to the first two volumes. We're finally reaching material I haven't read before. Would generally recommend but wouldn't call it a necessity. You'd likely be fine giving it a pass and continuing on.
September 29, 2020
Another good story this one. Not quite the emotional ride of volume two, but that made for a nice change of pace. Still managed quite a bit of poignancy at times, such as with the human foundling that they raised. The dream sequence was an interesting one, though the ordering of this volume did make it a bit funny at times, with some stories coming earlier than the stories they are set after as such. All round a very good read though.
December 13, 2020
Well written and illustrated series covering the fallout of the previous omnibus. The prior two collections are tied together by a strong narrative thread which keeps the pages turning: a tribe seeking a new home and their origin. This collection wanders and revisits characters we haven't seen for a while, addresses Cutter and Rayek's traumas, and sets the stage for what comes next. It also has color. It is excellent, but the last two omnibuses were better.
September 11, 2017
Beyond disappointed with this one.
Being a child of the 70's/80's I have always had a soft spot in my heart for Elfquest but this third volume of The Complete Elfquest seemed like a bunch of rejects and throwaway stories that they collected in order to stretch out the Elfquest run.
Even the art suffered in this book.
Just bad...should never have been made or released.
Being a child of the 70's/80's I have always had a soft spot in my heart for Elfquest but this third volume of The Complete Elfquest seemed like a bunch of rejects and throwaway stories that they collected in order to stretch out the Elfquest run.
Even the art suffered in this book.
Just bad...should never have been made or released.
June 10, 2019
This is the place where it starts to fall apart. The first few Hidden Years vignettes are pretty good, and of course Wendy Pini's art enables the reader to forgive the patchy nature of the short-story format. But then they hired out the art, and some of the writing, and it really loses coherence and is just not that good.
October 27, 2020
I love this series since I was a teenager but was never able to read past the first to complete volumes because of money and library access. Now that I have hoopla I have Acess to most of the Elfquest works and intend to go through them. It was surprisingly easy to jump back into the series after so long. I love non-typical fantasy series and these comics are exactly that.
June 29, 2022
after passionately hating Rayek my whole life, getting to see Cutter finally beat his shit to bits is always incredibly satisfying
bit too much dreamstuff that only to teaches me to "improvise, adapt, overcome", but hey, i can just go back to Cutter unleashing a savagery so absolute it changes the artstyle. love that.
bit too much dreamstuff that only to teaches me to "improvise, adapt, overcome", but hey, i can just go back to Cutter unleashing a savagery so absolute it changes the artstyle. love that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 24, 2023
I like the Dreams sequence, but it most be admitted that it's mostly filler and character exploration. I do appreciate that we basically spend so time with characters who are normally just side characters in scenes. The storyline of Skot and Krim being taught Wolfrider things are adorable and possibly the best thing in the entire sequence.
March 25, 2018
Up and down
This is the first volume i was least involved with. Some of the stories were great, some felt like rehashing old stories. Some of the art, done by other artists, wasn't as good, didn't have the heart Wendy puts into it.
This is the first volume i was least involved with. Some of the stories were great, some felt like rehashing old stories. Some of the art, done by other artists, wasn't as good, didn't have the heart Wendy puts into it.
May 22, 2019
....Wait.....
Is this volume....one shots?
Don’t get me wrong there definitely good one shots. But there so scattered that I think there might have been a publishing error for how all over the place it is.
Is this volume....one shots?
Don’t get me wrong there definitely good one shots. But there so scattered that I think there might have been a publishing error for how all over the place it is.
May 4, 2020
Just read the second half, 8.2 Dreamtime. I don't like it as well as the Hidden Years 8.1. The wolfriders telling stories of dreams they had while waiting for the palace to catch up to them in time. Seems kind of contrived. But then, I've never been interested in hearing about dreams.
June 15, 2023
Volume three is a lot of different stories, some are prequels and some sequels. The Dreams are it fall back into a single stort, but all the stories were awesome. I'm glad they didn't jump straight into another adventure, instead focusing on building on the characters relationships and views.
July 21, 2024
The most immediately noticeable thing about this collection is that about 5 issues of it are presented in color. On the one hand this is incredibly welcome, the color is so bright and beautiful. On the other hand, it makes you realize just how much the color adds, and makes the rest of the series being in black and white seem like a let down.
As far as the stories themselves, where as the first 2 volumes were full of story arcs that followed each other, this one consists of many side stories that take place at different moments, followed by an ending where all the elves recount their dreams. There are many great stories in here, but it feels a little bit less essential than the previous volumes. Also, there are a couple issue #'s missing. I am not sure what the reason in. They probably weren't essential either, but for a collection called "The COMPLETE ElfQuest" it feels odd.
As far as the stories themselves, where as the first 2 volumes were full of story arcs that followed each other, this one consists of many side stories that take place at different moments, followed by an ending where all the elves recount their dreams. There are many great stories in here, but it feels a little bit less essential than the previous volumes. Also, there are a couple issue #'s missing. I am not sure what the reason in. They probably weren't essential either, but for a collection called "The COMPLETE ElfQuest" it feels odd.
April 16, 2025
Eh, a bit of an in-between book covering all the "lost" stories between time jumps. Rayek and Tyleet get some great moments, as do some of the other characters... but most of it is just meh. I particularly disliked the "dream sequence", which felt a bit like a filler episode.
January 26, 2020
Oh, my young adulthood. What a great way to go back to it.
August 28, 2020
I’d forgotten how much I love Tyleet and Venka. Tyleet and Patch’s story are my favorite in this volume.
November 26, 2020
DPL hoopla
June 24, 2024
A whole series of characters remembering dreams. As boring in fiction as in real life.
June 28, 2024
Good story as I remember from my first time reading Elfquest. Now to find more of the original format to collect.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews