Elf-Fin...is it out?

Okay, so this isn't really Wave Dancers, but, it's from the artists of the Orignial Wave Dancers, so I thought it belonged here. Anyway, does anyone know if this story is out yet?

Elf-Fin Eternal Spheres

I would love to get my hands on it if it is. Anyone know?

No idea... but a stupid question: Have you tried to contact Black Mermaid Productions about it?

Not insofar as I know, Kitt. They have two other properties they want to develop as well, and are currently searching for artists. It's all on the News and Properties pages. There hasn't been any updates on the site since January, though.

It seems like Anke's suggestion is the best way to gain any info. Or, of course you could buy one of the limited edition prints and ask while doing so. (I already have such a print. Nyah! :P ) Share any answer, will you?

I looked at these awesome sketches and there's a line that says Illora is tentus grandchild.. so is it Hyfus or Tilaweed who is the child of Tentus?? And who was his mate??

No idea. The property Elf~Fin will have nothing to do with the Wavedancers that were produced as an Elfquest series in the nineties, only the names have been kept. The only info available is whatever you find on the BMP site.

I see, I see. Well, thank you for your help :o

You know...every time I read the name Tentus, my mind says Tetnus. You know...the shot you get so that you don't get blood poisoning from rusty metal.

You really should pay more attentusion. *Runs away before people start throwing things*

You are evil. But that good kind of evil that I happen to like.

I found this on the EQFanart.com site under the heading of:

The Original WaveDancers and their life...

I guess it's all been said there at this point of time.

I hope it's fine but I've grabbed bits from a whole slew of posts by Josef and cobbled them together here for an easier one course meal of the information from this thread.

Korillia

[quote:02427f544a]The new work is in preproduction. Julie and I are working through the story at the moment, and I'm also redesigning or creating new characters for the Elf~fin work. The finished graphic novel is expected to be about 90-100 pages long. We will be working to finish it as a whole before releasing it. It will be fully painted and be about a 2 year work load. I still don't know if it will be released as a 3-4 issue miniseries comic first before it is collected, or released straight up as a graphic novel. I look to Joe Linsners Dawn as a template. Black Mermaid has had a great past experience being published by Image Comics, and we'll probably seek to be published again by them, so it would be available via the regular distribution channels.

Before the final works release, I'll be looking into the possibility of releasing a sketchbook issue with some of the original character model sheets done for the Original WaveDancers over 10 years ago, plus the new development art for the Elf~fin story. Please let me know if a sketch book of this sort interests you.

Building a cohesive new world for these characters to dwell in has been a very involved and deliberate process. The characters from the Original WaveDancers will all be in it. Where we could, we have retained their original relationships, both romantic and familial, but some characters will have evolved into new roles. Those characters we didn't want to compromise have been replaced with new ones, with the original characters reallocated within the greater work. All the characters created by Black Mermaid that appeared in the Original WaveDancers will appear in Elf~fin, but the "where and when" of it will have to be discovered as the new story unfolds.

There are two projects being worked on concurrently.

One is the Graphic novel that features the relationship of Tilaweed and Hyfus, which is aimed at the same open age group as the Original WaveDancers. The other is a novel (with some illustration) pitched at the "Harry Potter" age group featuring Illora (the daughter of Tilaweed and Hyfus).

The graphic novel will not be "G" or "PG13", it will be for an open age group. We have decided to have it this way to best serve the story.

The Novel being lead by Illora's story is focussed on the 8-16 type age group, whereas the GN, being an entirely different story, is focussing on Tilaweed and Hyfus, and is more adult in content.

We don't wnat to give it all away, but yes, there will be a lot more fin action in this new work then in the Original WaveDancers

The Elf~fin story that we're working on is floating around the 100 page count. We want to finish the entire work before releasing it. If it is released as singular issues it may be divided into 3 to 4 issues worth of content, but the story is being crafted as one book rather then a serial with several smaller peaks and valleys.

I know that many comic book publishers of creator owned work demand 3 finished issues before they will commit to publishing anything, this is due to distribution demands. We are mindful of this current trend.

So once it is finished, it could come out pretty regularly without much gaps, starting with a sketchbook introduction issue, finishing with a graphic novel at the end.

All the characters from the original WaveDancers now has their spot in the greater Elf~fin story, but not all of them will appear in this first story

Mermist Seas is a huge project of something like 7-8 series that fell into a difficult time for some of our team. I for one was totally frightened of the massive nature of the project while working full time in the "real world".

I'm now better situated in my job and general life to be able to be ready to do a larger work in comics then I was earlier.

Doing a 100 page graphic novel is I think the best vessel to commit that energy to. The Elf~fin characters and story seemed the right project for this, and we owe this time to the characters, for they already exist and...quite frankly, demanded a new home to exist in.

Best,
Jozef Szekeres
Creator and artist of the Original WaveDancers, now retitled as the Elf~fin.[/quote:02427f544a]

I found another thread commented on by Jozef on the new Elfin project, it's an edited portion, there is more to it before and after but this section seems specificly related to this thread here.

<Forums » EQFanArt Community » Community » For all the "Original Wavedancers"-fans>

Korillia

<quote:6a4eb048d6>As to what we hope to accomplish with these characters?

These characters are elves, and elves have been used by other creators besides Warp Graphics. When Barry Blair did the EQ comics, he had already a strong history of doing elf focussed work, that title being ElfLord. When he did EQ, it was his style that decided the finished look of the characters, even though most of the characters were originally designed by Wendy. While with EQ, he was doing EQ elves, but outside of EQ he is doing his own elves, but they all look like Barry Blair elves, and Barry Blair art. Similarly, my elves looked like my interpretation of Elves, as I see them. It just so happens that my style was compatible to Wendy's at the time.

It has been well over ten years since the original WaveDancers were published. In ten years since, moving within the various art fields and job styles that I have had in Australia, the artistic connection to EQ is no longer in me. I have redesigned the look of the characters, now called Elf~fin. They are still elves, but they are now purely from within my own solidified artistic style. I see them as new, and it's really refreshing to rework them and know that they will have the life that I feel they deserve.

These are not Mouse House mice, but there have been many mice in animation.

We have always acknowledged that being published by Warp Graphics was how we were introduced to the International comic market.

To respond to your "would they have been anywhere near so successful if they weren't under the EQ ageis.." I don't know. But what I do know from my own experience of releasing my own line of fashion dolls is this: My work reaches an audience internationally, even when I have no history in the chosen field. This I can say with personal conviction. When I released my doll line <http://www.jozefszekeresdolls.com/>, I was looking to compete with toy manufacturers that have had decades of experience and quality goods. I have never worked as a toy designer for another manufacturer before, and on release of my line, to the manufacturers and the collectors, it was like I came from nowhere. My line on it's first edition release is now successful enough to continue indefinitely on it's own, and I intend to.

This experience has taught me that my work speaks for itself to an international audience. It does now, and I believe it did so ten years ago, but the built-in fan base for an EQ comic was an excellent introduction, but it was by no means granted that it would be automatically liked by the fans, we still had to win them over. Just look at other titles during this time and see the responses they got.

As to the comment about being recruited artists. We were not recruited, we introduced ourselves as creators to Warp, and the contract between us reflected this. Our experience was different to the other artists and writers on the other books, for we created our work, it was not farmed out for us to do as it was for them.

The readers we hope to attract to our work are readers that expect and enjoy a well created and crafted story beautifully illustrated with characters that are vibrant. If they are fans of ElfQuest or of Disney...great, if the fans we attract are not fans of these two...also great. Most of the fans for my doll line have never even read a comic book before. There are plenty of potential readers out there, and if our work strikes a cord and resonates with them...they are the readers we would welcome.

The only way to look at the original WaveDancer story now is as a self contained 'what if" in both the worlds. it is just easier that way.</quote:6a4eb048d6>

Quote from Jozef

[color=green:61624cd2c3]Oh stars above! I can't wait for that!!! :o Thanks for sharing!!! [/color:61624cd2c3]

I just read some news at Black Mermaid and thought I would share with you lot:

[quote:3da0bf481c]Elf~Fin Update
BMP Directors, Julie Ditrich and Jozef Szekeres, have nearly locked down the Tilaweed and Hyfus comics story. This fantasy romance serves as a prequel to a series of other Elf~Fin works. Readers will be introduced to the world of Elf~Threaal and its many lores, characters and locations in the next few years in this lush book. In the meantime, if you want to preview some of the new characters, please check out Eternal Spheres: Elf~Fin.
(30 April 2006)[/quote:3da0bf481c]

And these new sketches:




~Julie~

AH! What lovely dragon fish women.