Daredevil: Gang War

Daredevil: Gang War #1-4

by Erica Schultz, Sergio Dávila (Penciler), Sean Parsons (Inker)

The heat is on in Hell’s Kitchen! Spider-Man recruits Elektra Natchios, former assassin turned Daredevil, to stop New York City from tearing itself apart as every mobster and super villain in town goes to war! Elektra already has her hands full with the dangerous new gang known as the Heat when a new player with powerful and lethal abilities, and skills to match her own, explodes into the fray! For the first time in her life, Elektra may be out of her depth! With the city engulfed in violence and chaos, she’s all that stands between the people of Hell’s Kitchen and a bloodthirsty criminal conspiracy! Collecting DAREDEVIL: GANG WAR #1-4.

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics

112 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2024

About the author

Erica Schultz is an American comic book writer, letterer, and editor. She is the first woman to write a Spawn comic, and is best known for her writing work at Marvel on titles like Daredevil, X-23, and Hallows' Eve.

Reviews

[Bill Riggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had really low expectations going into this collection but found it to be surprisingly well done. The writing, characterization, and art perfectly complemented one another and the resulting storyline was thoroughly enjoying.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Along with the Spider-Woman issues, this was one of the better Gang War tie-ins. Just so as you’re aware, particularly as this book still has no cover on Goodreads as I write this, the Daredevil in this book is Elektra, not Matt.

The art in this was decent, if a little cartoony in places for my tastes (mainly in the flashbacks to Elektra’s childhood). I was interested to see a character from a Wolverine book a few years back show up as an antagonist here, although the end of her character arc was a bit weird.

Still, unlike most of the other Gang War tie-ins, this one is actually worth a read.

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 4 out of 5]

☆☆☆1/2 rounded up because I totally and unconditionally love Elektra as Daredevil😍😍😍😍

[Khurram · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this brutal action-packed quick read of a book. This goes from one fight to the next, I like the panels of the fight going across two pages.

Elektra as Daredevil is doing what she does best, well, second best as she has promised not to kill. She is defending Hells Kitchen. With the heroes and authorities spread thin, Elektra stands alone, possible by choice. However, has she met her match in a new assassin who has secrets of her own.

Elektra was done perfectly in this book. In the few appearances in this book, the once again made Miles look like the mature Spider-man and Peter the whine preaching mess. That is the reason I did not get the main Gangwar series. I can just imagine more of Peter's character being destroyed. The book finishes with a varient covers gallery and a sketchbook.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Daredevil Elektra Fight! Fight! Fights her way through the Gang War event. Not much else to say here, really.

[Frédéric · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's a possibility Erica Schultz could write a decent Elektra one day.
The introspective passages in this pointless tie-in are pretty well done and hint at a good approach to the character. But everything that surrounds them is completely pointless, of no interest whatsoever in the context of Gang War. And I'm not even talking about the antagonist, who's been shoehorned in and whose motivations don't matter - "I'm going to prove that I can beat the great Elektra mwah ah ah!". Yeah, right.

I didn't like the drawing; too cartoony for Elektra. Such goddess deserves Sienkewicz or Chechetto or nothing.

In short, don't waste your money on this volume but keep an eye on Ms Schultz. Maybe one day...

[Adam Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tie-in to the Gang War event primarily featuring Daredevil (Elektra). Team ups with both Spider-Men and one on one fighting against a Weapon X clone called Bellona. Overall, a very fast paced story and pretty much non-stop action.
Recommend. Good for a quick fun read.

[Keegan Schueler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very quick read and not too much happens but does good job showing off Elektra as Daredevil.

[Emmett Spain · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable, well-paced tie-in that shows what Elektra was off doing in Hell’s Kitchen to help stop the brutal Gang War.

[Tyler Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This corner of the Gang War felt a little lackluster but the epilogue of issue 4 makes for a good official conclusion to the war. The art was really good and Daredevil looked amazing in every single frame she was in. A decent read that helps the main story but never feels like it has importance to the main story.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Some parts were pretty decent. But. Overall pretty middle of the road.

[Gbolahan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. It was just Elektra moving from fight to fight, talking to herself. And she sounds so corny. "I won't kill, I made Matt a promise". Blah. Who cares.
I kept on waiting for her constantly fluttering strips of cloth to get stuck on something. Why does she have a scarf. Her large earrings, here one panel, gone the next (ears under mask all through 🤦🏿‍♂️), also kept on waiting for those earrings to snag on something, or have one of the people she kept beating up to pull on it and pull her ear off.
I don't get those earrings.
Her colour code just kept on reminding me of Batwoman.
Why did they keep drawing her ropes all twisted around her when she's swinging? Did they think that made her look cool, or something? Nah. Made her look stupid. Like she was about to get tangled and plummet to her death. What the heck was wrong with drawing a straight line, for God's sake.
Nothing happens here, nothing gets resolved, her inner monologue is tiring. Just fight fight fight, and those weren't even fun to watch. Or read, look at, whatever.

And. This wasn't Daredevil. This was Elektra. Plain and simple. No billy clubs. Only sai daggers (very sharp pair on the cover). I don't get the idea behind replacing Murdock with a sighted lady assassin with her own weapon brand, but whatever.

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an average trade and an okayish tie-in and sees Elektra fight criminals in particular The heat gang in the midst of gang war and you see a new assassin named Bellona targeting her when she is fighting Scarfe, the leader of the heat atm and well its an average fight and you see some investigations and all that and then the real identity of Bellona and that was a fun twist and motive for the said character and you need to read the main ASM Gang war stories to keep up with the events, and the fight's okayish and average, felt like very much 2000-s inspired.

There were some good moments like the interaction between Pete and Elektra, and you see her attempt at being a hero now like changing from an assassin and all that and what that results in. The end one does set up there will be another fight between Bellona and Elektra, but I just wish they had actually given her a good motive and explained how she came to work for MM, and the fight got over quick weirdly.

So yeah a story with potential but has many flaws and I won't recommend it, but the art is gorgeous and there are some good moments between Elektra and Pete that makes it a maybe one-time read.

[Michael J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a tie-in mini-series to the epic Gang War in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man, this is pretty solid compared to the usual tie-in titles. While I would not consider this essential reading, if you're a Daredevil fan you'll want to see how Elektra handles the role as Daredevil: The Woman Without Fear. The good thing is that it's very easy to pick up the plot without having to read the larger Gang War series.

Erica Schultz writes a page-turning tale, with a large number of fights (as you might expect) but manages to make the most of the non-battle scenes to reveal the inner conflicts - - will Elektra respect the desires of Matt Murdock in taking responsibility for keeping Hell's Kitchen safe, or will her fighting instincts and no hesitation to kill take over? I really like Elektra in this role -- it adds a new dimension to her character. The fight scenes are spectacular.

Overall, the art is very good with some exceptions. I wouldn't call it "cartoonish" as some reviews have done, but in places it seems a little too light-hearted for the more serious nature of the story and doesn't seem to fit the premise.

[· · Rating 3 out of 5]

(24 October, 2024)

The whole 'Gang War' storyline does not interest me in the least and Schultz's contribution to it, this collection, is pointless. Big fight, many heroes and villains... blah blah, blah. Conversely, her characterisation of this Daredevil is perfect.

Elektra is a supremely gifted fighter, true, but she is so much more here. Others see her as an all-too-serious loner, but she has a lighter side too! After her fight with a super bland Weapon X clone, she quips:

"It's a shame... I was just getting to like her."

Maybe a trite comment elsewhere but here it fits so well. It's ironic gold! Additionally, her inner monologue is smart and meaningful: as Mat soul-searches, Elektra self-examines, they're not quite the same thing.

Daredevil tries to be good - and succeeds. She takes time to entertain children, she values Spider-Man because Matthew thinks highly of him. She also keeps her promise (not to kill) to Mat, almost fretting over it at a certain point, in short, she cares. She really tries to appreciate the other heroes. Her time with Peter Parker's Spider-Man is brief but it is full of gravitas, and fun. More of that please!

While the author may or may not be adept at storytelling, she can definitely write a great character. Elektra has always had the potential to be one of the greats, under Schultz's hand, she might get there one day.

Dávila'a art is beautiful but uneven, from cartoonish to freakin' gorgeous! How does that happen?

To sum up, "Booo, story. Yay Daredevil!"

[Kahn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nothing tells you you're behind on your Daredevil reading than discovering Daredevil is now Elektra.
There are also two Spider-Mans knocking about, but that feels like a revelation for another day.
Gang War is another of the cross-over shindigs that Marvel do so well, and here we have She-Hulk, Daredevil, Spider-Mans and Spider-Woman trying to keep Hell's Kitchen in one piece while a ragtag collection of supervillains set about trying to take over the place.
The action is fast, the dialogue is fun and the artwork is just beautiful. And even not knowing how we got to this point didn't hinder the enjoyment.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have about twelvty Daredevil books to buy.

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another Gang War tie-in and another look at a part of Marvel's NYC...

This time we've got Daredevil (Elektra) defending Hell's Kitchen from invasive mobsters (oh no!). It doesn't really advance the narrative of Gang War, and it's used primarily to update the reader on the current status of Daredevil as a 'hero' (also known as, 'Haaaaaave you seen Murdock?'

It's not bad...just not super tied into things.
===
Bonus: Always amusing when authors pull out their 'toys' from other work. (Bellona!)
Bonus Bonus: One panel mention of Elektra's upgraded sai? (acoustic tracking?? WTF?)

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Daredevil (no not that one) gets involved in the Gang War as a familiar assassin sets her sights on taking Elektra down once and for all.

This is kind of a follow-on to the recent Woman Without Fear mini-series, with some of the same characters involved, and a vague allusion to Gang War (apart from a few pages and a Spider-Man appearance, this is mostly separate). Elektra toeing the line between good and not-so-good is always a good time, though her new little sidekick character doesn't really add much to the table.

Some nice art from Sergio Davila though, and a decent read overall.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 to 3.5 stars - the various crime bosses have been battling over Hell's Kitchen, and evidently also all of the other NYC neighborhoods, since the Kingpin stepped aside. The Gang War storyline is also playing out over the comic stories of the other "ground-level" heroes too, so I'll also need to read the Spider-man, Miles Morales, and possibly other books as well to get the full picture. This one was pretty good, with Elektra battling the crooked cops of The Heat, The Owl, and and a new assassin hired by Madame Masque, who has the abilities of Wolverine.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gang War looks like a fun crossover with the street-level supervillains of Manhattan going after each other. But we just get a confusing slice of those events.

We get a new villain (I think) who's pretty interesting, but ultimately her story is left unresolved too.

And finally we get Elektra in a starring role, and a hint at how she's changed from her assassin past.

Overall, a fair story, and maybe it'd go up in rating if it actually merges well with the rest of the Gang War crossover.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starts off pretty strong but starts to meander as it kind of just becomes check ins to what Elektra is doing during Gang War. Mainly she's randomly fighting The Heat who is a repurposed X-character we haven't seen for a while. The beginning does tie in quite a bit with what is going on over in the regular Daredevil comic. Sergio Davila's art was solid. A little too cartoony in places.

[Spencer Greenwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was ok as far as event tie-ins go. It hinted at what was going in the major story arc but it was pretty self-contained and had a story of its own. The story didn't have a real resolution, so assuming we may pick some of this up in future books. The action scenes were well illustrated and fun. I like Elektra as Daredevil and right now she's much more interesting than Matt.

[Mike Jorgensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Elektra as Daredevil, this series is good but suffers a bit from the weight of being a crossover tie-in. That said, I think Erica did everything she could with it. In particular, fun dynamics with Daredevil and Spider-man(ahem, men.)

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

As Gang War tie-ins go, this was one of the better ones, focusing on Elektra as she fights against The Heat (corrupt policemen and former cops who've started a gang) and deals with a Wolverine-clone sent to kill her. The art is decent throughout.

[Daniel Butcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe one of my favorites of the Gang War with it focused on just one hero.

[Velhala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome! Looking forward to the new series after this :)

[Juan Pablo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Esta bueno, tenía rato sin leer algo de Drago Dragon y este comic me gustó

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was iconic

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

feels like a lot of Electra, reluctant hero, stories play out similarly

[Néstor Vargas · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best Gang War tie in. Elektra as Daredevil is fantastic. The art wasn’t bad at all, the fights looked good and had personality. I liked Bellona as the antagonist.