Anybody here familiar with Elfquest?

[Trurl]

Apparently this series has been going on since 1978 and runs in the 1000s of pages at this point.  I'm halfway through the 700 page Darkhorse volume 1 and it's really impressing me.  Admittedly I started reading it because I wanted to fuck the elves, but the whole thing is extremely refreshing.  It's as if Disney gave one of its best artists free reign to make an extremely sex-positive fantasy epic.

[etiolate]

Admittedly I started reading it because I wanted to fuck the elves

there's your fresh newsfeed lads

[Phoenix Dark]

everyday we stray further from god's light

[Trurl]

You're acting a little pious for a self-declared BBC expert. 

The series is available for free online.
http://elfquest.com/read/index.php?s=OQ/OQ01&p=1

[Kara]

(Image removed from quote.)
everyday we stray further from god's light

Cross burning, PD?

[chronovore]

I was huge into the story back when it was just starting out. IIRC, I was in junior high school. It was quarterly at the time, and the comic book store clerk was always half-mocking when I asked each month if the new issue was out, because I wasn't entirely sure what "quarterly" meant.

Everyone who reads Elfquest does it at least in part because they want to fuck elves. Hell, they even bring out the dominatrix elf who subjugates her tribe into body play, etc. etc.

[bluemax]

I read these from my public library when I was in third or fourth grade or something like that. They really should not have been in the kids section. The Pinis were some very hippy types.

I was huge into the story back when it was just starting out. IIRC, I was in junior high school. It was quarterly at the time, and the comic book store clerk was always half-mocking when I asked each month if the new issue was out, because I wasn't entirely sure what "quarterly" meant.

Everyone who reads Elfquest does it at least in part because they want to fuck elves. Hell, they even bring out the dominatrix elf who subjugates her tribe into body play, etc. etc.

Yeah you get the weird flying elf queen in book 2 or 3 and then Skywise hooks up with one of her people and shit gets messed up. Then you get the big ass orgy before with the snow elves.

[Yeti]

Is there a Dwarfquest? Asking for a friend.

[bluemax]

[Phoenix Dark]

(Image removed from quote.)
everyday we stray further from god's light

Cross burning, PD?

I'm taking it back.

[Kara]

Sex and relationships

Fertility

Because of their extreme longevity, elves have a very low birth rate. Stable and peaceful elf societies such as the Sun Folk and the Gliders have no deaths for long periods and therefore no births, while the Wolfriders and Go-Backs, plagued by centuries of war against humans and trolls respectively, have a higher birth rate in order to stabilize their populations, although still very low by human standards.

Elves also have a very long gestation period - about two years. The reason for this is not entirely clear, but it does make the eventual birth of a child an eagerly-anticipated event. Among elves the concept of an unwanted child is unthinkable.

Perhaps because of the low birth rate, and the fact that elves have no sexually transmitted diseases, sex is regarded also as a recreational rather than a reproductive activity and there are few taboos.

Relationships: Lovemates and Lifemates

Elves who form casual relationships with partners of either sex are called lovemates, and it is fairly common for an elf to have more than one lovemate at a time. Although this is not like marriage, lovemates can be very close, and the loss of a lovemate can be very traumatic.

Some elves choose partners, usually of the opposite sex, for life, called lifemates. This is the closest elfin equivalent to marriage; however, there is no bar against one or both lifemates of a pair taking other lovemates (or even other lifemates) of either sex, as long as the other does not object. While lifemates usually share soul names, lovemates usually do not.

While elves tend to remain emotionally loyal to their lifemates, they can be very free with their sexuality.

These arrangements usually run smoothly, although possessiveness and jealousy are not unknown. Freedom and independence within a relationship were key concerns for Leetah, as she struggled over whether to form a relationship with Cutter; Savah made her realize that the Wolfriders value freedom too, so Cutter was not likely to be a controlling mate. True to Savah's word, the couple's submission to the demands of Recognition eventually were replaced with a deep mutual love, to the point Leetah later told Rayek "He [Cutter] was my SOUL!"

Recognition

Among the elves there is the phenomenon known as Recognition. When two elves of opposite sex having exceptionally compatible qualities for reproduction meet they experience a sudden and immediate compulsion to mate. This leads to a child and often becoming life-mates. A Wolfrider who experiences Recognition involuntarily surrenders his or her soul name to the other recognized elf. This is described by the phrase, "soul meets soul when eyes meet eyes."

Recognition is a purely involuntary urge that has no regard for pre-existing relationships. This can cause considerable tension between one or both of those experiencing it and their established partners; while Recognition does not dictate the formation of a lasting relationship, it is very common. This is very likely due to the two elves involved knowing the other's soulname, removing all barriers to essentially knowing everything about the person. Generally, even if a longer relationship does not develop, a new-found level of respect is formed. Some elves have tried to resist Recognition, but this only causes them to experience increasing physical and mental distress. However, Richard Pini has stated that unconsummated Recognition is never fatal.

Emotional reactions to Recognition have varied widely with different characters. For instance, Leetah's parents were close for some time before they Recognized, and they immediately complied with the biological imperative without any argument. By contrast, Leetah attempted to resist her Recognition with Cutter, but the combination of Cutter's patience with her reticence, her growing appreciation for Wolfrider culture, and her elder's counsel on the matter convinced her to cooperate, until Recognition faded favor of a strong love. On the other hand, Dewshine and Tyldak of the Gliders were mutually resistant until they were convinced to fulfill the physical requirements before agreeing to go their separate ways. However, when Dewshine's lifemate, Scouter, recognized Tyleet, Dewshine was delighted at this development, and in turn they formed a triad.

The purpose of Recognition is to produce healthy offspring that have their beneficial inherited characteristics maximized. Whatever emotional upheavals it may cause, all elves agree that children conceived in Recognition have greater physical, mental and magical gifts than those who are not. For example, the children of the recognized lifemates, Cutter and Leetah, Suntop and Ember have considerable magical potential and physical hardiness respectively. However, gifted offspring resulting from non-Recognized parents do occur; One example is Kahvi and Rayek's magically endowed daughter Venka.

Recognition can have direct consequences for the affected adults. For instance, Dewshine and Tyldak's perception of each other is directly influenced by the effect; Dewshine sees Tyldak in his normal form before Winnowil altered his body into a bird-like structure while Tyldak sees her as a half-animal with fur and a vaguely lupine face. Another example is the Recognized union of Woodlock and Rainsong, notably prolific as far as elves go.

Probably the strangest noted "Recognition", confirmed by Wendy and Richard Pini from Wolfrider! The Newer edition is between Skywise and Cutter. After a daunting year of Cutter being forced to be the trolls' slave, Skywise bought his freedom, causing great anger to Cutter (who wanted to gain the trolls' respect), and the tension thus caused the two of them to discover the other's soulname whilst fighting. The two have determined they are "brothers in all but blood" since then, even experiencing the other's pain in times of duress.

The Go-Backs' Orgy

Among the Go-backs one further form of sexual relationship exists: the orgy. In Go-back society both sexes fight in wars. Thus the night before a battle is usually marked by frenzied dancing followed by group sexual activity. This is partly in order to celebrate life before risking it in battle, and partly to scatter seed as widely as possible so that those females who survive will replenish the tribe. In addition, the founder of this tribe favored quantity over quality in reproduction and thus Recognition's influence was significantly reduced to allow for more frequent conceptions.

I love that you can directly link to Elves (Elfquest)--->The Go-Backs' Orgy on Wikipedia.

The democratization of knowledge.

[Great Rumbler]

Almost the entire run is available to read for free online, by the way:

http://elfquest.com/read/digitalEQ.html

[bork]

I only read the first graphic novel, which collects...I dunno?  Whatever the first storyline was with Cutter and his tribe leaving the forest and going into the desert and all that stuff.  Maybe the first 5-6 issues. My brother had it and I stumbled across it in his room as a kid.  Thought it was a pretty cool story but never read anything past that.

Was always kind of surprised that nobody ever picked this up as a movie or animated series or whatever.

Almost the entire run is available to read for free online, by the way:

http://elfquest.com/read/digitalEQ.html

Cool, will check that out.  Although from this thread, it seems like it goes downhill after the first storyline. 

[chronovore]

 I feel like my life is somehow more complete for seeing that.

[bluemax]

I only read the first graphic novel, which collects...I dunno?  Whatever the first storyline was with Cutter and his tribe leaving the forest and going into the desert and all that stuff.  Maybe the first 5-6 issues. My brother had it and I stumbled across it in his room as a kid.  Thought it was a pretty cool story but never read anything past that.

Was always kind of surprised that nobody ever picked this up as a movie or animated series or whatever.

Almost the entire run is available to read for free online, by the way:

http://elfquest.com/read/digitalEQ.html

Cool, will check that out.  Although from this thread, it seems like it goes downhill after the first storyline. 

It gets really violent and has a lot of sex. It would be more like Heavy Metal than something kid friendly.

[I'm a Puppy!]

It's almost as if I can physically feel a section of my valuable knowledge dying to make space for this now. Thanks guys.

[Yeti]

Recognition

Among the elves there is the phenomenon known as Recognition. When two elves of opposite sex having exceptionally compatible qualities for reproduction meet they experience a sudden and immediate compulsion to mate. This leads to a child and often becoming life-mates. A Wolfrider who experiences Recognition involuntarily surrenders his or her soul name to the other recognized elf. This is described by the phrase, "soul meets soul when eyes meet eyes."

This sounds like a pretty efficient system, can we get recursivelyenumerable to include it in his new model?

[Trurl]

The Go Back orgy ended up being disappointingly tame after some of you guys hyped it up. There's a lot of Elfquest out there that I haven't read, but I would be comfortable letting a 13 year old read the original run. 

This was a long volume and by the end my lust for the characters had disappeared and was replaced with love. 

[bluemax]

Yeah I went back and looked at it again, definitely a lot tamer on the sex than I remember.

[chronovore]

 Well, in all fairness, we were in grade school at the time. Or junior high for me. The Sears catalog brassiere-section seemed pretty racy at the time.

[recursivelyenumerable]

Recognition

Among the elves there is the phenomenon known as Recognition. When two elves of opposite sex having exceptionally compatible qualities for reproduction meet they experience a sudden and immediate compulsion to mate. This leads to a child and often becoming life-mates. A Wolfrider who experiences Recognition involuntarily surrenders his or her soul name to the other recognized elf. This is described by the phrase, "soul meets soul when eyes meet eyes."

This sounds like a pretty efficient system, can we get recursivelyenumerable to include it in his new model?