Is It Good? Elektra #1 Review

Michael Del Mondo is on art, Michael Del Mondo is on art, Michael Del Mundo is on art…is it good?

Elektra (2014-) #1 (Marvel Comics)

This story is written by Haden Blackman who I’d never heard of, but clearly has a talent that Marvel is wisely tapping. From a story perspective there’s an interesting setup here. Elektra is in a sad place mentally; she wants to get out of New York and she’s sick of being people’s puppets. She turns to the Matchmaker for a job and she sets her on the task of capturing an assassin named Cape Crow. He’s older than Elektra and better. The book then cuts to a new character named Bloody Lips. He’s looking for Cape Crow too, has some kind of connection to the animal world and has a hoodoo appearance to him.

Very pretty.

Blackman does a great job with a minimalist narration that works quite well with Del Mondo’s art. It’s enough to keep the pace of the book going and get inside Elektra’s head, but not so much that it detracts from the visual storytelling. It’s also cool to see two new characters introduced who have an otherworldly appearance and demeanor. They’re almost legends, Cape Crow and Bloody Lips, in how they are designed and how they are introduced. It gives this story a mythic feel that’s interesting and ties nicely into Elektra’s eclectic past.

I’m also pretty jazzed about this new dynamic between the Matchmaker and Elektra. Matchmaker has some flapper garb and seems to have a good head on her shoulders. She’s a woman who finds jobs for people like Elektra and she’s compelling in her regal clothes and charming behavior. When we find out she’s going on this mission with Elektra I actually got a little excited. I want to see what her deal is and why she’s given Elektra such a difficult job.

Death by speghetti.

Del Mondo, of course, does an exceptional job in this book. There are five double page spreads, but they are so pretty and complex there isn’t any waste. So often artists use double page and full page art to quicken the story and essentially reduce their work. If anything these took even longer as the compositions are so complex. They’re not quite as detailed as something JH Williams III would do in Batwoman but they’re getting there. It’s in these beautiful double page spreads most of the exposition is delivered and I’m sold on the delivery. So often exposition is tons of words in boring layouts, but here you can appreciate the art and get all the story in as well.

She must be cold in that thing.

Is It Good?

This is an exceptional comic book that sets the tone masterfully. It looks amazing and sets up Monster Island in a very mythic and interesting way.