Elektra is back and the hunt for Cape Crow is on as W. Haden Blackman and Mike Del Mundo return for a second bout with Marvel’s deadliest assassin. Can they take a character that has largely been pushed to the side and bring her into the spotlight? Well, if this issue is any indication chances are looking good.
Written by W. Haden Blackman
Illustrated by Mike Del Mundo
• Elektra braves the dangers of Monster Island and a rival assassin in her search for the elusive assassin known as Cape Crow!
• The psychotic killer Bloody Lips closes in on Marvel’s deadliest femme fatale!
• Haden Blackman and Mike Del Mundo bring you a hauntingly beautiful tale about honor and redemption.
It should be no surprise by now that “Elektra” #1 was a rather strong start, coming from the All New Marvel mandate of artistic uniqueness. The issue allowed Mike Del Mundo to move from creating Marvel’s best covers bar none to having full creative control over both interior and exterior art. Surprise, surprise, that was a brilliant move as it gave us a breathtakingly beautiful comic that blew everything else out of the water. And the writing wasn’t too shabby either as W. Haden Blackman thrusts Elektra into a new mission head first, throwing away all of the nonsense of trying to establish a home life or quirky neighbours and letting her do what she does best: kick ass. All in all, a definite strong start.
This issue is no different. As I said, Blackman’s writing works here thanks to his very no-nonsense approach to the story. While a lot of Marvel books in the wake of “Hawkeye” seem to feel the need to slow and create a measured tempo of single issue stories to start things off, “Elektra” dives straight in to the assassin vs. assassin combat. That allows for Blackman to get right into the nitty gritty of the story and it also allows for the writing to play to Mike Del Mundo’s strengths and lets him create masterpiece pages already.
The highlight of this issue is clearly the double page spread in which Scalphunter tussles with a monster in the background while Elektra faces off with Lady Bullseye in the foreground with serene grace. Either one of those layers could make for an excellent page in and of themselves, but the way Del Mundo layers the two over the same spread lets the depth of field give a large sense of immediacy to the action. It’s not cutting back and forth between the two large action moments, it’s showing two things happening at once on the same page without one overshadowing the other or the page feelng cluttered. It takes a skilled artist to get that balance right and, thankfully, “Elektra” has one.
Though, Del Mundo’s art isn’t just limited to crafting beautiful double page spreads as he shows he work as a sequential artist here too. The page immediately following the mentioned spread focuses more on the Elektra and Lady Bullseye fight with is fast paced and brutal and Mike Del Mundo gets in there with a number of small, fast-paced panels focusing on the details of the fight. While it is an excellent two-page counterpart with the spread taking a wide angle and showing the grace of the combatants and the second page showing the ferocity of the fight. This is a fight I would have loved to see go on a little longer, even if it would have meant sacrificing a couple pages in an issue already filled to the brim.
One of the things about W. Haden Blackman’s writing that really makes this issue stand out is that this doesn’t feel like the opening arc to the book. This feels like an arc that would have happened when already deeply entrenched in the book with all of the characters already set up. Instead, as I’ve said, Blackman eschews all that for getting right to the meat of it. While that means Elektra is a little short changed, with only her narration really allowing an in to her mindset, it means that the fight with Lady Bullseye and the sections with Bloody Lips (a strange name for a captivating and intriguing character) can show up as soon as the second issue. The reason why this review has focused on the smaller details of the issue is that the larger picture still hasn’t really come into play yet as the opening mystery surrounding Cape Crow has left the actual plot of the series obfuscated. While that would have probably killed any other book already, Del Mundo manages to save “Elektra” from that fate with fantastic art that brings a lot of atmosphere to Blackman’s writing.
Ultimately, this issue continues the strong start of the first issue. While the choice to forgo the usual introduction to Elektra’s life outside of the costume like many other recent Marvel #1s has been both a positive and a negative, the positives mostly outweigh the negative. It’s largely a matter of Blackman and Del Mundo diving straight into a mystery not really giving the reader a chance to get know Elektra before bringing in the action, but that action is beautifully portrayed regardless of our emotional connection to it. Going forward, while the plot is interesting and engaging and Blackman knows how to write a mystery, the series needs that emotional connection to Elektra to make it work.
Final Verdict: 8.3 – Still a good start, but the connection to the title character remains aloof.
