Wendy and Richard Pini, creators of long-running indy comic series Elfquest, are making the whole caboodle available free of charge at their website. New issues will be posted weekly until 30 years’ worth is online.
Comment from BoingBoing and Metafilter remind us why this is one of the best comics you’ve never heard of, but here’s a quick primer on why it rules.
• With Dave Sim’s Cerebus, it was among the first self-published comics to make it big, booting down the door for new talent the nation over. Its success as a graphic novel in mainstream bookstores helped infect the American mainstream with a European-esque appreciation for comics. Women actually read this. Women.
• Wendy Pini’s art is a melting pot of comics, manga and classical illustration. And she’s been at it since before most people had even heard of manga…
• The feral, omnisexual, hallucinogen-guzzling protagonists aren’t Tolkien-derived clichés, but a freakish medley of european lore, native american myth and hippy free love.
• No superheroes, magic wands or other arbitrary magics. It’s consistently plotted to tight rules of engagement and expertly crafted by the same wife-and-husband team thats been doing little else since 1977.
• It’s a neat blend of high fantasy and science fiction: the “elves” are aliens who wanted to impress us by appearing as angels, but got stuck in a genetic disguise by their slaves’ violent rebellion.
• All the fashions in it are either from the 1970s or the 1930s: everyone is either a pimp in furs and leather or something sculpted by Erté. They just don’t make ‘em like this any more.
• Winnowill is the best arch-villainess since Maleficent Cthulhu.
• It’s not over: the story’s final showdown, the creators write, has been written but not yet published.
• 6,000 pages of full-color classic indy brilliance free of charge. Precedent set.
• Issue #17’s Elf Orgy. If nothing else, a great name for a punk band. (Brownlee has already demanded scans, but I don’t have a copy to hand — any fans out there who can do the honors?)
Early in the 22nd Century the recently formed World Government passed legislation declaring there could exist only one fast food mascot. The reasoning behind the decision remains a mystery to this day, though conspiracy theorists and rational thinkers suspect it was simply a display of power by an infant government. The tyrannical government’s method of pairing down what had become a veritable orgy of brightly colored clowns and cows with opinions on our dietary habits? Gladiatorial combat.
Long and hard they fought, showing bravery and cowardice in equal measure. Finally, from the viscera strewn pits of endless fighting emerged a victor. A relative unknown in his world, yet no less savage and cunning for his lack of infamy. This man, nay, this hero goes by the name of McClucksky. May his epic never be forgotten.
• Mmmm, girls with blue lips and porcelain skin. Wearing octopi. Oh yes. Thanks to Nadya, she of the ruff!
• For the Victorian videogame enthusiast of good breeding there is no substitute for Pac Gentleman. Assist in the toothsome devouring of ruffian spirits inside a diabolical maze. Thanks Cleveland!
• George Barbier’s frontispiece illustration takes care of the “issues” one is presented with when confronted with a gorgeous, nymphet mermaid in towering wig. NSFW for illustrated breasts. Thanks yhancik!
If you’re wondering why there are no new episodes of The Maxx you may blame Viacom who, at some point yesterday, swept through YouTube and removed them. Ah well. There is plenty of strangeness left to fill the void. Witness, and be entertained:
• First up is Paranoia Agent, the television series from anime filmmaker Satoshi Kon. If you have never seen any of his work, do not let the seemingly nonsensical opening throw you off, this is one of the most mature and intelligent series done in the past few years. Beware the boy with the golden bat…
• Ah FLCL, also known as Fooly Cooly, a series that was decidedly nonsensical. There are few ways to describe this short, six episode series, that would give you any impressions of it other than “Whaaaa?” which is, most likely, the same reaction you’ll have after having watched it.
• Musical Interlude! If you are uninterested, now would be a good time to refill your bowl of Cocoa Puffs or use the restroom. Our show will resume momentarily.
• Two episodes of Courage the Cowardly Dog, “Cabaret Courage” and “Freaky Fred”, which follows a long tradition of worthwhile cartoons by appealing to adults as well as children, without frightening/confusing/boring the latter. “Hello, new friend, my name is Fred. I said, my name is Fred; the words you hear are in my head. I say, I said, my name is Fred and I’ve been very NAAAUGHTY.”
• The Real Ghostbusters, the first episode, entitled “Knock Knock”, written, as many of the first two seasons were, by J. Michael Straczynski. Before the series lightened up in the third season, in order to appeal to a wider and younger audience, this show was, at times, genuinely scary and always brilliantly animated. That quality of animation is especially apparent here.
A fantastic eleven inch Krampus figurine on ebay. The item is a promotion for Dark Carnival, a comic being published by Fantagraphics in 2008 and is hand sculpted and painted by the artist Miss Behave a.k.a. Summer Boothe. Alas, the auction has ended but perhaps it will be relisted, in which case I order all Ectomites (or, perhaps, just one Ectomite with some disposable income) to chip in and purchase it, at which time you may mail it to my hovel deep in the forest.
The Companions of Saint Nicholas go by many names: Knecht Ruprecht (Farmhand Ruprecht or Servant Ruprecht), Krampus, Klaubauf, Bartel, Pelzebock, Pelznickel, Belzeniggl, Belsnickel, Schmutzli, Rumpelklas, Bellzebub, Hans Muff, Drapp or Buzebergt, Hanstrapp, Le Père Fouettard, and Zwarte Piet (Black Pete).
These servants accompany Saint Nicholas, in various European traditions, and are usually portrayed as the inverse of him in both dress and character. More often than not they are clothed in black and carry a sack and club (though weapons range from switchblades to pistols). Their intentions range from pure evil, to merely mischievous. France’s Père Fouettard, for example, is said to have butchered three children, all of whom Saint Nicholas resurrected. In his shame, Fouettard became a willing servant in order to repent. In Croatia, Krampus is represented much like the traditional Devil, and is said to take children away in his sack if they have been naughty.
Similar traditions are even found in parts of the United States with 19th century accounts of, not Santa Claus, but someone known as “Kriskinkle, Beltznickle and sometimes as the Xmas woman.” A person would dress up as this individual, usually in female garb and a hideous mask, and scatter treats on the floor with one hand for children to snatch up, while with the other they would whip them with a switch.
Today, in Austria, there is an annual Krampus festival which draws hundreds of people, who parade through the streets of Schladming, dressed in goat hair costumes with carved masks, striking onlookers with bundles of sticks. It seems a more interesting alternative to having to endure weeks of adult contemporary/bubblegum pop versions of sappy Christmas carols.
In sheer defiance of the World Wide Web Consortium's will, Ectomo was designed using a non-web-standard font. Luckily, it is included in the excellent font pack released by the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society, which can be freely downloaded in Mac and PC formats here. Ectomo should still look fine without it, though.
