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Elfquest #8
Elfquest Graphic Novel 8: Kings of the Broken Wheel
Rayek has kidnapped Cutter and his tribe, leaving them in the past. Thousands of years later, Rayek will attempt to correct the mistake that first brought the elves to this world. If he succeeds, the Wolfriders will never have existed But the only ones who could possibly stop him are long gone...
156 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1994
3 people are currently reading
157 people want to read
About the author
Wendy Pini
614 books395 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 - 27 of 27 reviews
December 7, 2018
DISCLAIMER: If you’re starting here with “Elfquest” then you are absolutely in the wrong place. If you’re here because you follow these reviews, then I assume that you already know most of the ephemera and odd little bits of trivia that I have included in my other posts. And now….on with the review:
WELL! Ok, then. THAT’S the way to end an epic series.
For those who have been following along with me, one of my goals for the year was to dig out and read the first eight collected graphic novels in the “Elfquest” series. Those issues represent what I consider to be the “classic” storyline of the “Elfquest” universe. In all honesty, I would have been perfectly happy had Wendy and Richard Pini wrapped things up after the initial twenty-issue run. But look, I get it. It’s difficult to leave old friends behind, especially when those old friends sparked an independent comics revolution and have evolved into a cash-cow enterprise that ensures that the Pinis would never again struggle to put vittles on the table. And if I’m to be TRULY honest, there was certainly plenty of rocket fuel left in the tanks after the first series wrapped. There were lots of unanswered questions and it was not unwelcome to see the story continue.
Wendy Pini added a much darker aesthetic to the second stanza of the series when she introduced Winnowill and the Gliders to the tale. That turn of events would provide for a solid take on an Elric of Melnibone-inspired melodrama that would see the Wolfriders and others journey to the very brink of the known world. And I could kind of see where things were going….but I certainly didn’t expect what happens in “Volume Eight, Kings of the Broken Wheel.” THIS book brought the whole “Elfquest” saga home in a brilliantly emotional and fully realized conclusion that makes me realize that “Elfquest” really IS one of the most important and influential comics ever to be released.
I won’t give too many spoilers. Suffice it to say that the events that unfold in this volume are truly epic. Rayek, who is now an amped-up power hog with true delusions of grandeur, figures out a way to take the now fully functional Palace on a trip through time in order to meet the original High-Ones at their point of arrival on the World of Two-Moons. He hopes to merge the two timelines into one and thus avert the accident that dropped the original Palace centuries into the past, where the first saga of the Elves begins. The only problem with that is that such an action will wipe out the original timeline, and only those who are in the two Palaces at the time of merging will survive the tempest. Cutter, of course, forbids this as he sees no point in destroying what is essentially now the functional history of the planet. But of course Rayek is now well beyond reason.
And then Rayek does the unthinkable. While Cutter and some of the other Wolfriders are out of the palace, Rayek decides to go ahead with his plan and hurl the Palace centuries forward in time. This stroke of madness separates the two groups of Elves. Families are torn asunder. Cutter and Leetah and their children are cut off from one another. Even little Trinket, the Troll spawn of Picknose is placed in harm’s way. And all of this is accomplished with such force and emotional pull that it almost broke my heart.
Cutter and his band of time lost Elves must now figure out a way to survive in this new reality. Seasons pass….decades pass…..centuries pass…..the mortal nature of the Wolfrider Clan has never been put into better perspective. Ahhhhhhh, but you surely know that story doesn’t end there. Cutter is pretty resilient, after all. Lives and pathways are forever changed. Winnowill sits at the bottom of the sea and plots. Rayek’s daughter grows up to discover her OWN magic power….a power that may hold the key to stopping his plans in their tracks. Mark my words, this is 150 pages of high drama that make everything that came before it fully relevant and integral to the story.
Wendy Pini’s art is as expressive and full of motion as ever. Her backgrounds are sharp, her lines done with deft assurance. The whole book reads fast and is chock full of that kinetic sense of movement and joy that have characterized “Elfquest” right from the beginning.
And yes, I know there was and is a lot of Elfquest to be discovered beyond these eight graphic novels. There was the New Blood and Shards storylines, all of the prequel material with Blood of the Ten Chiefs….the Rebels and Jink stories….and I really don’t need all of that to make myself happy. There is true closure here at the end of “Kings of the Broken Wheel” and I’m happy to kind of let go now and move on to other reading projects. I still have the first two “Elfquest Gatherums” to read through, and I might give one of the “Hidden Years” compilations a shot since I have it on the shelf, but I do think that my personal “Elfquest” is more or less at an end.
I still have the memories of people going nuts when these comics first appeared. I can see now why they were so emotionally invested in these small characters. There is a sense of humanity to be found in these pages, and that’s what separates the great stories from the humdrum, in my opinion. The Elves, of course, are US…..placed into an uncertain future and told to figure out how to survive and still maintain that sense of home and security. We don’t have control over all of the events that befall us, and that’s scary as hell. But in the end, if we stick to our ideals and our sense of family…..and it really doesn’t matter if that family is blood or found…..then we can overcome almost any sort of adversity and come out ok in the end. Strong messages from an alien race of pointy-eared misfits, but there you have it.
Good stuff, man. Five stars for the series as a whole, even if I found one or two of the compilations lacking in small ways. Read it. It’s worth your time.
WELL! Ok, then. THAT’S the way to end an epic series.
For those who have been following along with me, one of my goals for the year was to dig out and read the first eight collected graphic novels in the “Elfquest” series. Those issues represent what I consider to be the “classic” storyline of the “Elfquest” universe. In all honesty, I would have been perfectly happy had Wendy and Richard Pini wrapped things up after the initial twenty-issue run. But look, I get it. It’s difficult to leave old friends behind, especially when those old friends sparked an independent comics revolution and have evolved into a cash-cow enterprise that ensures that the Pinis would never again struggle to put vittles on the table. And if I’m to be TRULY honest, there was certainly plenty of rocket fuel left in the tanks after the first series wrapped. There were lots of unanswered questions and it was not unwelcome to see the story continue.
Wendy Pini added a much darker aesthetic to the second stanza of the series when she introduced Winnowill and the Gliders to the tale. That turn of events would provide for a solid take on an Elric of Melnibone-inspired melodrama that would see the Wolfriders and others journey to the very brink of the known world. And I could kind of see where things were going….but I certainly didn’t expect what happens in “Volume Eight, Kings of the Broken Wheel.” THIS book brought the whole “Elfquest” saga home in a brilliantly emotional and fully realized conclusion that makes me realize that “Elfquest” really IS one of the most important and influential comics ever to be released.
I won’t give too many spoilers. Suffice it to say that the events that unfold in this volume are truly epic. Rayek, who is now an amped-up power hog with true delusions of grandeur, figures out a way to take the now fully functional Palace on a trip through time in order to meet the original High-Ones at their point of arrival on the World of Two-Moons. He hopes to merge the two timelines into one and thus avert the accident that dropped the original Palace centuries into the past, where the first saga of the Elves begins. The only problem with that is that such an action will wipe out the original timeline, and only those who are in the two Palaces at the time of merging will survive the tempest. Cutter, of course, forbids this as he sees no point in destroying what is essentially now the functional history of the planet. But of course Rayek is now well beyond reason.
And then Rayek does the unthinkable. While Cutter and some of the other Wolfriders are out of the palace, Rayek decides to go ahead with his plan and hurl the Palace centuries forward in time. This stroke of madness separates the two groups of Elves. Families are torn asunder. Cutter and Leetah and their children are cut off from one another. Even little Trinket, the Troll spawn of Picknose is placed in harm’s way. And all of this is accomplished with such force and emotional pull that it almost broke my heart.
Cutter and his band of time lost Elves must now figure out a way to survive in this new reality. Seasons pass….decades pass…..centuries pass…..the mortal nature of the Wolfrider Clan has never been put into better perspective. Ahhhhhhh, but you surely know that story doesn’t end there. Cutter is pretty resilient, after all. Lives and pathways are forever changed. Winnowill sits at the bottom of the sea and plots. Rayek’s daughter grows up to discover her OWN magic power….a power that may hold the key to stopping his plans in their tracks. Mark my words, this is 150 pages of high drama that make everything that came before it fully relevant and integral to the story.
Wendy Pini’s art is as expressive and full of motion as ever. Her backgrounds are sharp, her lines done with deft assurance. The whole book reads fast and is chock full of that kinetic sense of movement and joy that have characterized “Elfquest” right from the beginning.
And yes, I know there was and is a lot of Elfquest to be discovered beyond these eight graphic novels. There was the New Blood and Shards storylines, all of the prequel material with Blood of the Ten Chiefs….the Rebels and Jink stories….and I really don’t need all of that to make myself happy. There is true closure here at the end of “Kings of the Broken Wheel” and I’m happy to kind of let go now and move on to other reading projects. I still have the first two “Elfquest Gatherums” to read through, and I might give one of the “Hidden Years” compilations a shot since I have it on the shelf, but I do think that my personal “Elfquest” is more or less at an end.
I still have the memories of people going nuts when these comics first appeared. I can see now why they were so emotionally invested in these small characters. There is a sense of humanity to be found in these pages, and that’s what separates the great stories from the humdrum, in my opinion. The Elves, of course, are US…..placed into an uncertain future and told to figure out how to survive and still maintain that sense of home and security. We don’t have control over all of the events that befall us, and that’s scary as hell. But in the end, if we stick to our ideals and our sense of family…..and it really doesn’t matter if that family is blood or found…..then we can overcome almost any sort of adversity and come out ok in the end. Strong messages from an alien race of pointy-eared misfits, but there you have it.
Good stuff, man. Five stars for the series as a whole, even if I found one or two of the compilations lacking in small ways. Read it. It’s worth your time.
May 15, 2009
This one broke my heart! The separation of the families is so well written that you really hurt along with the characters!
Read
July 6, 2009Ugh, bad facial hair Cutter! What, your family disappears in a flying palace for 10,000 years so you have your midlife crisis? Tacky!
August 11, 2014
These are a series of graphic novels that I first read in my tweens and hold a special place in my childhood reading. I have since come back to them and re-read them several times, and for me, they continue to stand to the test of time. This series changed drastically in plot and voice after the eighth volume, and increasingly became more and more of the saccharine sweet fantasy fluff that I can't bear to read. The first eight volumes are literary treasures that I continue to cherish.
May 4, 2015
I didn't actually read this one, since I only have the Danish versions, but I read the online comics. I think it's the first time I've ever read them in English! It's even more heartbreaking and awesome in the original language.
September 18, 2019
Favorite graphic novel hands down. great characters with interesting motivations, in a time when so many other stories where black and white with clear heroes and pure villains Pini made flawed Heroes and understandable villains.
April 26, 2025
A personal favorite.
********
Second review, 2025:
5 stars! A great wrap-up to this story. Everyone learns what they will or won't do when the chips are down.
********
Second review, 2025:
5 stars! A great wrap-up to this story. Everyone learns what they will or won't do when the chips are down.
June 25, 2015
Heartbreaking, but so beautiful.
February 14, 2016
Fantastic blend of fantasy and comics. Incredible characters and story line. Highly recommended
February 22, 2020
Delightful and frustrating entry in the Elfquest saga. Winnowill has been defeated, the tribes are gathered at the palace, and Rayek is still a self-centered jerk. What could go wrong?
August 30, 2023
Last volume, I called Rayek a terrible character with stupid, boring motives. That's less true now, but the central conflict in this arc remains frustratingly stupid. Rayek wants to time travel and prevent the crash of the palace; Cutter's bent on stopping him because if the palace hadn't crashed, the wolfriders and other elves wouldn't exist, so it's good that the palace crashed. There are a few attempts to make Rayek sympathetic, but on the whole, it's clear that the narrative supports its protagonist, Cutter. Rayek's an egomaniacal asshole who does stereotypical villain things like trying to kill people for no good reason and separating people from their families, and he has some kind of alliance with Winnowill, who's also evil. Cutter's a hero who cares about family. Obviously, Cutter's right and Rayek's wrong!
The problem with this (apart from the usual problem that such black & white conflict is lazy writing and not especially interesting) is that Cutter's shitty argument - just a kneejerk reaction, really - can be used to justify practically anything (with exceptions for things like benevolent world explosion). What's the first thing a stereotypical time traveler does? Try to prevent the Holocaust, because that has to be a change for the better, right? Sorry, it's actually a good thing that the Holocaust happened, because we're in a timeline where the Holocaust did in fact happen, which means there are billions of people who currently exist but would not exist had the Holocaust not happened.
That should be enough to make Cutter's extreme stupidity plain to you, but to go a bit further: we don't even need to bring time travel into this. Imagine using this argument in a criminal trial. "Your honor, we may safely assume that my client's actions have by now had butterfly effects on the conception of various children. Therefore, it's actually a good thing that he murdered all those people."
Cutter needs to read Reasons and Persons and write an essay on the depletion thought experiment, at least two pages long.
January 9, 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...
November 11, 2023
There is so much in this one. And more than I remembered. A friend used the term epic to describe this one and that fits pretty well. Tons of characters. Large amounts of space. And time. Seeing where this story was going did require truly understanding what had gone before. So this may work better on a series re-read. We catch up with a lot of people and places. And end up somewhere that feels pretty new. Maybe the art isn't quite as good as in the earlier books. But the story certainly is.
January 18, 2025
I have followed Wendy & Richard Pini's comic book career since the 1970's. All of the ElfQuest books are a masterwork. She is a phenomenal artist. The two of them together are excellent storytellers. If you like cartoons you will love any and every part of your encounter. It is not easy to come by these books, but they are definitely worth the hunt.
January 22, 2019
In all seriousness, the Pini's continue to display their penchant for strong characterization, gorgeous art and interesting world-building. Highly recommended!
November 8, 2023
Actually contains Kings of the Broken Wheel # 5 - 9.
This one feels genuinely epic. Narcissistic Rayek, controlling the flying palace, follows the Cry From Beyond to new places and times, with the rest of the elves along for the ride whether they like it or not.
This one feels genuinely epic. Narcissistic Rayek, controlling the flying palace, follows the Cry From Beyond to new places and times, with the rest of the elves along for the ride whether they like it or not.
May 31, 2024
I knew there was a creepy mermaid in here.
December 18, 2024
As usual, the addition of time travel to a series that is not primarily about time travel does not improve it.
April 14, 2020
Read this online - this is the same as Kings of the broken wheel 5-9.
September 25, 2023
Cutter and the other Wolfriders are floored by the loss of his beloved, best friend, and children. They are in a whole new world with little help or support. Their powers are growing and they are now living high in the trees instead of on the ground. Keeping completely hidden from the humans. Cutter starts a tree to measure the seasons until he is reunited with his family. Kivha and her daughter join the Wolfriders and her daughter easily keeps Windnowill at bay. This novel is one of my favorites and hard to read. Cutter struggles so much as he adjusts to life without his family and blood brother. I loved the ending, or beginning depending on how you look at it, and I always wished there were more collected volumes other than the Hidden Years after this one.
October 25, 2014
In book eight, Rayek decides to use time travel to undo the mistake that first brought the elves to the World of Two-Moons. The only problem is that anyone outside the Palace will be erased when the alternate timeline becomes reality. The book follows both groups, the ones inside the Palace, who are desperately trying to change Rayek's mind before it's too late, and Cutter's band, left behind to take the slow road to the future and hoping they get to see their loved ones again before they either die of old age or are wiped out of existence.
Aside from book one, this is easily the best book in the series. Powerful, complex story and lovely art--everything is spot-on.
Aside from book one, this is easily the best book in the series. Powerful, complex story and lovely art--everything is spot-on.
October 3, 2012
Somehow I was not surprised that Winnowill showed up again. She is such a wonderfully developed evil in the World of Two Moons that it would have been a shame had the Pinis not brought her back to cause more trouble. That being said, it was yet a great continuation to an already fantastic story, and as always, the artwork is superb.
November 15, 2012
One of my favorite Elfquest story lines that I "visit" every few years.
December 5, 2013
The tree. [sob]
December 20, 2014
Hmmm, glad I read it... But nowhere near as good as the original series.
January 21, 2016
Another re-read
September 2, 2017
(found read date in diary)
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews