The Forbidden Grove

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

Father Tree Press, September 1988, 204 pp.
ISBN: 0-936861-07-X

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

Reviewed by: Conan Tigard

Book Cover

Comic Page

ElfQuest page

 

Synopsis

Cutter finds himself restless after seven years of living at Sorrow's End. The years have been good to Cutter and Leetah, as they now have two cubs. But Cutter feels the need to travel. Cutter and Skywise soon leave on a journey that takes them back across the sands they crossed seven years before.

After traveling through the troll caverns, they are captured by Picknose, a troll who has remained in the devastated forest. After escaping, Cutter becomes sick and is nursed back to health by humans. There, they learn of Blue Mountain, where there may be other elves. They know that this is where they must go next.

The Forbidden Grove is the a collection of the second set of five comic books in the ElfQuest series (numbers 6 through 10) 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. From beginning to end, the story is fast-paced and sucks you right in.

 

Review

The Forbidden Grove picks up seven years after the Fire and Flight. And I loved it just as much as I did the first book. The quest that Cutter and Skywise go on is exciting. I was worried that the story was going to leave everyone else behind, but that is not the case. They all meet up later . . . which is what I wanted.

 As for the new elves . . . well, they aren't quite what Cutter expected, nor I. The artwork is beautiful. And all of the characters are well-developed. As a reader, I found myself getting quite involved with the storyline and couldn't wait to see what was going to happen on the next page. And I was not disappointed.

I rated this book a 10 out of 10.

This site was created and is maintained by Conan Tigard
2001