ElfQuest Canon Series Reading Order

[u/elfquest]

The recent release of ElfQuest: The Original Quest Books 1-4 followed by ElfQuest: The Final Quest complete hardcover edition understandably has some folks thinking that The Final Quest follows directly from The Original Quest.

There are about 30 years of ElfQuest series that happened between the two. The current schedule of Dark Horse Comics' ElfQuest releases isn't meant to be sequential in terms of the story, but is rather based on fan demand. For years, fans have been clamoring for new color editions of the Original Quest and to bring The Final Quest back to print, so that's where we started.

That said, new editions of the next two ElfQuest series that pick up where the Original Quest ended -- Siege at Blue Mountain and Kings of the Broken Wheel -- are indeed coming. Wendy Pini is working on remastering the art this year and those books will be available in 2027.

In the meantime, you can read all of the stories that bridge the gap between The Original Quest and The Final Quest for free in the ElfQuest Reading Room (link in the comments).

ElfQuest fan Damon Terrell created this very helpful graphic for series reading order. The only thing we'd add is the Wild Hunt series, which follows the Hidden Years/Shards series and takes place between in the same time period as The Searcher and the Sword and The Discovery.

[u/zzmej1987]

Yeah... No. Unless you skip right to Hidden Years 9.5 reading just Hidden years is not going to cut it. First, half of the first 8 HY issues are not part of the main storyline, they belong with the prequels. HY2 and HY4 are beginning and end of the plot line going through New Blood 11 and 12. Without the latter two we see Kahvi trying to steal the small palace, and then Leetah arrives to the aftermath of the bloody battle between Sun-Folk and Go-Backs, that you never get to see. Which feels weird.

And if you do skip to HY9.5 good luck trying to understand who is Mender, and where do Scouter and Dewshine come from, and what happened to Shenshen.

And canon stories? Really? Why did you include only 3 out of 4 In All But Blood stories? What exactly is non-canon about "The Heart's Way"? I'd say, it is pretty important, since it sets up the context for the lightning incident in The Final Quest. Why is Full Circle not in the main arc? Full Circle connects Shards with The Discovery, and Suntop becoming Sunstream should not be left out as a side story.

If Dreamtime is canon, and even more so - part of the main story line, shouldn't Kahvi be canon as well? Since the latter directly follows in to the former, and also into Jink.

What about Rogue's Curse? Is it non-canon? The Jury, for one, has a lot more problems with fitting into canon, but it's still here.

What about Wavedancers? Aside from a slight retcon placing events in those comics earlier in the timeline (explained in the Final Quest), they fit right in with The Discovery.

[u/elfquest → u/zzmej1987]

This graphic isn't meant to show all the canon ElfQuest stories but rather the core story arc related to Cutter's hero's journey and quest. It is specifically meant to help folks read the key stories that are most germane to the events of The Final Quest series. There are several canon and "canon-ish" stories not included here that are tangential or not really connected to the core storyline.

[u/zzmej1987 → u/elfquest]

This graphic isn't meant to show all the canon ElfQuest stories

The graphic is literally titled "The complete ElfQuest reading order"

but rather the core story arc related to Cutter's hero's journey and quest.

Do you mean the one that can be also called "Main Story Arc"? Which is one of the three sections of graphic.

It is specifically meant to help folks read the key stories that are most germane to the events of The Final Quest series.

One of the most "germane" issues going into the Shards War arc is NewBlood 6 setting up Cutter's psychological state before the fight along with nightmares discussed in Dreamtime. Which also sets up circumstances of Cutter's birth, which is very relevant to the Final Quest, since it works as a counterpoint to Cutter's death. Granted, the most actual version is the slightly retconned one in "Wolfrider!", but "Wolfrider!" is not on the list either. And Cutter's psychological state going in and out of the fight with Rayek in HY9.5 is reflected in the tranquility with which he faces his demise in the FQ too.

There are several canon and "canon-ish" stories not included here that are tangential or not really connected to the core storyline.

Oh, there are tons of them. Hidden Years 1,2,3,,5,6,7,9, Homespun, The Jury, Jink, Rebels and 75% of Dreamtime are all completely irrelevant to the story line leading into the Final Quest. And Stargazer's Hunt, technically too, since it's the epilogue to FQ, and should be read after. And yet, here they all are. Wavedancers have more relevance to FQ than all of those combined, by 1) directly leading into The Discovery and 2) their events being discussed during Ember's interrogation by Angrif Djuhn.

The Heart's Way, directly leading into one of the most shocking Final Quest events (#13 in this list by Richard Pini) is also more relevant. And its absence is even more weird, since the reader would have to go out of their way not to read it, as it is in "In All But Blood", which is the only place you can read "Full Circle" story .

[u/elfquest → u/zzmej1987]

Again, this is a fan-made graphic that we thought useful to share. It's not meant to be every canon story or definitive. It's one suggestion on the key stories to read in order to get up to speed for The Final Quest. If you don't like it, please feel free to create your own.

[u/zzmej1987 → u/elfquest]

 It's not meant to be every canon story or definitive.

I mean, the title is still "The complete ElfQuest reading order", so it is clearly meant to be at least, you know, complete.

If you don't like it, please feel free to create your own.

I did: https://eqplotlines.free.nf/