for ElfQuest fans

[arethinn]

Do you think ElfQuest ever jumped the shark? If so, when? My opinion based on having read only up to "Hidden Years" #1 (I think it is) is that said piscine was leapt over at about "Cry from Beyond". The story starts to have a quality I recognize from roleplaying campaigns/troupes that have gone on too long with the same characters, in that you have to keep inventing more and more outrageous events and powers to keep things interesting (or maybe not have to, per se, but it becomes more and more difficult to make the subtle work). Perhaps there are even worse things in store for me if I were to read all the rest of the series (not that that stops me from wanting to do it!)?

Also, does anyone know the Wolfrider name for "summer"? Spring is "newgreen" (AFAIK), autumn is "nut-fall" and winter is "white-cold" or "death-sleep" but I haven't seen a reference for an idiosyncratic term for summer that I can recall.

Comments

[arethinn]

Really, where?

[lothie.livejournal.com]

IIRC I remember rolling my eyes sometime around when they returned to the castle. Or maybe it was during the battle. Somewhere in there.

[arethinn]

Right, then. Since two out of three people are of this opinion, clearly I am just an uncultured pleb whose threshold of what constitutes "jumping the shark" is a lot higher than any person with taste. Sorry I asked.

I don't understand. What's "OMG, this is so ridiculous, they're just doing this because they've run out of actual story ideas and now have to fill in with special effects" about the battle with the trolls? Or do we maybe have different definitions of shark-jumping?

[lothie.livejournal.com]

Well, please understand I'm reaching back, what, 20 years or something to try to remember my reactions.

My feeling at the time was that the storyline was not what had been originally conceived and was in fact getting more and more contrived as time went on. Honestly, I'd have to reread the whole thing to remember exactly. I just remember shaking my head and saying "what are they ON" or something like that.

But I don't see how this makes you an uncultured pleb...

[arethinn]

My feeling at the time was that the storyline was not what had been originally conceived

O.o I could be very wrong, but I thought the story of the first 20 issues was baasically a bloc, conceived and plotted all at once before it started to be actually drawn and written.

But I don't see how this makes you an uncultured pleb...

By itself no, but 67% of those polled agreed, and the other 33% kind of answered "other" (since piperdawn tied it to something outside the comic series itself - I dunno when the point is she's talking about). So it appears my opinion isn't that of the majority of intelligent critics, basically. (yes, i know this sample size is too small)

[lothie.livejournal.com]

I thought the story of the first 20 issues was baasically a bloc, conceived and plotted all at once

Well, I know that's what the Pinis said, but I don't know that I believed it. I mean, George Lucas said that about the 9 Star Wars episodes too, and I don't quite believe that either, given the plot inconsistencies between eps I-III and IV-VI.

I think that they conceived the first five, plus a hazy plotline for what might follow if the series were successful enough to continue, and met up with difficulties due to bad planning when they were most of the way through. That's what it felt like to me. *shrug* I'm kinda surprised that I have agreement; I know most fans at the time DIDN'T agree.