What does an assassin do when she has no one to kill? In Elektra's case, it comes close to driving her mad.

Elektra, foremost assassin in the Marvel Universe, can't find work to save her life. None of her usual sources are hiring, and many former associates want nothing to do with her. In growing desperation, she starts brawls in dojos and bars, but while that might keep her fighting edge keen, it doesn't pay the bills; in less than a month, her ill-gotten fortune is gone, and Elektra is wandering the streets in desperation and filth.

But it's all part of a cunning plan by several people with axes to grind. All of them had someone close to them killed by Elektra in the past, and in every case, the victims weren't Elektra's targets -- they were just people who got in the way. Those people use various means to get Elektra blacklisted and, when she's teetering at the brink, one of them tags her, bags her and brings her home.

The mind games that follow dance on the border between torture and brainwashing, but Jeremy Locke's goal isn't to kill Elektra; he desires only to make her feel guilty, kickstart her conscience and, if he's very lucky, convince her to kill herself. But he won't take the one step that, he believes, will make him as bad as she is. So, once her mind is wracked with self-doubt and loathing, he abandons her in the desert with no supplies but for her deadly sais.

Fortunately for Elektra, Locke's associates are less willing to leave her fate to chance and they and a heavily armed band of mercenaries set out to find her and finish the job. And that, of course, is all the challenge she really needs.

The book is well written by Greg Rucka and the art by Carlo Pagulayan is a pleasure to view. However, I suspect a lot of Elektra fans will take issue with Rucka's take on the character. Elektra, who used to share a little radar love with the blind hero Daredevil, is often depicted as a killer who chooses her targets carefully; the contracts she accepts are people she believes deserve to die and would not have killed so many innocent bystanders as Locke claims. At other times, she might be seen as a more ruthless assassin, but it's doubtful that person would bend so quickly to Locke's presentation of photographs and narcotics.

Still, if you accept Introspect on its own, without considering any backstory on the character, then you'll surely enjoy the twists and turns the story takes.

A backup story, written by Rucka and CGI-illustrated by Greg Horn, has nothing to do with the other story. It is simply a tale of assassination, focusing more on the one who hired Elektra than the killer herself. The text is a strong stand-alone piece; the art is exquisite.

by Tom Knapp
Rambles.NET
29 April 2006