Saturday, June 4, 2011

"Elektra" story by Greg Rucka; art by Carlo Pagulayan & Danny Miki w/Joe Bennett & Greg Horn

The story of Elektra is a tale I knew only from her inclusion as a character in that poor adaptation to film of the Daredevil story a number of years back.  As is the case with Hollywood, they often tell tales poorly.

Elektra was Daredevil's girlfriend who knew some form of martial arts only to be killed before the movie ends

The actual graphic novel fleshes out a more complex arrangement of a young woman who is brought back to life to realize her calling as the world's most pure assassin.   She has all the instincts; she carries all the ability; she is as deadly as she is beautiful.

The quandary in this odd arrangement of being the absolute best aT what she does is that an insatiable desire to continue doing it, to persist against the insurmountable foes, to never say die in seeking the fight causes a problem, a severe problem, when her contacts for work dry up.

No one will hire for a job.  And for a woman who is one hundred percent adrenaline the monotony of absolutely nothing to occupy one's time is deadly.

So the intrigue of this book was initially the graphics.   Some of the pictures accompnaying the text are truly masterful.  But the hold causing me to write this review was the intriguing study of this woman's psyche.  Physically, Elektra is the ideal; psychologically, she is tumbling downhill - the designs of a enemy using his money and power to dry up her work and force her to face what she has become.  Great story.

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