elfquest | EQ Readthrough: Issue 2, Raid at Sorrow's End

I'm hoping that if I push myself to make a few icons for every issue, I'll gain some skill with GIMP, and get a better idea what makes a really good icon. Also, hoping to inspire other people to make better icons, and/or to think about how the pictures change when they're taken out of context. (I don't actually have any great affinity for Redlance or Nightfall; they just keep showing up in terrific iconable poses.)

Meta:
I think Wendy hadn't yet sorted out what recognition was, and still tangled it with notions of romance and love. Cutter talks about having his heart stolen; we don't find out until much later that recognition is a physical drive rather than an emotional one.

There's a few other oddities in the logic in this issue... Leetah saying to Cutter, "please don't let them kill Rayek," followed by her shock that Redlance's wounds were deliberate. Perhaps by "deliberate," she sensed that they were intended as torture, rather than just being intentional strikes, which she'd presumably seen before when people were angry with each other?

Logic fail: The wolfriders are a people who have lived by their resourcefulness in the woods for at least 10 generations. They don't have enough wariness of unknown plants to keep their distance and avoid getting scratched up by cacti? They immediately start ingesting the insides of this unknown flora?

Squee: I am so in love with Skywise. He is, to me, a very well-done symbol-character for philosophy and science and the drive to know, yet still portrayed with emotion and compassion and a genuine love of life.

I figure their wariness was a bit worn down by three days in burning desert with no supplies--and that their senses are strong enough to tell them what's edible, for the most part. (And they don't have a lot of choice by that time.)

Maybe that moment of recognition is somehow too intense for him to be able to make a difference between love and lust.

On the other hand - he talks about having his heart stolen but in the moment when he meets Leetah's eyes for the first time it says "and Cutter suddenly knows a different kind of thirst". I think that's very much indicating a physical drive.

Yes, that part confused me, too. That's not the only contradiction, too, when it comes to the Sun Fulk and violence. Hm, have to think a bit about that - there's no clear picture in my mind yet.

*snicker* Yeah, there were thorny plants in their woods, as well. So he could have avoided getting scratched. I blame it on him being exhausted and I agree with

elf - at that point they were desperate enough for any kind of water/fluid.

Skywise - I fell in love with him in that issue. His curiosity and wonder at the desert night sky and what he says to Cutter "There's nothing evil in the stars" echoed my own love for astronomy then. I could totally relate to him!

Ah, the journey through the Empty Land. That reminds me... back when I bought my first volume of ElfQuest, which included the first two issues, I was at that age where my mum had decided that I should show more interested in discos and boyfriends than Fantasy books or comics. She used to call them "childish", knowing full well that I was too much of a teen to just let it slide, it always irked me... anyway, her comment on EQ, based on the cover and looking at a random page was "Have you now regressed to being a toddler mentally? This is even ore childish than your usual stuff!" I eventually talked her into reading a couple of pages from the trek through the desert, and while she only scoffed and scowled, she never said anything about EQ again.

(For the record, I love my mum dearly and we have obviously learned a lot since then. ^^)

What did you think of the display of healing powers?

To be honest, I didn't think terribly highly of them. That's probably because I had read so many Fantasy books in which the healing worked like "The healer closes his eyes and touches the patient, then concentrates very hard and the wounds go away. He is then very exhausted but happy, the end.", and Leetah's first display of her healing powers don't exactly stand out among that. But hey, whatever works. ;)

By the way, has anyone wondered how the wolfriders know what a wheel is when neither they nor the humans use them and their contact with the trolls is minimal? (When they discover that the lodestone always points north, they talk about constellations and one is called a wheel.)

*g* True, that healing scene is pretty much cliché when it comes to how magic gets pictured in fantasy.

But there's something else that bugged me for a while. Leetah's pose seems very much exaggerated with her head thrown back like that. As if she's putting up a show. I don't know if it's for the sake of the "new", strange elves or because she thinks too highly of herself at this point, being the only healer of the Sun Folk for centuries and being revered for that.

Hmmm. I always just assumed that her pose had more to do with the Pinis wanting to show that first display of Leetah's healing (first from the wolfrider's perspective as well as the readers) as an extraordinary event and that's why they used such a dramatic pose. But from Leetah's point of view... I have no idea, but yours seem logical enough. ^^

[Q. for mods: what is the "spoiler" policy for the comm? Is it kosher to discuss what happens in, say, issue 14 in this discussion of issue 2 in regards to something like foreshadowing? I'll hold off those kinds of comments until I hear from you! :) ]

As I said in my intro post, it has literally been over 25 years (or more) since I've read these comics, so for me it is a trip down memory lane and also almost a totally new introduction because there is a LOT I didn't remember.

The art is as awesome as I remember it, though. While the bodies are highly stylized there is still a great deal of physical individuality to them, and not just facially -- Cutter's body is significantly different from Skywise, and Rayek, for example. I remember being blindsided by the art when I first read the series because it was so manifestly different from anything else I saw on the shelves. In many ways, it still is.

I agree with earlier comments that it seems like the more complex relationship issues -- Recognition, death of a wolf -- are not quite what they are developed to be in later issues. Quite frankly I thought some of the text cheesy in a "bad romance novel" kind of way, in regards to Leetah and Cutter and Rayek (Rayek is surprised by his possessiveness? Really?). But the individual characters really ARE interesting, for instance Skywise as the erstwhile philosopher, and Cutter as the too-young but determined leader of his people. Even Rayek, as a new character on the scene, is complex and interesting at first brush.

I think the issue of the raid is a foregone conclusion because I don't think it could have been prevented. Cutter just spent several days watching the slow death of his tribe because of decisions he feels responsible for, and he was not going to risk anything or anyone at that point. Perhaps the literary device of a child coming across them before they found the village and offering them her/his food might have worked, but short of that I don't think there was anything that would have derailed Cutter at that point.

And while the raid set up the romantic trope of "~~love~~ recognition at first sight and bonus damsel kidnapping!", I think it also was important to the story development of the village -- a shocking revelation that there is more out there than they knew, and that it can be far more dangerous to them than they ever suspected.

I thought it was a slightly cliched representation of "magical healing", but like Schattenstern I think I always envisioned it from the perspective of the Wolfriders' wonderment. But I do love Dancing's idea, that it is also Leetah putting on a show -- perhaps to awe the Wolfriders, and perhaps to remind Rayek of her own spectacular strengths, or maybe just out of ego. I don't know which, or maybe a bit of all of it, but I think it adds a lot to my reading of the scene to think of it this way.

Spoilers--Off the top of my head, I'd prefer that spoilers were left vague ("although we later learn this is not true..."), or done as white-on-white text for specific details.

However, I'm not worrying about them, 'cos I think most of the people involved in the readthrough have read the whole original series, and they all have access to them if they want to read ahead.

We haven't thought about spoilers, and it's possible that everyone thinks they're just fine. And I'd certainly like some discussion of the foreshadowing, and the way that some things changed over the series.

I expect Rayek is surprised by his possessiveness because nobody's challenged his "right" to Leetah's attentions before.

I suppose the raid could've been avoided, or done differently, if they'd encountered Rayek hunting alone outside the village, or if they'd been doing enough sending to catch Savah's attention. With a different chief, one with more patience, they might've decided to wait until nightfall to raid silently, instead of with open violence, and that would've been a very different story.

"~~love~~ recognition at first sight and bonus damsel kidnapping!"

Umm, yeah. It occurred to me, that although I haven't finished the whole set yet (haven't read most of the 2nd quest series, and haven't touched the future-stuff), I can't recall any *males* trapped in recognition against their will--except Tyldak, in a situation in which he was presented as extremely unlikable so nobody much cared what he wanted at the time.

Several women stuck with "I have to mate with WHO? NO!!" and very few parallel complaints from the men. (I think this is a problem that should be fixed with fanfic. Lots of fanfic. Someone should host an "EQ Men Fighting Recognition" fest.)

Ooh, I like that.

I suppose I can also understand, if she's working with a level of damage she rarely sees, it was difficult for her. Perhaps the thrown-back-head pose works better for concentration, or aligning the energies, or whatever. But yes, it very much looks like she's showing off, and her status as Important Magic Person in the village implies that she'd be prone to that type of display.

I'm not worried about spoilers. The series is out since the late 70s and most of us have read it already - and everybody has the possibility to read ahead, as

elf said. Also, I believe I started spoiling already in the issue #1 discussion about the names. *g*

And I totally agree with the cheesy thing - re-reading it now I keep thinking "purple prose". As a child I thought of it as "poetic". *snicker*

And I'd certainly like some discussion of the foreshadowing, and the way that some things changed over the series.
Yes, that!

Someone should host an "EQ Men Fighting Recognition" fest.
I like the idea. *g* Maybe some time in the future, when we have encountered enough examples of recognition in the comics. I'm definitely filing that away for later. *g*

The more I think about it...I'm pretty sure now that she's showing off. I remember later situations, where Leetah herself reflects on her status as Important Magic Person and comes to the conclusion that she was too proud and self-centered.

Also, later healing scenes are very different - there's an painful urgency in her expression and she keeps her eyes on the patient as if to monitor her progress visually, too. And she does arrive at a point where her powers get challenged, while at first she never even seems to consider that she might not be able to heal someone.

It might be a cultural thing. The Wolfriders just seem to expect that a recognised couple is meant to be lifemates.

I see a similarity between that and real-life attitudes - Hollywood and other modern media telling us that love/lust at first sight is "true love" that's meant to last forever.

Also, as to the violence bit... It seems odd when you have read more of the comics and seen what big deal an elf killing another elf is later, and you re-read this and see Treestump suggesting Strongbow should maybe shoot Rayek before he can cause trouble.

Yes, that. Also, Leetah says "Please don't kill Rayek". Why does she do so if the concept or hurting someone deliberately seems so alien to her?

Hollywood and other modern media telling us that love/lust at first sight is "true love" that's meant to last forever.
True! Very annoying, that.

I just battled Gimp to create an EQ icon - and then I battled it some more to try and create another one, which included free-hand drawing and what-not. Then I remembered I have no artistic skills and decided to be happy with the first one :oD

So how's Gimp/you going?

Talking about sexism, the cover is pretty obnoxious :o)

What did you find most interesting about the trip through the desert?
Connection between the lodestone and the not-the-North-Star (we're not on Earth, right?).

And that they get and stay sunburned - more realism than a lot of movies are capable of!

My overall fave thing about issue #2 is Sergio Aragonés's wonderful "with love" drawing in the letters section - my geeky heart is all a-squee over it <3

Nope, not on Earth - although the later issues made me question that again. Maybe the second moon got destroyed by a meteor or something?

The Sergio-Cutter looks totally cute! Thought about iconising him, too. *g*

The Pinis say here it's not Earth.

Yes, I remember that I read it somewhere. *g*

EQ Readthrough: Issue 2, Raid at Sorrow's End

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