The Devil’s Reign event is over, so for those who trade waited, your time is now. Marvel has been releasing trade paperbacks of various tie-ins to the event, but we’re going to focus on the Daredevil: Woman Without Fear edition, which collects the three-issue miniseries, Elektra #100, and a great cover gallery. The main story connects to what Chip Zdarsky, Marco Checchetto, and company are planning in their latest volume of Daredevil. How does the rest stack up?
Let’s start with the eye-catching cover from Woman Without Fear #1 by Chris Bachalo and Tim Townsend. The way Elektra pops off that cover showcases her new costume, and, interestingly, her modified sai does have blood on it, which plays into her inner demons clashing against her efforts to be a hero. The back cover has a snip of the cover to issue #2 by the same creative team with some write-ups about the inner contents. Depending on how you collect, I would recommend this trade or back issues, as it does indeed continue Chip Zdarsky’s Daredevil saga.
Looking at the adventure from the Devil’s Reign tie-in, there is a lot of groundwork set here, but I predict it will pay off very nicely later. If you’ve read Daredevil #1, you’ll probably pay attention to a specific character. After their revelation in issue #1, I know I certainly paid attention and caught some items during a second read. There wasn’t much with the character of Aka, whose first appearance is in this story, but reading her mention of the Fist against the Hand makes me think she’ll be another character to watch.
The adventure plays nicely into why Elektra would excuse herself from the Devil’s Reign main series. What was interesting about her incident was her going against Kraven; it’s nice to see these two put their hunting skills up against each other. I can see Kraven getting much more play in Marvel comics after this as there is talk about the character being in movies, but Kraven is also a great foil to test Elektra’s newfound oath not to take a life.
When it came time to do my comic’s orders, I considered not picking up this miniseries, but I changed my mind when I noticed Chip Zdarsky was writing it. I figure that would give it more validation to the event and the story Chip is telling. I am glad I picked this up, as it was entertaining and worthwhile. I remember when issue #3 was released that there were some significant spoilers to Devil’s Reign and what is happening with the Punisher, so be ready if you haven’t read the event yet. I would give the Woman Without Fear a 9.5 rating as a whole package; here are some more insights to issue #1 and issue #2 by Nathan Simmons.
The next part of the trade is the Elektra #100 issue, which I could’ve done without. I appreciate the work that the artists did, and it had some great visuals, but the stories were disconnected and forced into the modern Daredevil series. It is best to detach yourself and try to read them as best as possible, but Elektra vs. Typhoid Mary is a challenging read. I know it is by the legendary Ann Nocenti, but the editors should’ve let Ann write it in a period that makes sense as she is portraying the characters in past frames of mind instead of playing to the paths they are currently on.
That’s not to make it sound like the issue was a complete flop in my eyes, as I did enjoy the Mini Marvels by Chris Giarrusso and the other cartoony bits. Here is David Brooke’s review on Elektra #100 for more opinions on the issue. Luckily, this trade also collections the 100 covers that would justify Elektra’s celebration and variant covers of the Woman Without Fear miniseries. The collection is a great deal at a lower price than the single issues, especially with the prices Woman Without Fear #3 is pulling on the secondary market as of this writing.
The Devil’s Reign collections are here, and Woman WIthout Fear is a must as it builds Elektra’s character, ties in with the current DD series, and is a great deal for its contents. The tie-in by Zdarsky tests Elektra and will expand on Devil’s Reign for a fun time.
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