Friends, we’ve got a special episode for you today. Comic book icons Wendy Pini and Richard Pini join the podcast for the first time, and they hang out for a lengthy, deep dive conversation into Elfquest’s origins. Their romance began in the letters column of Silver Surfer #5 (1968), materialized as the result of a clandestine cross-country road trip, and solidified through creative collaboration, which would also challenge their partnership.

Elfquest is nearly fifty years old, but it's as vibrant and relevant as ever. These comics are waiting for anyone already caught up in the Romantasy BookTok discourse. It's a profoundly philosophical work, bashing against humanity’s great worries, ready to absorb those anxieties and potentially process them toward action. However, as much as you’ll find yourself in Elfquest, you’ll discover Wendy and Richard Pini, too. Like the best stories, it’s autobiography masked as fiction.

As new readers ourselves, we can guarantee Elfquest’s contemporary grip. Chief Cutter’s journey from the forest to the desert and the greater world beyond found us just when our lives were thrown in upheval. So, it was more than a pleasure to chat with Wendy Pini and Richard Pini about their great comic book saga, how it came to be, and why they continue as its shepherds.

Over the last few years, Dark Horse Comics has gathered Elfquest: The Original Quest into four beautiful hardcover collections. Recently, they also published Elfquest: The Final Quest in a glorious hardcover omnibus, and Elfquest: The Hidden Years will receive a massive Gallery Edition Hardcover in July. Call your local comic shops asap.

To stay abreast of everything Elfquest, make sure you’re following them on their website, Instagram, and Bluesky.

This Week's Sponsors

This February, Dave Stevens’s The Rocketeer soars again in a brand-new story written by John Layman, the genius behind the foodie cannibal detective series Chew, and illustrated by Jacob Edgar, who drew Plastic Man: No More and has a very cool J. Bone/Darwyn Cooke style. The new series is called The Rocketeer: The Island. Our skybound hero, Cliff Secord, leads a dangerous search and rescue mission. Who’s he looking for? None other than Amelia Earhart! The first issue crashes into comic book shops on February 25th, courtesy of IDW Publishing.

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Other Relevant Links to This Week's Episode:

Subscribe to the Comic Book Couples Counseling YouTube Channel

Watch The Stacks, Comic Creators Name Their Favorite Comics

CBCC on The Beat: Why Comics Needs Its Own Criterion Closet

AIPT reports on The Stacks

CBCC on the Comics Matter Podcast

CBCC on Escape the Mojoverse Podcast

CBCC on The FAQS Project Podcast

CBCC on The Pop Culture SquadCast

Support Your Local Comic Shop: Secret Identity Comics in Chester, England

Comic Book Club: Batman: The Court of Owls at Meanwhile...Coffee in Herndon, Virginia, on 2/1 at 3:30 PM

Comic Book Film Club: The Phantom at the Alamo Drafthouse Winchester on 3/15

Final Round of Plugs (PHEW):

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Podcast logo by Jesse Lonergan and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.