ElfQuest #7
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeElfQuest #7 marks the first full appearances of Picknose, Old Maggoty, and Oddbit — the troll trio who would recur through the entire saga — and delivers the first named mention of Two-Edge, the half-elf, half-troll smith whose sword New Moon and hidden armory key set the central mystery propelling the 'Forbidden Grove' arc and beyond. The issue also plants the earliest seeds of Two-Edge's long-game manipulation of both elf and troll societies, a subplot that wouldn't fully resolve until the Siege at Blue Mountain and Kings of the Broken Wheel storylines years later. Running in a magazine-size, self-published format by creators Wendy and Richard Pini, the issue stands as part of ElfQuest's broader significance as the first continuing American fantasy graphic novel series co-created, written, and drawn by a woman. Its letters page — featuring a fan letter from Ursula K. Le Guin alongside C.C. Beck and other genre luminaries — demonstrates the extraordinary cross-fandom cultural reach the series had achieved by its seventh issue.
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ElfQuest #7 was produced by Wendy Pini (plot, script, and art) and Richard Pini (plot) and published by their own company, WaRP Graphics — an acronym of Wendy and Richard Pini — which they had incorporated in 1977 after the poor production quality of the series' debut in Fantasy Quarterly convinced them to self-publish. The issue appeared in May 1980 as part of the original twenty-issue run that the series published three times per year in magazine format with glossy full-color covers and a character portrait on the back cover — a presentation format maintained throughout the entire original quest. Like issues #1–9, it received second and third printings, making it one of only nine issues in the original WaRP run to be reprinted at all.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published May 1980 by WaRP Graphics; story titled 'The Dreamberry Tales,' subtitled 'Mindcoil Part 1: Blue Mountain, Black Snake'; plotted and scripted by Wendy Pini with plotting by Richard Pini, art by Wendy Pini.
- First full appearance of Picknose, Old Maggoty, and Oddbit — the troll household first glimpsed as mystery figures at the end of issue #6, here revealed and given names, dialogue, and character motivation.
- First named mention and backstory introduction of Two-Edge, the half-elf, half-troll master smith described as the greatest metal-worker in the world; he is not physically present but his role forging Cutter's sword New Moon and hiding a key in its pommel is revealed.
- The plot revelation that New Moon's pommel conceals a key to Two-Edge's hidden armory becomes a foundational story engine running through multiple subsequent arcs of the Original Quest.
- The letters page features correspondence from Ursula K. Le Guin alongside other readers and genre professionals including C.C. Beck, making it a documented touchstone of the series' literary and fan-cultural reach.
- The issue received second and third printings during the original WaRP Graphics run — a distinction shared only by issues #1–9; no reprints exist for issues #10–21.
- Later collected in: ElfQuest Reader's Collection Vol. 2 – 'The Forbidden Grove' (WaRP Graphics, 1998, black and white); ElfQuest Archives Vol. 2 (DC Comics, March 2005, recolored hardcover); and the Marvel/Epic reprint run (1985–1988), where the original 32-page story was reformatted with additional bridging pages to fit Marvel's 22-page format.
- Issue #7 falls in the middle of the 'Forbidden Grove' arc (issues #6–10), which advanced the series' timeline by approximately seven years from the Wolfriders' arrival at Sorrow's End and introduced Cutter and Skywise's quest to find and unite other elf tribes.
Cast · 19 characters
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Reprints
Reprinted in ElfQuest #2 (1982), Abenteuer in der Elfenwelt #7 (1985), ElfQuest #7 (1986), ElfQuest #10 (1986), ElfQuest #11 (1986), Alvefolket #7 (1988), The Complete ElfQuest #2 (1988), Abenteuer in der Elfenwelt #4 (1990), ElfQuest #2 (1994), ElfQuest Reader's Collection #2 (1998), ElfQuest: The Grand Quest #2 (2004), ElfQuest Archives #2 (2005), The Complete ElfQuest #1 (2014), Alverfolket #7
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