Single Issue Review - Elektra #2

A few months back, I got a great deal on some comics from @blewitt. As I read through them, I plan to share my thoughts, an issue at a time. This is the first one I've read.

This issue features Elektra running afoul of manchild villain Arcade. I've not read a single issue in a while so there were a couple things I found interesting. For example, this issue didn't really have a traditional splash page. This is what it had instead.

It does give a recap of what happened so far, and sets the mood of the book, but it doesn't have any kind of cliffhanger or foreshadowing to pull you in and keep you reading. Is this typical? Are splash pages a thing of the past?

I also liked this ad from the back cover.

It reminds me of the old Hostess ads featuring Captain America or the Hulk, where the characters are interacting with the product. I could see Daredevil and Elektra using booking.com to plan a vacation together.

But now on to the story itself. **Slight spoilers ahead. Elektra is planning to head out after helping a new acquaintance last issue, but her plans are cut short when she's assaulted by a group of assassins. She knows she's not going to get any peace until she figures out who sent them and deals with it. So she moves to infiltrate the main villain's hideout. These are all pretty standard story elements, so no points for originality here, but it's a fun read.

Let's take a look at a particular sequence, and talk about what was done well, and what can be improved. **Major spoilers ahead.

So we've got Elektra taking out a security camera, and sneaking in just as a door closes. The flash of red in the 2nd to last panel let's you know she made it in, and the calmness of the last panel tells me that something big and really cool is coming. They've nicely built anticipation. Let's turn the page and see what we've got.

Scarlet Spider? Where did he come from? Oh, wait. A crummy commercial. That seems like poor placement. If you make comics, don't do this. The payoff is on the next page:

The lights go out, splatter, slash, snikt, and the bad guys get sais in the guts. Here's the Elektra I'm familiar with. Nicely executed.

Where do we go from here?

Panel 1: The doors start to open.

Panel 2: The rest of the bad guys prep, but are uncertain what they'll find.

Panel 3: Aftermath of carnage.

Panel 4: This is my favorite panel of the whole book. The camera angle, the composition, Elektra's pose. She's right there next to them and no one knows it but the reader. The whole sequence has been leading up to this panel. It moves the story forward, tells you a bit about Elektra's M.O., and builds anticipation. This is how comics should be composed.

Panel 5:

This sequence was overall well done, but the ad in the middle did take me out of the experience and broke the flow.

In general this book was fun to read, but not terribly impactful or life changing. It was nice to see what Elektra has been up to lately, and I am interested in what happens next issue. So I guess it accomplished its goal.