202 FANTASY
issues of the anthology book Marvel Fanfare and were featured in the 2005 miniseries
Th or: Blood Oath.
DC presented a faithful but extremely condensed adaptation of Richard Wagner’s
four-cycle Ring opera in a four-issue miniseries from 1989 to 1990. Dark Horse’s Th e
Ring of the Nibelung (2000–1), with P. Craig Russell’s delicate yet stunning artwork,
consists of a separate miniseries for each opera and more fully conveys the spectacle of
opera.
A less ambitious and less faithful treatment of mythology can be found in the
mash-up of history and multiple mythologies presented in a couple of Xena: Warrior
Princess series. Between 1997 and 1998, Topps published eight diff erent miniseries with
original stories, fi rst by Roy Th omas and then by Tom and Mary Bierbaum. Beginning
in 1999, Dark Horse began a 14-issue series more closely tied to the Xena television
series continuity.
High fantasy, or epic fantasy, has its own complex internal mythology. Th e stories,
which often span years or generations, take place in an imaginary world populated by
larger-than-life fi gures—such as kings, dragons, wizards, demons, that inspire wonder
or fear. High fantasy usually deals with archetypal themes such as a spiritual quest,
death, and renewal and self-sacrifi ce.
Some of the earliest notable high fantasy appeared in independently published
comics. In the 1968 issue of his prozine witzend , Wally Wood began his “Wizard King”
saga of young elf Odkin striving to save his society from Alacazar the wizard. At fi rst
“Th e World of the Wizard King” was an illustrated text story, but in the early 1970s
Wood began reworking the material in comic book format and eventually completed
the tale in a 1978 graphic novel, Th e Wizard King.
Wendy and Richard Pini published their fi rst stories of heroic elves in the anthology
Fantasy Quarterly in 1978 and the next year began self-publishing their ElfQuest title.
Th e original series ran for 21 issues, and was followed by a number of sequels with
other publishers and eventually back with the Pini’s WaRP Graphics imprint. At fi rst
ElfQuest seemed like a mainstream adventure tale, but as the series progressed the
violence became more intense and the omnisexual elves more frequently enacted the
values of the sexual revolution.
In the early 1980s, DC introduced two original epic fantasies: Arion, Lord of Atlantis
and Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld. Arion, an immortal sorcerer in ancient Atlantis,
fi rst appeared in a backup feature in the Wa r l o r d title, had 35 issues of his own title
starting in 1982, and was featured in a 1992 six-issue miniseries, Arion the Immortal.
After the fi rst 12-issue Amethyst series, a well conceived and executed fantasy adven-
ture, there was not much storyline left to sustain the second series in 1985 or the 1987
miniseries. Marvel tended to stick to pure sword and sorcery, but they did off er up a
mediocre high fantasy with Th e Saga of Crystar, Crystal Warrior from 1983 to 1985.
Th e fantasy was derailed by superhero guest appearances to boost faltering sales.
Much of modern fantasy literature and fantasy gaming fl ows from the works of
J.R.R. Tolkien. In 1989, Eclipse Comics whet the appetite of fantasy fans with a
