Fantasy Quarterly #1

History

Independent Publishers Syndicate was formed in early 1978 when Timothy Donahue dissolved his prior venture, Power Comics Company (co-owned with Edward Langham), and rebranded under the new name. The Pinis brought Wendy's script and art — and Richard's co-plotting — to IPS, which published the issue on cheap newsprint with a limited-color, unglossed cover; the production quality fell so far short of the Pinis' expectations that it galvanized them to borrow money, found WaRP Graphics, and begin self-publishing with ElfQuest #2, setting the template of magazine-size, glossy full-color covers and character portrait back covers that ran throughout the original series. IPS published nothing else; Fantasy Quarterly #1 is its entire publishing history.

Trivia · 7 facts

• First appearance of the entire ElfQuest cast and property, in the story titled 'Fire and Flight' — script by Wendy Pini and Richard Pini, art by Wendy Pini.
• Characters making their debut include: Cutter (Wolfrider chief), Skywise, Treestump, One-Eye, Scouter, Pike, Strongbow, Redlance, Nightfall, Nightrunner (Cutter's wolf-companion), Picknose (troll guard), and Greymung (troll king).
• The issue also contains 'Doorway to the Gods,' a backup story written by T. Casey Brennan and illustrated by Dave Sim — then a rising independent cartoonist who would go on to create Cerebus the Aardvark.
• IPS folded after this single issue; the Pinis founded WaRP Graphics and resumed the series with ElfQuest #2, later reprinting the Fantasy Quarterly story as WaRP Graphics ElfQuest #1 with a new cover and additional pages.
• The 'Fire and Flight' story establishes the core plot driver: hostile humans burn the Wolfriders' forest holt, forcing chief Cutter to lead the tribe through troll tunnels (where they encounter Greymung and Picknose) into a scorching desert, with wounded Redlance and Nightfall left behind under promise of return.
• The 'Doorway to the Gods' backup by Dave Sim was reprinted decades later in Cerebus Archive #12 (Aardvark-Vanaheim, February 2011), the only known reprint of that specific story.
• ElfQuest is notable as one of the first comic series with a prearranged conclusion, and its original quest ran for 20 magazine-size issues, later reprinted in color graphic novel collections, and eventually by Marvel's Epic imprint, DC Comics, and Dark Horse Comics.

Cast · 12 characters

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