Early Elfquest

Although Elfquest has been around quite a while now, it had to start somewhere. Wendy, storyteller that she is, carried the seeds of the Wolfriders’ tale around in her imagination for some time before she decided to let it loose in 1977.

Very few creative efforts are ready for their public debut right out of the box. Ideas sprout, they change and grow, sometimes they get tossed aside in favor of newer ones. The point is, don’t be afraid to apply the pruning shears – or even some dynamite, if that’s what it takes – to something you’ve written or drawn. Keep asking “What if I change this or that? What happens then?” Ideas are like a good stew; you add ingredients, let it simmer, taste test, maybe put in more of this or a little less of that, taste again, and let the flavors mingle. When it’s right, you will know it.

Get more behind the scenes looks and vintage art in the Art of Elfquest from Flesk Publications.

What follows are the very first notes and sketches for some of the characters and situations that eventually found their way into the saga. As you can see, some bits made the transition more or less intact, and some evolved in a quite different direction – Leetah started out more barbaric in manner, the twins were originally both boys, and look at how differently characters like Lord Voll and Winnowill began life! Compare what’s here to what eventually was published to see what happened when Wendy asked “What if…?”

(Click on each image for a larger version.)

Story ideas
Title page	Cutter	Cutter’s family
Redlance’s rescue	Slaying Madcoil

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Character notes
Cutter	Skywise
Leetah	Rayek

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First Looks
Kahvi	Tyldak

Winnowill

Lord Voll