Columbia University Libraries recently received a $500,000 gift from Wendy and Richard Pini, creators of the independent comic series ElfQuest, to support Columbia’s growing archive of comics and graphic novels.
The gift, which nearly doubles the libraries’ previous funding for comics preservation, comes more than a decade after the Pinis donated their complete ElfQuest materials to Columbia. Now the couple’s monetary gift will help conserve that collection, which includes thousands of original hand-drawn storyboards as well as fan mail and art, while supporting other comics archives held at Columbia’s Rare Book and Manuscript Library, such as the papers of Mad magazine cartoonist Al Jaffee.
ElfQuest, a fantasy saga about a community of elves on a fictional planet, was originally self-published by the Pinis in 1978 under the brand WaRP Graphics and later reached a broader audience through Marvel and DC Comics. The series is widely credited for helping to bring underground comics into mainstream culture.
The ElfQuest archives and other comics materials are viewable by appointment at the Rare Book and Manuscript Library inside Butler Library.
