ElfQuest #9
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeElfQuest #9 (Marvel/Epic, April 1986) is a pivotal chapter in the color reprint run that brought Wendy and Richard Pini's creator-owned fantasy epic to a mass-market newsstand audience for the first time, dramatically expanding the series' readership beyond the direct-market specialty shops that had sustained the original Warp Graphics run. The issue's story chapter, 'The Quest Begins,' marks a crucial generational turning point in the saga: Cutter and Leetah's twin children Suntop and Ember are born, and the long-simmering tension between elf and human civilizations at Sorrow's End finally reaches a head—developments that set the entire second half of the Original Quest in motion. As part of the 32-issue Marvel/Epic run, the issue also carries unique new bridging pages drawn specifically by Wendy Pini to accommodate Marvel's shorter page format, making each issue in this run a modestly distinct artifact from the original Warp editions. The series as a whole was recognized at the time as a landmark demonstration that a creator-owned, independent fantasy comic could earn a place on mainstream newsstands alongside Marvel's flagship titles.
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The original ElfQuest series was conceived, written, and drawn by Wendy and Richard Pini and self-published through their company Warp Graphics beginning in 1978 in a larger black-and-white magazine format. By the time Marvel's Epic imprint licensed the series in 1985, the Original Quest had already concluded its 20-issue Warp run, meaning Marvel was reprinting a completed work rather than an ongoing one—a fact that shaped the entire production arrangement. Because Marvel's standard comic format accommodated fewer story pages than the Warp originals, Wendy Pini drew fresh bridging pages and panels for all 32 installments to smooth over the new chapter breaks; most of that new material was later folded into subsequent collected editions. Glynis Oliver provided the coloring that transformed the original black-and-white art into the full-color presentation, and Janice Chiang handled lettering duties throughout the Marvel run.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Story title: 'The Quest Begins' — scripted by Richard Pini and Wendy Pini, art and cover by Wendy Pini.
- Published April 1986 under Marvel's Epic Comics imprint; on-sale date January 14, 1986 per the Marvel Database.
- Narrative milestone: Cutter and Leetah's twin children Suntop and Ember are born within this issue's story, and humans arrive at Sorrow's End for the first time — events that pivot the entire Original Quest toward its concluding arc.
- This is a color reprint of material originally published in black and white by Warp Graphics; Glynis Oliver is credited as colorist and Janice Chiang as letterer for the Marvel edition.
- The issue contains Wendy Pini-drawn bridging pages created specifically to adapt the longer Warp story pages into Marvel's shorter 22-page story format; most of this new art was later incorporated into subsequent collected editions and the official online reading room.
- The Marvel/Epic run distributed ElfQuest through both direct (comic shop) and newsstand channels, giving the Pinis' creator-owned series mainstream mass-market exposure it had not previously enjoyed.
- Marvel's license covered only the already-completed Original Quest (20 Warp issues reformatted into 32 Marvel issues); no sequel series were published by Marvel.
- The story material in this issue was later reprinted in the DC ElfQuest Archives hardcover series (2003–2005), in the Dark Horse Complete ElfQuest (2014), and is available to read for free on the official ElfQuest website.
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Reprints
↩ Reprints ElfQuest #6 (1980)
Reprinted in The Complete ElfQuest #2 (1988), ElfQuest #2 (1994), ElfQuest Archives #2 (2005), The Complete ElfQuest #1 (2014)
Key issues in ElfQuest
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