Elf Life
|
|
Elf Life is a web comic by Carson Fire (a pseudonym of Eric Gustafson) which first appeared on June 11, 1999. The comic is drawn in an economical, stylized cartoon style. Part of the story has also appeared as a print comic. In February 2004, Fire announced that due to difficulties with finance and accommodation the web comic would be placed on a one-month hiatus. A later announcement stated that the comic is "no longer produced for the web, but will be reorganized and continued in print"; however, the web comic did in fact resume on June 6 2004.
The webpage also incorporates "Biff Notes: Help for the lost, confused, and somewhat misguided", ( a pun on CliffsNotes), which help to explain what is going on in each day's strip and how it relates to the story as a whole.
The story involves the love-hate relationship between the elves Baughb (http://tacnukebubblebath.tripod.com/cgi-bin/elg.pl?Baughb) (pronounced Bob) and Filis (http://tacnukebubblebath.tripod.com/cgi-bin/elg.pl?Filis) (pronounced Phyllis).
Baughb - short for Baughbberick Lindel (but pronounced Bob) - is well-meaning but infuriatingly eccentric. His mental confusion is compounded by the fact that he spent a long time traveling through time and trying to get home, and when he finally succeded it was several generations after his original time.
Filis's ambition is to be a warrior. Over the course of the story various people kidnap and threaten Baughb, including an evil corporate executive version of himself from the future (http://tacnukebubblebath.tripod.com/cgi-bin/elg.pl?EvilBaughb), and Filis finds herself reluctantly trying to save him. Eventually they become lovers, but - in the grand tradition of comedy - that does nothing to stop them from fighting.
Other characters (http://tacnukebubblebath.tripod.com/cgi-bin/elg.pl?CastList) in the story include Airek (http://tacnukebubblebath.tripod.com/cgi-bin/elg.pl?Airek), Baughb and Filis's half-ogre friend; the fairy Glynhial (http://tacnukebubblebath.tripod.com/cgi-bin/elg.pl?Glynhial) (Glee), who alternates bursts of violent insanity with periods of sickening sentimentality; and the buxom mermaid queen Leukothea (http://tacnukebubblebath.tripod.com/cgi-bin/elg.pl?Leukothea).
Some of the daily strips were occasionally replaced by prose chapters. These were well-written, but annoyed readers who expected to see comics.
A 300-page compilation is currently in development, spanning from the beginning to close to the end of Return of Glynhial (http://tacnukebubblebath.tripod.com/cgi-bin/ReturnOfGlynhial); it is expected to be released by Keenspot late 2004 or early 2005.
External links
- Elf Life (http://www.elflife.com/)
- Hiatus announcement (http://www.elflife.com/d/20040202.html)
- Official Guide (http://tacnukebubblebath.tripod.com/el/index.html)