Artists I Like: Wendy Pini

This week's Artist I Like is the legendary Wendy Pini, co-creator of the classic Elfquest series of comics and stuff. Her long-time husband and partner Richard Pini co-created the comic with her and was a co-writer, editor, etc.

Wendy Pini has a style and approach to art that, I think, has inspired many generations of artists. If you've ever seen a faerie or elf drawing and said it reminds you of Keebler Elves, for example, that artist was probably inspired by Wendy Pini or by some artist who was inspired by Wendy Pini. There were a LOT of artists in the 80s inspired by Pini's work, especially among the small press and alternative comics folks. Just look at anything from Aircel or later from Sirius to see the connection. Heck, even a recent inclusion on my Sunday list, Stardriver Art, has a style that contains some Pini DNA.

Personally, I never owned any Elfquest comics when I was younger. I picked up the hardback volume one of the series in the early 2000s and I think I own a softcover volume two. She is an artist I have admired from afar, but never dived into very deeply. Maybe there wasn't enough carnage and nudity for my tastes... I think Elfquest is a fairly tame comic. My perception of it is that they always wanted to turn it into an animated series or movie, and have been conscientious about their content choices for that and other reasons. But I could be wrong about that.

Oh, Wendy Pini was also famous for doing cosplay. Specifically, she is very well known for her seminal Red Sonja cosplay, riffing on Frank Thorne's classic run.

Also, for the record, I just this minute realized that "WaRP" as in Warp Graphics stands for Wendy and Richard Pini. Wow. 

EDIT: Here's a great video about the Pinis and Elfquest. It hits on the history and reminds us how much the Pinis influenced the creator-owned comic book movement. Very nice.

EDIT TOO: Thanks to the video above, I learned that the Pinis donated all that original Elfquest art to The Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Columbia University... isn't that beautiful? You could, in theory, go there and sit and look at it. Amazing.