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Mantricker
by Woodbee
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Oh, Mantricker. You're so difficult to draw!
I have to say, the comics and stories about Mantricker in Blood of Ten Chiefs clunked BADLY for me. Two humans have more advanced technology/chemistry than the elves and the rest don't have a clue? Mantricker, who supposedly lived a long time, grew up with one human generation and was killed by the time they had kids? And don't even get me started on the misogynist drek that is Hero Worship.
So my version goes like this: Mantricker was an adolescent when a human child noticed the faint worn trails in the trees, and out of curiosity, greased some of the worn spots. When his tribesmates went flying from the slippery grips, Mantricker, whose pranks were well known, got blamed. So he tracked the kid down, and put a skunk in their woodshed. When she got beaten for his trick, they met up, recognized each other as the source of their troubles, and set about making a common language.
They were good friends as children. Mantricker went on adventures and came back to tell Gira stories - like the Hundred-Year Cattle, where he convinced a man who beat his wives that he had slept for a hundred years, and his pasture was all woodland and his family moved on.
His adventures grew longer and longer, however. Eventually, when he came back, Gira was dying of old age. Mantricker couldn't comprehend it. This had to be another prank - she should take off the mask and stop pretending to be frail and ill this instant! ...In the end he watched his friend die, angry at him for being absent and immortal.
He had other human friends afterwards; some of his tribe even said he bonded to humans rather than wolves. He forgot Gira's face and name. But part of him always missed his fellow prankster - his lifemate in all but lifespan.
Posted June 21, 2025, 07:56:43 AM
June 21, 2025, 11:49:18 AM
Mantricker, Gira, Dewa, zwoot cow and calf
I have to say, the comics and stories about Mantricker in Blood of Ten Chiefs clunked BADLY for me. Two humans have more advanced technology/chemistry than the elves and the rest don't have a clue? Mantricker, who supposedly lived a long time, grew up with one human generation and was killed by the time they had kids? And don't even get me started on the misogynist drek that is Hero Worship.
So my version goes like this: Mantricker was an adolescent when a human child noticed the faint worn trails in the trees, and out of curiosity, greased some of the worn spots. When his tribesmates went flying from the slippery grips, Mantricker, whose pranks were well known, got blamed. So he tracked the kid down, and put a skunk in their woodshed. When she got beaten for his trick, they met up, recognized each other as the source of their troubles, and set about making a common language.
They were good friends as children. Mantricker went on adventures and came back to tell Gira stories - like the Hundred-Year Cattle, where he convinced a man who beat his wives that he had slept for a hundred years, and his pasture was all woodland and his family moved on.
His adventures grew longer and longer, however. Eventually, when he came back, Gira was dying of old age. Mantricker couldn't comprehend it. This had to be another prank - she should take off the mask and stop pretending to be frail and ill this instant! ...In the end he watched his friend die, angry at him for being absent and immortal.
He had other human friends afterwards; some of his tribe even said he bonded to humans rather than wolves. He forgot Gira's face and name. But part of him always missed his fellow prankster - his lifemate in all but lifespan.
Posted June 21, 2025, 07:56:43 AM
June 21, 2025, 11:49:18 AM
Mantricker, Gira, Dewa, zwoot cow and calf
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Amberfox
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Comment #1 - Posted June 21, 2025, 09:57:26 AM
You definitely captured Mantricker's personality, so mischievous and ready to pull a prank of some sort. Really drawn to his expression, it's perfectly balanced rather than forced or just plain goofy. Interesting antler headband/head piece and love the inclusion of the (oak?) leaf wedged in there. It's been a while since I read the comics about him, but if I recall correctly, he spent a lot of time in the trees observing the humans. Gira (what's with those names? Gibra, Gifa, Gira...) is really cute here, love the freckles and it looks like a tooth is missing. So perfect for a human kid about that age! She seems genuinely happy about seeing Mantricker. Again, really cute. Is this Gira the same as the one from the comic that fell madly in love with him and wouldn't leave him alone? If so, I like your version better. She wasn't a terrible character, but just very one dimensional. Don't recall any of the stories in Blood of Ten Chiefs, but I'll take your word for it. Again, some stories and comics were hit and miss. Don't really recall Dewa, was she in the comics? Too lazy to look it up. The zwoots, thought they were more desert critters, but you drew them really well. Never tried to do that, should get around to that at some point. Another amazing cover with so much to look at!
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Woodbee
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Comment #2 - Posted June 21, 2025, 10:58:44 AM
*tires to remember* Okay so, this is another of my departures from canon and I don't remember exactly what I did. Yes, I was thinking of the girl who fell madly in love with him. She was portrayed as soooo gullible, and delusional, and the male child he was friends with was soooo smart. I believe I took the name from the male child and gave it to her? Ran the two characters together, anyway, so that I had a female child of average intellect, fond of pranks, with little support from her family. Nobody 'fell in love' with anybody, even if she probably did spend her adolescence wishing she could run away and join the elves.
Dewa and the Hundred-Year Cattle I made up entirely. I was thinking about Rip Van Winkle, and Irish fairy legends, how cattle were important to both the Irish and to the Maasai but the Maasai are shifting to camels because of climate change and there's climate change but hardly any African cultural references in ElfQuest, and how the original High Ones followed stories of spirits who seemed like them to the World of Two Moons. So I let Mantricker be the one traveling around starting a bunch of those stories! I'm sure Freefoot started his share, too, but most of his stories seem to involve injuries and wildlife. The Steve Irwin of his time... |
Amberfox
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Comment #3 - Posted June 21, 2025, 11:42:22 AM
Got it. Yeah, the entire story was okay, but I agree with your points. I imagine the human women in the village close by were really kept subservient and repressed like many extremely patriarchal societies, but the "Gira" character in the comics just seemed to be played as more of a comical feature. I like the idea of the Irish/Maasai culture surrounding cattle. Would be interested to read that tale by Mantricker! The "Steve Irwin" of his time - love it! Miss that guy...
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Treefox
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Comment #4 - Posted June 21, 2025, 03:00:58 PM
But the result is so gooood! He looks so wild and weathered somehow. That head piece is genius.
I also like your version of his pranks and friendship with Gira, that is really touching. I hated that story in the comics. The art, man! Atrocious, especially that cover... Even Wendy said that this particular cover was bad in hindsight. Not Elfquest's brightest hour. Bringing Massai influence into this together with the idea of the cattle prank is wonderful. Your humans look great too. So much character there. |
Afke
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Comment #5 - Posted June 22, 2025, 04:55:50 AM
Interesting hairdo he's got going on there.
 Gosh, I love the autumny colours combined with blue.And you're right, those BoTC comics were often... off. I don't have them anymore; they were the last I had in Dutch after replacing everything with English books, and I realised I didn't need these in English, because I only wanted to keep stuff I enjoy rereading. I would loooove the see a sequel to this cover with the woman aged and on her deathbed. Perhaps showing it from her point of view too (so her as the main char on the cover), that would be something else. So many hidden stories out there, I like you telling us a whole lot of them already! |
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