| Wendy Pini | |
|---|---|
Richard and Wendy Pini at at FanimeCon 2010 in San Jose, California. |
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| Born | Wendy Fletcher June 4, 1951 San Francisco, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Writer, Penciler, Inker |
| Notable works | Elfquest, Wendy Pini's Masque of the Red Death |
| Official website | |
| Richard Pini | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 19, 1950 New Haven, Connecticut |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Writer, Editor, Publisher |
| Notable works | Elfquest |
Wendy Pini née Fletcher, (born June 4, 1951,[1] San Francisco, California) and Richard Pini (born July 19, 1950,[1] New Haven, Connecticut) are the husband-and-wife team responsible for creating the well-known Elfquest series of comics, graphic novels and prose works. They are also known as WaRP (as in Warp Graphics).
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Wendy Fletcher was born in San Francisco in 1951, and from an early age demonstrated the talents later to come to fruition as a professional illustrator, and eventually as the creator of Elfquest.
Wendy's youthful interest in fantasy was inspired in part by such luminaries as Shakespeare and Kipling. She took artistic inspiration from Victorian illustrators such as Arthur Rackham and Edmund Dulac, designers such as Walt Disney, Doug Wildey and Erte, as well as comic book greats such as Jack Kirby and Japanese manga artist Osamu Tezuka.
Richard Pini was born in 1950, in New Haven, Connecticut. After an exemplary academic performance at school, he was accepted into the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for an astrophysics degree. Always fan of science fiction, at college he found new diversion in comic books.
Wendy Fletcher and Richard Pini met when Pini read a letter of Fletcher's that had been published in issue #5 of the Silver Surfer comic book.[2] A correspondence began, spanning a period of four years. The two eventually married in 1972, and Wendy embarked upon a career as an illustrator for sci-fi magazines. A degree in astronomy from MIT led Richard to a position at Boston's Hayden Planetarium as lecturer, photographer, script writer and special effects technician. Later, he taught high school astronomy, then worked for IBM until Elfquest became a full-time occupation.[3]
Fletcher contributed several covers and illustrations to Galaxy Science Fiction and Galileo magazines in the mid-1970s, before launching Elfquest in 1978. Richard Pini, who had been working for IBM,[4] is credited as co-writer and editor on Elfquest, as well as handling all of the publishing and business aspects of Warp Graphics. Prior to the widespread publication of Elfquest, Wendy was also known for dressing up at fan conventions as Red Sonja.[5]
In addition to Elfquest, Wendy Pini also created two graphic novels based on the TV series Beauty and the Beast and has illustrated occasional stories for both Marvel Comics and DC Comics. She wrote an introduction to the first volume of the Gargoyles trade paperback and mentions being a fan of the show.
Wendy Pini wrote a book documenting her attempt to make an animated film project of the Stormbringer series. Law and Chaos: The "Stormbringer" Animated Film Project was published by Father Tree Press (an imprint of the Pinis' WaRP Graphics) in 1987. The book contains original artwork, information on the characters, an overview of the plot, and Wendy Pini's personal investment in the project. The film never reached completion. However, the full content of Law and Chaos may be found on the Masque of the Red Death web site.[6]
In 2007, Wendy Pini turned her attention to a new project totally unrelated to Elfquest. Taking the Edgar Allan Poe short story Masque of the Red Death, as a starting point, she adapted the tale into both graphic novel and web comic formats, giving it a futuristic, dystopic slant. The publisher's description reads: "In a decadent, perfect future, Anton Prosper uses his vast fortune and scientific genius to seek the ultimate power of life over death. But when the beautiful prodigy Steffan Kabala enters Prosper's life, he unlocks a tempestuous passion that may send the entire planet hurtling into a bloody maelstrom of destruction."[7]
Characters based on Richard and Wendy Pini appear in Ghost Rider volume 1, #14 (Oct. 1975), as well as issues #15, 17, #81, and #19, which was written by Tony Isabella. Richard is a special effects technician and props arranger, and Wendy is a costume designer.[9]
In a sort of unofficial intercompany crossover, Elfquest and Wendy Pini are both referenced in Marvel's Uncanny X-Men #153 (January 1982), "Kitty's Fairy Tale" (written by Chris Claremont). In that issue, Kitty Pryde wears an Elfquest T-shirt throughout, while a sprite named "Pini" makes an appearance with "Bamf" on p. 16.
In Fantastic Four #242 (May 1982), series writer/artist John Byrne portrays an Elfquest play staged at a theatre built over the site of the flophouse where the Human Torch found the amnesiac Namor in Fantastic Four #4.
Over the years, many parodies of and homages to Elfquest have appeared in different comics and other works, including prose novels. Nearly all may be found online at the official Elfquest website.[10]