Captives of Blue Mountain

(The Complete Elfquest: Book Three)
by
Wendy & Richard Pini

Father Tree Press, October 1988, 188 pp.
ISBN: 0-936861-08-8

Genre: Comics
Subgenre: Graphic Novel
Reviewed: 10/27/2001

Reviewed by: Conan Tigard

Book Cover

Comic Page

ElfQuest page

 

Synopsis

Strongbow and others are held captive in Blue Mountain. Cutter and his crew make their way into the mountain only to find other elves. These are not elves like themselves, but more like the High Ones. After rescuing the rest of the wolf pack from Winnowill, Cutter decides to stay in the mountain for a while and learn from these other elves. They learn that Winnowill uses her mental powers to inflict pain upon others. They also learn that the new elves are no longer able to have children and Lord Voll is enraptured by Cutter's cubs. Winnowill has her own agenda. She sees Cutter and his wolf pack as a threat and wants them out of the mountain, especially the Preserver that they brought with them. And to top it off, Winnowill has other plans for Cutter's youngest cub, Suntop.

Captives of Blue Mountain is the a collection of the third set of five comic books in the Elfquest series (numbers 11 through 15) written by Wendy and Richard Pini and illustrated by Wendy Pini. Although the original comics were released in black and white, these pages have been colored to add enhancement to  Wendy Pini's detailed artwork.

Elfquest is both excellently told and drawn with exquisite beauty. Wendy Pini is a very talented artist and really can take the reader deep into the story with the masterful stoke of her pencil. At the end of the book are the front and back covers for Warp Graphics comics, the pages taken out for story consistency, and the front covers for the Marvel comics. 

 

Review

Captives of Blue Mountain takes place directly after the The Forbidden Grove. I found it great to have more elves introduced. But unlike the elves at Sorrow's End, these elves are closer to the High Ones in that they are taller and still have more of their powers. But I didn't like that most of the new elves play background rolls while only three are emphasized as being main characters. And a lot of the characters now look exactly the same. No personality. I didn't like that.

Other than those few things, the story is excellently told and drawn. And having it colorized just adds to the story. I did enjoy the continuance of this story. Some of the questions of the past are answered in this book and new mysteries are presented.

Overall, Captives of Blue Mountain is a fun book to read. I had a wonderful time and few through it in no time. Can't wait to see what happens next.

I rated this book a 9½ out of 10.

This site was created and is maintained by Conan Tigard
2001