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From: ciaraldi@rochester.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.comics
Subject: Elfquest #20 (SPOILER)
Message-ID: <495@rochester.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 8-Sep-84 22:11:32 EDT
Article-I.D.: rochester.495
Posted: Sat Sep  8 22:11:32 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 14-Sep-84 09:10:13 EDT
Sender: ciaraldi@rochester.UUCP
Organization: U. of Rochester, CS Dept.
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From: Mike Ciaraldi  <ciaraldi>

WARNING**SPOILER**WARNING**SPOILER
Well, EQ #20 arrived yesterday and I got it 
and read it today.

What can I say? When you wait 8 years for something, it is bound
to be a little disappointing
(e.g. The Magic Labyrinth or Gods of Riverworld by P.J.Farmer)
just because you expect it to  be so much better than anything 
done before.

It was good, it tied up almost all the loose ends, and that's 
what I expected, but somehow I wanted the original elves
to be more than space travellers, even if they were  immensely powerful ones.
On the other hand,  the fact that they were not intrinsically elves,
but rather just took the shape of elves, is also somewhat
unsatisfying, since then the elves are
just sort of arbitrary, not "special".

Picky, picky...

A few nice points:
Even after finding out the truth of their history, there
are still some eleves and some dwarves who are not changed,
and revert to their old ways.

There are mor e casualties (this is good??), even on the
brink of success, adding to the verissimilitude.

A few bad points:
So, what are the preservers for, anyway?
They were just bugs when the High Ones left their planet,
so the power they developed, i.e. preserving living beings, 
was just something that came about during the journey.
Interesting, but not foreseen.
So, why did the High Ones who were driving the ship have
to be "preserved"? Was it to focus all their energies?
Or to avoid the boredom of long hjourneys? Since they were
immortal already, they didn't need suspened animation to 
survive to the end of the trip.

And why did the elves shrink and the trolls grow in the
centuries (millenia?) since the High Ones' arrival?


Anyway, these are just some quick thoughts. I still rate
EQ as one of the greatest achievements in graphic storytelling ever,
and I think the Pinis deserve all the acclaim they are getting.
As more people read this last issue, I am looking forward to more 
comments.


Mike Ciaraldi
ciaraldi@rochester
seismo!rochester!ciaraldi