Ultimate Daredevil & Elektra Volume 1 TPB [Paperback]

Greg Rucka (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Marvel Comics (February 3, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785110763
• ISBN-13: 978-0785110767
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 6.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #989,902 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Two parts of a Whole, April 10, 2003

By 

Hassan Galadari (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ultimate Daredevil & Elektra Volume 1 TPB (Paperback)

Daredevil has been a great Marvel character ever since he came onto the scene some nearly 40 years now. When compared to the big-hitters like Spider-Man, the Hulk ot the X-Men, his character and prowess are the most human. His physical skills and abilities stem from being perfected out of years of a discipline and practice. The Ultimate line seems ready to dismantle the original idea of the character and introduce him to new readers. This worked successfully with Spider-Man and X-Men. With DD, the results are similar and different as well.

The story written by writing superstar Greg Rucka is based on DD's early days when he's still in college studying law. Rucka takes you on the journey of how Matt Murdock gets to meet Elektra. In this case, it's Elektra who expresses the general interest in Matt and falls head over heels for him. As a matter of fact, most of the foray of the stor is embedded on Elektra. Her actions guide the stpry's direction, Matt just plays the supporting role. This does not necessarily mean the story is poor, but somewhat incomplete and lacking with some potholes. For instance, what's the major driving force that makes Elektra who and what she is. Studying under a sensei at the age of 5 just doesn't make you the best martial artist in town, if you don't have a drive to be somewhere. Ruck fails to grasp that fact. The original Elektra went through years of loss and conditioning before she became the character she was. The Ultimate version just took her two issues to become bitter and vengeful. You think that martial arts would teach inner calm, but not in this case.

Matt being DD is completely ignored. Why, what and how he does his thing is not for the reader to know. What is also missing is the way he gets to see in his special way. This was a favorite in the newly released movie and the original DD series. You just want to know more of the characters and what drives them. You don;t want to read a story about good and bad without knowing why these characters choose to do what they do.

The best thing about this story is summed in the art form and the fact it is an extremely human story. Matt and Foggy's relationship in college to the sweet passion shared by Matt and Elektra. Those are beautiul to see, espcially when drawn by Salvador Larroca of X-Men fame. His Elektra is sexy and she has the right curves for her age. Her actions with her roomies are what you would expect of an 18 year older.

Though Ultimate DD is great, his Marvel Knights counterpart is far much superior. The original character has matured to what he is. Ultimate DD is good fun, but nothing would sway or replace the original from being the true Man Without Fear.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars This is not the ultimate version (more like the opposite), June 26, 2003

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Ultimate Daredevil & Elektra Volume 1 TPB (Paperback)

"Ultimate Daredevil & Elektra" Volume 1 collects issues #1-4 of "Ultimate Daredevil & Elektra" by writer Greg Rucka and artist Salvador Larroca. The story takes us back to the very early days when both Matt Murdock and Elektra Natchios were students at Columbia University. In other word the story-arc here takes place before they were Daredevil the superhero and Elektra the assassin. The idea is that this story gives us insight into how each of them ended on their respective paths while dealing with the tragedy that Matt and Elektra were soul mates who could have lived happily ever after.

The end result is, in a word, okay. I know that Elektra is not yet a highly trained assassin, but she should still be able to recognize her boyfriend when he is just wearing a hood. But the real problem with getting this storyline off the ground is the book's villain, a spoiled rich kid who likes to rape women. The idea is that his father is able to get sonny boy out of trouble, but if the whole point of these Ultimate series is to restart the stories of Marvel's superheroes in the twentieth century then it is hard for me to believe that this sort of case would not end up on Court TV and every tabloid in the nation. The media brings down everybody in this country and being rich only adds fuel to the fire. Anyhow, Cal Langstrom the Third (Trey to his friends and non-admirers alike) is just a high school level bully who should not be causing Elektra and her pals this much trouble, even when she is basically being a good girl. Even in a comic book, the success of a story rests as much on the villain as it does the hero, and "Ultimate Daredevil & Elektra" is just not worth the effort.

The focus is more on Elektra than Murdock in these issues, with Matt's life and his friendship with Foggy Nelson being minor considerations. But Elektra's relationship with her friends and her Sensei are all standard fare, which just reinforces the conclusion that there is nothing of depth here which enriches the retelling of the tale. As a special bonus feature this trade paperback includes "Daredevil #9," the opening chapter of the graphic novel "Daredevil Volume 2: Parts of a Hole" by David Mack, Joe Quesada, and Jimmy Palmoiotti. It is the more interesting tale, both from a storytelling and an artistic standpoint, and even without reading the rest of the story it would be reasonable to say go pick that up instead of this one.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars good story, nice art, June 1, 2003

By 

M. Cookson (Colorado Springs) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ultimate Daredevil & Elektra Volume 1 TPB (Paperback)

First, let me say that, while I read a lot of comics, I haven't really read that many Daredevil comics. I only really got interested in them once I saw the movie. I read this book after reading the Daredevil:The Movie comic collection. The first comic in this book was also in that one, so the repetition is kind of a disappointment. However, it's nice to get the rest of the story. In this book, Matt and Elektra are both at college. They meet and they fall in love, but then Elektra starts to want to get revenge on a guy who hurt a friend of hers. I thought the artwork in this book was great, and the story was interesting. I don't know if a big fan of the Daredevil comics would like it, but I enjoyed it a lot. After the main story, there are a few pages from Salvador Larroca's sketchbook, showing how he came up with the design for a younger Elektra and her costumes. I liked those pages too - they gave a nice (but not really very detailed) look into some of the thought process behind the story. The final part of the book is a bonus comic featuring Maya Lopez (Echo), a woman with birth-induced deafness who can watch any action and commit it to muscle memory. In other words, she can watch someone fight or play a piano and do exactly as they did. I liked the comic, and I'll do my best to try and find the book in which that story is continued. Overall, I definitely recommend this book.