ELEKTRA (2014-2015) review

(Reviewed by Melody Werner)
Elektra has always been a cool character. A total badass but she's always had depth and personality, though some writers have naturally not always capitalized on that, sometimes turning her into a piece of meat where there was supposed to be a character, and other times they've just gone for the badass assassin approach, which is definitely not as egregious a transgression, but is still annoying. It's even worse because I personally feel she's one of major female characters Marvel has, escaping the pitfalls of what I personally think are terrible ones such as Ms. Marvel or She-Hulk... sorry, just threw up a little in my mouth. Does this eleven issue 2014-2015 series, written by W. Haden Blackman and illustrated by Mike Del Mundo, fall into either of those trappings? Hell no.

The art of the series is phenomenal. It has this painterly style to it, reminiscent of The Nocturnals. There are times when the imagery is really demented, as it portrays what's going on in the characters's heads, and these are the embodiment of "a picture says a thousand words". The visual designs are pretty cool too. The action looks great and is decently visceral, with a very fluid look which one might suspect is somewhat borrowing from how Grendel does its fight sequences. There's an arc in the middle of the series by a different artist, Alex Sanchez, and it does not look nearly as good--though I've absolutely seen worse.

The plot isn't particularly amazing or complex, but it's engaging enough and it doesn't fuck up the simplicity of it, which is more than what can be said of lesser series such as Cloaks. The dialogue is decent enough; but the more complex writing definitely comes from the monologues, primarily Elektra's, as one might expect. It delves into the psyche of her better than probably anybody else ever has, which is much appreciated. That said, none of the side characters are that great, except for the first antagonist, Bloody Lips--and Bullseye is well characterized here too. But the series has a clear focus on Elektra and she is the star of the show, which is a bit of a shame as I think this particular title could've done with more intriguing characters.

Elektra is a series with few flaws and a lot going for it. While it's maybe not the greatest series in the MNow lineup per se, it's definitely worth checking out. It succeeds in everything it was set out to achieve, and I definitely got that feel while reading. Elektra gets an 8.5/10.

Great

Summary:
While the dialogue isn't always stellar and the side characters aren't incredible, the series has excellent art, awesome action,  main characters who are at their apex with regards to their characterization, a plot that holds up well enough, and the intrigue of getting into the psyches of some of these characters, which is fascinating.