Pini, Wendy (1951 - )
American comic book writer and illustrator
Born in San Francisco in 1951, Wendy Fletcher grew up in Gilroy, CA. Largely self taught, her artistic talents were influenced by turn-of-the-century illustrators, film and TV animation, Shakespeare, Japanese history, fairy tales, myths, and modern fantasy. Wendy began exhibiting her artwork at sci-fi conventions in the mid 1960s, garnering awards and recognition.
In 1972 she married Richard Pini, and in 1974 began her professional career as an illustrator for SF magazines such as Galaxy and Worlds of If. Through the mid-1970s, Wendy also trod the boards at comic conventions as actress/dancer in “The Red Sonja and the Wizard Show.” This led to her first professional comics work, writing an issue of the Red Sonja title for Marvel Comics.
In 1977 Wendy and Richard co-founded Warp Graphics, and the following year Wendy’s brainchild ElfQuest was born. Widely regarded as the “first American manga,” ElfQuest continues to be a publishing phenomenon as well as an inspiration to its readers. Tens of millions of copies of comics, graphic novels, books, calendars and other merchandise have been sold worldwide.
Wendy has worked for nearly all the major comics publishers such as Marvel, First Comics, Comico, DC Comics and, most recently, Dark Horse Comics. She wrote and painted two critically acclaimed graphic novels based on the hit TV series “Beauty and the Beast,” and supplied the text and illustrations for Law and Chaos, an art book inspired by the writings of Michael Moorcock.
In 1997 Wendy had the honor of designing the elfin mascot and mission patch for NASA’s Enclosed Laminar Flames (ELF) investigation, an experiment performed in space by members of the crew of Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-87).
From 2007 to 2010, Wendy took a walk on the dark side to produce her adults-only graphic novel based on the classic Edgar Allan Poe horror story “Masque of the Red Death.” Originally an animated web comic, the adaptation has become a 400 page graphic novel and is currently in development as a theatrical production. The Telly Award-winning version of the animated tale can be viewed on Amazon Prime Video.
In 2012, Wendy and Richard donated her entire body of work to the Comic Book and Graphic Novel archive at Columbia University, New York City. Her artwork and writings will be permanently available to students and the public for study.
In 2019, both Wendy and Richard were inducted into the Eisner Awards Hall of Fame for their lifetime achievements. In 2024 they received the International Adamson Award, presented by the Swedish Academy of Comic Art, and in 2025 they were inducted into the New York ComicCon Harvey Awards Hall of Fame.
If you are interested in reading up on the ElfQuest comic and its creators, please follow this link to https://elfquest.com to the official website.
