Elektra By Greg Rucka Ultimate Collection

by Robert Greenberger

Daredevil was pretty moribund as a feature when Roger McKenzie was writing it, until he was paired with artist Frank Miller, who breathed fresh life into the series. In short order, Miller replaced McKenzie as the writer and ran with the character, exploring the dark underbelly of criminal life in Manhattan. The book hadn’t been this good in ages but it proved to be nothing but a warm-up for what was to come.

In 1981, the arguably best character introduction of the decade occurred when Elektra Natchios arrived to kill hornhead only to realize he was actually her college lover, Matt Murdock. Suddenly she was conflicted and as you know, when you hesitate, you can die. Her interactions with Daredevil led to her unexpected and gruesome death at the hands of Bullseye.

Thankfully, she got better.

Had it been handled by anyone other than her creator, fans would have rejected the hardcover graphic novel Elektra Lives Again, but we were all happy to have her back. Since then, she has been a popular character, appearing here and there, fortunately never quite getting overexposed and maintaining some mystique.

One of the early moves president Bill Jemas made when he arrived at Marvel was to green light an Elektra ongoing series, initially written by Brian Michael Bendis, However, with issue #7, acclaimed crime novelist Greg Rucka arrived from DC and wrote the feature through issue #22. Now, for the first time since 2003, those stories are being collected in the aptly named Elektra by Greg Rucka Ultimate Collection, a mammoth softcover that has Elektra #7-22 plus the one-off story from Marvel Knights Double Shot #3.

At the time, more attention was paid to the riveting cover art by Greg Horn, redefining bad girl art for the time, than the content. In reviewing the stories, the comic didn’t turn the assassin into a wuss or a do-gooder. Instead, under Rucka, it explored the ramifications of her actions. Elektra was riding high on adrenaline pumping through her veins, loving the violence.

The first few stories eased Rucka into the world of Elektra, with a multi-parter where a woman named Katamides reaches out to the vigilante, asking her help against the four men who raped her. Once they have been rounded up, though, Elektra stuns the woman by refusing to help her exact sweet revenge.

Elektra, now a violence junkie, is looking to score her next fix when she is been hunted down and captured by the mysterious Mr. Locke. We learn that his girlfriend died, an innocent, during one of Elektra’s previous cases. For that, she must suffer and he abandons her in the Mojave Desert to die. As she struggles to survive the heat and dehydration, we learnt that Locke was just part of a coalition of victims that wanted to be part of her suffering.

Obviously, she survived the ordeal but recognizes the need to retrain herself, adjusting her technique for maximum affect. As she studies under a man called Drake, The Hand come looking for her, wanting her back. The remainder of the 384-page collection is focused on Elektra, the Hand, Drake, and a man who genuinely cares for the woman.

Most of the art from the ongoing series was executed by Carlo Pagulayan, spelled by Joe Bennett, so it has a real world grit to it. While this chapter of her life is usually glossed over, there’s a reason the Marvel Encyclopedia includes it in their list of Key Storylines and now you can find out for yourself.

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Elektra by Greg Rucka Ultimate Collection

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