Ultimate Daredevil & Elektra: Volume 1 [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

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.

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.