Elves Vol. 1

Very much in the vein of Tolkien, this handsome volume contains two tales about the uneasy relations between humans and their pointy-eared neighbors, the elves. The first is a kind of murder mystery: Who killed a city full of elves and left evidence to implicate an unruly band of humans nearby? In the second story, a forest elf comes to the aid of a brave girl trying to save her city from attack by an army of orks. It does appear that the races can coexist and even fall in love, but the body count along the way is very high. Duarte’s lush fantasy art is excellent, though the panels sometimes are squeezed so closely together that it’s difficult to get their full impact. Istin’s thoughtful text also is difficult to read because everything is set in miniscule script. This is a substantial work, worth some eyestrain, but readers probably will want to rest every few pages. (May)