Customer Reviews

Elektra & Wolverine: The Redeemer

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have to wonder how many readers were attracted to this graphic novel by Greg Rucka's story about Elektra and Wolverine, and how many found it while looking for the works of Yoshitaka Amano, the remarkable Japanese Illustrator who has fascinated a generation. I am one of the latter. I discovered Amano's work, mostly through manga and the anime that he has inspired, and have been a follower ever since. Even a short search reveals that Amano is an artist who can shift from medium to medium, across many genres.

While not unknown in the U.S., Amano is under represented here, and his work is a rare treat. When I discovered the availability of this book, I quickly acquired it. And was promptly delighted. The artist's sensual elegance is a perfect match for Elektra Natchios, giving the beautiful assassin an eerie, deadly sexuality. For Logan, the Wolverine, Amana uses a slightly different style that makes him a menacing study in contrast with the more formal structure of the woman ninja. This is a worthwhile sampling of Yoshitaka Amano's work.

The book opens with an assassination gone wrong. Elektra carries out the job, but the killing is witnessed by the victim's young daughter. Elektra manages a spectacular escape, but knows that the girl, Avery, represents a risk to her own safety that must be remedied. Torn by this problem, she sets about the task of kidnapping the daughter, still not sure of what she must do. Logan, on retreat from civilization, is pressured into protecting Avery, bringing him into direct conflict with the deadly ninja. But much more is at stake than the life of the girl. Logan and Elektra find the sides are not as sharply drawn as they first appear.

This is a complex story of shifting allegiances, betrayal, and hidden agendas. While not very long, it brings out facets of both Elektra's and Wolverine's character than are less visible in their comic book origins. The tale is a haunting backdrop to Amano's illustration, which focuses on the interior isolation of both these characters. They can only partially cross their personal boundaries, displacing any feelings for each other into a growing connection to Avery. This drives both the story and the fine artwork. Hopefully, this is a promise of things to come.

This is not your typical comic style book with it being more on the novel side with pictures on every few pages. The art however is fantastic and the story itself is one of the better ones I've read in a while. I definitely recommend this book if you find it for a good price.

The story, centering on assassin Elektra's bonding with a young girl she's kidnapped after the girl witnessed her murdering the girl's father, and Wolverine's interaction with the girl's mother and Elektra while on the hunt for the elusive pair, are at the heart of this Greg Rucka story. Oddly enough, the girl wants to be like Elektra, and Elektra recognizes her young self in the girl. Wolverine wants to be left alone, but is forced into acting as a bodyguard by a man who claims to know about his past which Logan, of course, cannot remember. Do the mother and the murdered father figure in that past in some way? Will Elektra take on the girl as a protégé? I found the story very entertaining, and am glad I bought this in the hardcover edition.

While the artist is certainly acclaimed and the art is by turns ethereal and eye-popping, I did not feel that his work here worked well with the story. However, his work reminds me of a favorite illustrator I enjoyed in my childhood - Louis Slobodkin - in its sometimes delicate, watercolor palette. The artist clearly enjoys depicting Elektra in lots of dramatic poses, but Wolverine is usually only a dark blob - a street thug with messy hair. In many of Wolverine's pictures here, the artist didn't even bother to include the character's signature muttonchops. Also, other than their clothing, the three main female characters - Elektra, the girl, and the girl's mother - all look alike. It would be interesting to see how another artist such as Kent Williams or Gabriel Dell'Otto might have handled this assignment.

A little bit of a surprise coming across this, as it is actually a heavily illustrated - or painted if you like - novella, or something around that sort of length, anyway.

Rucka is an accomplished novelist, so not too much of a problem for him to do something like this, so a sensible choice.

Can't say I like the art style much though - it makes everyone look Japanese, whether Canadian, Greek, or whatever, in the main.

While making things pretty is ok, having pages of white text on black follow your standard black on white and dark grey on grey is very annoying, for prose, as opposed to the occasional comic text box.

Another story based around Wolverine's Weapon X past, as another experiment designed to create another operative like him centres on a young girl.

The man in charge and Logan hence have history, and Elektra is introduced into the picture, initially looking quite a bit like Aeon Flux - hired to kill the girl's father.

A chase and secret operative type plot follows, again sort of a Rucka specialty.

Probably give the story a 4, but the art 2.something.


3.5 out of 5

This is an illustrated story not a comic book. I haven't read it yet, so no rating, but I was surprised when I got it, and i wasn't terribly happy about it.

It's good, go pick it up.