Elektra Saga????

[BigLbo]

i picked up issue #1 of 4 out of a .50 bin not really knowing what it was, i just saw Elektra with Frank Miller and Klaus Janson names on the cover, after doing a little homework i have a couple of questions. i see they are reprints of the Elektra stories by Miller & Janson but

1)are they full reprints or just pieces of issues

2)how does it stack up to the miller/janson visionaries tpb that collects the elektra stuff??

[Mike_Murdock]

Sounds like it takes the issues from the original Daredevil stories, cuts out the non-Elektra parts, and maybe adds a page or two of new material. I've never read it, but I'd be very hesitant to buy anything like that (particularly the fact that it says four issues since the saga is much longer and there has to be a bunch of cuts). I'd hesitate to buy something like that. The Elektra scenes theoretically can stand alone, but they really work best in the context of the larger Daredevil story. Elektra's character development matters but so does Daredevil's reactions to her, Daredevil's fights with Kingpin, and his fights with Bullseye.

[ViewtifulJC]

Yea I would never pick up something like that. The Elektra death issues draw their power from the context of the overall narrative, knowing Matt's relationship with her in the past vs the present, in knowing the DD/Bullseye relationship, Wilson Fisk, etc. I'd just pick the Frank Miller/Klaus Jenson Visionaries 2/3 to get the full context.

[ed2962]

It basically reworks previously published stories featuring Electra as if it were one story. You're better off reading reprints of the original stories. They are much more impactful that way.

[Mike_Murdock]

Yea I would never pick up something like that. The Elektra death issues draw their power from the context of the overall narrative, knowing Matt's relationship with her in the past vs the present, in knowing the DD/Bullseye relationship, Wilson Fisk, etc. I'd just pick the Frank Miller/Klaus Jenson Visionaries 2/3 to get the full context.

I'd go with the Frank Miller Daredevil Omnibuses rather than Visionaries, personally. They're basically the same thing except it includes Love and War.

[tsaimelemoni]

I'd also take the Visionaries/Omnibus over this. It's not bad, and it does add some material, but it's done very sloppily. And, the new material doesn't necessarily add much to her characterization or it over explains things that are handled with subtlety in Miller's original run.

[BigLbo]

thanks for the feedback fellas. i think i'll pick up the rest of the series if i find them in the bargain bins but i'm going to keep the visionaries book on my list for sure

[MRP]

You can see exactly what is reprinted in the issue by consulting the Grand Comic Book Database here: https://www.comics.org/issue/38321/ (that links to isue 1, you can navigate to issues 2-4 easily from there).

Reprint mini series like these were common in the 80s and into the 90s before trade paperbacks were common (or really were done at all by Marvel and DC) and this was the only way short of hunting down the back issues that you could get to read the story. Ironically, one of Marvel's early trades was collecting this reprint mini series rather than the whole of the DD run itself by Miller. These days, there are better options because of the proliferation of the trade paperback (and hardcover collection) markets that didn't exist then. If you can find it on the cheap, it's probably worth picking up, but if you want to read the entirety of the story, there are better options out there.

-M

[BigLbo]

You can see exactly what is reprinted in the issue by consulting the Grand Comic Book Database here: https://www.comics.org/issue/38321/ (that links to isue 1, you can navigate to issues 2-4 easily from there).

Reprint mini series like these were common in the 80s and into the 90s before trade paperbacks were common (or really were done at all by Marvel and DC) and this was the only way short of hunting down the back issues that you could get to read the story. Ironically, one of Marvel's early trades was collecting this reprint mini series rather than the whole of the DD run itself by Miller. These days, there are better options because of the proliferation of the trade paperback (and hardcover collection) markets that didn't exist then. If you can find it on the cheap, it's probably worth picking up, but if you want to read the entirety of the story, there are better options out there.

-M

thanks for the info/link