The Elfquest Archives, Vol. 1, by Wendy and Richard Pini. DC Comics, 2003. 1-4012-0128-8 (Comics originally published 1979-1980)

Summary: The Wolfrider elves flee their home forest after it is destroyed by humans and have to learn to coexist with the oasis-dwelling Sun Folk elves.

Analysis: This ages pretty well given when it was written. The gender roles and cultural stereotypes make me kind of twitchy, but they're not actually that bad. And the fact that it's a fantasy setting could make a discussion about those issues a little less delicate, since the cultures are generic stereotypes rather than specific human peoples -- the primal, instinctive, violent forest-dwellers versus the dark-skinned, refined, pacifist tropical people. At least they're *both* oversexualized, since there's rather a lot of sex in this book. I can't decide whether Leetah is actually a feminist character or is just the sexy rebellious female stereotype who has to finally give in to her fate and be with the Macho Male Protagonist. I think I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. I like that while the characters are very sexual, it's in a hippyish free-love kind of way, in contrast to a lot of modern comics that have sex as a power-play or otherwise unhealthy relationship.

Simile on page 52: "This land is like a bad dreamberry vision"
Metaphor on page 89: "I am not some trinket to be handed out as a prize!"

Illustrations: Very brightly-colored digital comics.

Rating: 4Q/4P

Curricular Connections: The gender and cultural portrayals could make a good starting point for a 10-12th grade discussion of stereotypes and cultural appropriation.