Elektra #5 SPOILERS - Bloodlines Finale

[tsaimelemoni]

This is it, the end of the first arc!

Most of this issue is an intense fight between Elektra and Cape Crow. Elektra continues with the battle, telling herself she's not a hero, that it would be pointless to try and explain herself to Cape Crow.

As CC gains the upper hand, he reveals what has made him such an effective assassin: he's a precog. This leads to a great moment where Elektra uses her mystic ninja training to clear her mind of all thoughts, and she regains her momentum operating purely on instinct (her blank white eyes are a bit chilling and haunting).

We also get another nice example of Elektra's foresight and planning: at one point, CC tries to use Elektra's sai, but he receives a nasty, paralyzing shock; the weapon is coded to her biometrics. After Bullseye, she has vowed to never let anyone take her weapons from her again (though this is clearly a new development, since Red She Hulk and Bullseye have handled her weapons somewhat recently).

She goes to unmask CC, and Kento reveals his telepathic nature, also revealing that it was he who messed with her and Bloody Lips' minds in Schicheng. Elektra contemplates kiling Kento for attempting to control her, but instead feels empathy for his intentions.

Speaking of Bloody Lips, he makes a small (though hopefully not final) appearance, where Elektra gives him what he wants and he...reacts badly. 'The meat is poisoned' indeed. This small role is necessary to close off his threat, but if he hadn't been developed as he had, despite complaints from some reviewers, this would have felt very one note and anti-climatic.

As it ends, Elektra is honoring her contract, and she will be preparing for the Assassin Guild's retribution. An Epilogue gives us a Lady Bullseye who is injured and carrying a serious grudge against Elektra.


So, this was a long review, but this further fleshed out Elektra's character, gives her new allies and a solid new direction. I'm super excited for the next arc!

[Mahes]

Absolutely loved the conclusion to this arc. Yeah the timing on when she coded her sais is a bit off but I still like it. Liked how she ended up taking out BL though..."Meat is poisoned!". We need to see him stick around as a recurring villain.

And of course, Del Mundo delivers stellar artwork again.

[ThiefHookUps]

Is the creative team staying the same (minus a fill-in issue here and there) on this book for the forseeable future? I truly, truly hope so.

[tsaimelemoni]

Don't see a writer change coming, though I wouldn't be too surprised if Del Mundo is done after #12. Or whenever his contract is up.

[ThiefHookUps]

Thanks. Whoever fills in for him will have some big shoes to fill. I like the character Elektra but this series has really gone beyond my expectations.

[tsaimelemoni]

I've been pleasantly surprised as well, this book has been so fantastic. And I love the upcoming stories: Elektra vs the Assassins Guild, then Elektra vs SHIELD (or at least one outpost). Yes. Please.

[scouse mouse]

God this was amazing! Elektra's battles with Cape Crow and Bloody Lips were superb and I loved that Elektra used some of her ninja mental tricks to beat Crow. Bloody Lips will (hopefully) be back-no body-no death! Can not wait for the next issue and her re match with Lady Bullseye and the rest of the Assassins Guild.

[tsaimelemoni]

Still noticing the visuals Del Mundo puts into this book. When she kicks BL off the cliff, his blood spray spells 'KO.' How neat is that? I also love the shot of her face at the end...the half talking of her possibilities has snow falling around her, very tranquil and hopeful. The half talking of her reality and desire to take on the assassins guild, the snowflakes are replaced by targets/reticules. Very nice.

I'm sure others have noticed this, but only noticed my second read through.

[Bookem Danno]

The conclusion was more bearable than the abstract journey to get here. I still think the series might be in trouble that Wolverine-wannbe covers may not stave off. Now that it's over can somebody clearly summarize what we now know of the connection between Cape Crow and Bloody Lips and Kento's father? Who put out the contract the Elektra didn't complete? What is the update status on sabretooth, scalphunter, taskmaster, and bullseye now? They just wanted some pocket cash so took a similar contract? How come Elektra doesn't have more happiness in her life than those guys for the blood sucking villain to sense only misery in her history - we have seen her happier compared to the others many times in canon. It looks like Lady Bullseye just got luckier than the guys and is dopey enough to go up against Elektra next issue for a rematch - are we going to get footnote if this takes place before or after her fight against Black Widow in Secret Avengers published weeks ago?

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[tsaimelemoni]

Might be some inaccuracies, I haven't re-read the whole series (yet).

Bloody Lips, like Scalphunter and Lady Bullseye, sought to claim the bounty on Cape Crow's (Kento's father) head.

Elektra is completing her contract, which was revised in issue two, by reuniting Kento and his father and keeping them safe from the Assassins Guild. Kento is the one who set the contract that Elektra accepted in place and he's also the one who revised the reward.

Sabretooth is with Mystique in the X books I think, Scalphunter is dead for now, and Bullseye is where we saw him in issue one, minus a finger or two.

Elektra is a character who is continually denied long-term happiness. She is a tragic figure, though Blackman looks like he'll be changing that a little.

We don't know the timeline of Lady Bullseye's appearances between this and SA.

So...I think that covers it.

[scouse mouse]

That sounds pretty much right Tsai. Elektra is honouring her contract with Kento by keeping Cape Crow alive which puts her in direct opposition with the Assassins Guild who want him dead. I also see Elektra's internal misery is because she is not inherently evil. She doesn't rejoice in killing like Bloody Lips, its just what she does to survive. The only slight correction that is needed is that Scalphunter is already alive again but is now being controlled by Magneto in his own series.
Also that was a good catch with the snowflakes/targets on the penultimate page. I only thought that the page was similar to the opening page in issue #1 except with the smirk added and didn't notice it at all.

[scouse mouse]

Just re read the whole opening arc and I can't believe how well Del Mundo maintained the quality of the art for all 5 issues. I did not notice that there was a slightly "rougher" feel to the art in the latest issue. Sometimes the white effect in Elektra's hair seemed quite blocky and computer generated but it's still of an exceptionally high quality. I don't mind the book not double shipping if it means we keep him as the sole artist on the book.

[CraigTheCylon]

How come Elektra doesn't have more happiness in her life than those guys for the blood sucking villain to sense only misery in her history - we have seen her happier compared to the others many times in canon.

The obvious answer is 'because the writer wanted to portray it that way'. I don't think Blackman is wrong to suggest that Elektra's entire life is full of misery, as basically every time she's found happiness it's been taken from her or turned sour in short order. And Elektra is the focus of the book since, y'know, it's her name on the title. While it's maybe unfortunate that his logic in plotting/characterisation might not gel with supporting or cameo players, it's hardly a deal-breaker.

If I wanted to be pedantic about it, though, let's consider who else Bloody Lips takes a bite out of:

Taskmaster, assuming the events of Fred Van Lente's 'Unthinkable' mini-series still counts, has had his long-term explicit memories obliterated and overwritten thanks to the super-serum that gave him his photographic reflexes. Lips would be lucky to 'taste' anything from him.

Lady Bullseye is a relatively recent creation in the Marvel U, AFAIK, and while her history might be traumatic it's still a work in progress. So on a very meta level, Lips wouldn't experience much pain from her because her life isn't completely fleshed out yet.

Original Recipe Bullseye and Sabretooth are pretty much psychotic to the core, which drastically limits their capacity to feel sadness or guilt over the horrors visited upon them, or by them, in their respective pasts. And since Lips is reading past events filtered through subjective memory, he'd only feel as bad as they did...which wouldn't be much.

And Scalphunter...I don't know anything about him but he seemed like a jackass so who cares. :P