Elektra: Always Bet On Red

Elektra (2017) #1-5

by Matt Owens (Writer), Juan Cabal (Illustrator), Elizabeth Torque (Cover Artist)

Running from her tumultuous past, Elektra attempts to lose herself in a vibrant sea of neon, noise and anonymity: the gambler's paradise Las Vegas! But how long can a former ninja assassin really hope to escape the vortex of violence that encompasses her life, especially when there's a new would-be kingpin in Sin City who has her in his crosshairs? Enter: Arcade! A string of clues - including high-tech weaponry, kidnappings and assassins - will lead Elektra to a game of chance more deadly than she ever expected. But she hasn't forgotten her past, or any of the skills she's learned - and Arcade will find out she's more than ready for a Casino Battle Royale! If you know Elektra, you know to always bet on red!

COLLECTING: ELEKTRA 1-5

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

136 pages, Paperback

First published September 26, 2017

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Hey boys . . . Anyone wanna dance?" -- Elektra, making a dramatic entrance

"You brought a sai to a gun fight? You #$%&ed up, ninja girl." -- thug, in the last 5 seconds of his life

Jump. Spin. Punch. Kick. This was one action-heavy little story, featuring Elektra 'on holiday' in Sin City. While incognito (glamorously resembling actress Charlize Theron, I'd say) at a casino bar she turns Good Samaritan to help a female employee suffering abuse at the hands of management. What she soon uncovers is the villainous Arcade with yet another version of his Murderworld ("Murderworld? Seriously? Isn't it time to retire that? Can't you come up with a new name?" cracks an annoyed Elektra) that is now updated for the reality show, social media, digital gaming-obsessed 21st century. Nothing too deep here, but it was enjoyable as an energetic and colorful book.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was OK; reasonably entertaining with nice artwork. The reason I haven't rated it higher is because it felt more like a Catwoman or Batgirl story than an Elektra story. The fact that Arcade (this book's baddie) kept making references to Batman villains didn't do anything to negate that feeling, either.

If I were a cynical person, I'd suspect this script of having been rejected by DC and resubmitted to Marvel after a 'Find and Replace' edit had been done on the character names. Good job I'm not a cynical person.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Elektra gets wrapped up in one of Arcade's Murderworld scenarios. There's nothing groundbreaking here storywise, but the art is clean and vibrant. Juann Cabal definitely deserves some higher profile work off this. It looks terrific. The new costume was a curious change. While it looks fine, it in no way looks identifiable as Elektra, screaming just random ninja. Elektra has such an iconic costume that I'm surprised Marvel would let anyone do much else than tweak it.

[Sail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Die hard Elektra fans will definitely enjoy this fun & fast-paced read.

Pros:
-beautiful, vibrant artwork
-Vegas setting
-her new costume freaking rocks
-interesting side characters
-flashbacks involving Matt

Cons:
-another Murderworld storyline of Arcade's
-might not entertain fans of classic Elektra

Hopefully this run will last for a while.

[Jaye Berry · Rating 2 out of 5]

This started so good but then it went to stupidville and never found the way back. The first issue starts with Elektra at a Vegas bar. She learns that the bartender, Lauren is getting abused by her mobster boyfriend so Elektra is a badass mf and takes him OUT. Absolutely loved the energy of this, loved Elektra & loved the vibes. If the rest of this volume had been that energy, this would have been a fave but nOoOOoOo.

Elektra quickly ends up in the crosshairs of Arcade who forces Elektra into a game with other kidnapped people. Like this was all SO stupid and was giving me Ready Player One flashbacks ugh. She had to go through specific levels and I hated it. Arcade was a joke too.

There were a couple pages where it showed Daredevil and Elektra in black and white while only the red of their costumes showed and that was kinda lit but the rest of this was no thank you.

Elektra is cool though, love a ninja.

[Amanja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Find the complete review with pretty pictures here https://amanjareads.com/2020/09/28/el...

Elektra: Always Bet on Red is part of the Running With the Devil series of one offs featuring Daredevil bad guys. I previously wrote about Bullseye and Kingpin. Our final villain is Elektra, who as always, toes the line between good and evil.

If you couldn't tell from my profile picture or all of the other reviews about her I've written, I love Elektra. She's one of my favorite characters of all time. We all have that character we love even if all of their books aren't the best.

Well, Elektra: Always Bet on Red is not the best but it's certainly not the worst. If anything, it's the most fun of any of her books I've read so far.

It features the always wacky Arcade as the dominant bad guy of the book. Once again, he has set up a ridiculously complicated way to kill people. This time he's in Vegas where high rollers are allowed to get deep in the action.

I actually like Arcade, he's basically an old school Batman villain but in the even sillier Marvel universe. And I think it's a fun pairing for the super serious Elektra. It brings out a lighter side to her that I don't think I have ever seen before.

She still gets to be a badass boss but she doesn't have to worry about all of her men troubles, both lover and father related. She's just placed in a survival conflict that is exactly the environment in which she thrives.

There are of course some flashback moments that get a little heavier, because you have to with her.

But it got me this panel that is now the wallpaper on my tablet so I'm not complaining.

The Running With the Devil series was very uneven in quality. Kingpin was the most profound, and by far had the most to offer in terms of plot and characterization. Bullseye was easily the worst of the trio, boring and basically forgettable. And Elektra was the most enjoyable to read.

This book was the most entertaining and light of the bunch. It can easily be read in one sitting and is a lovely way to spend an hour after work one evening.

Bonus points for covering her skin with a more practical outfit! Now, I love the iconic one piece with leg straps as much as anyone. But I can tell you from experience those leg straps are just not practical. I was amazed they stayed up at comicon but I can't imagine they would stay in place during an acrobatic fight! What are they even for?!

Ahem, anyway, Elektra good. Go ahead and enjoy Elektra: Bet on Red with some goofy Arcade Murder World antics.

[Gary Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

1st book read in 2019.

Number 494 out of 749 on my all time book list.

Not a huge fan of the villain Arcade.

[Kelly K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not familiar with this character, but I like her and I found this to be a fun volume. I look forward to reading more. Also kind of want this to be my Halloween costume because FUCK YEAHH.

[Emmett Spain · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great art cannot save a silly script with terrible dialogue and two of the most annoying villains in all of Marvel teaming up. The art deserved better writing.

[Sana · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Men will only take their hands from around your throat long enough to put them in your pocket.'

I mean, this is pretty much just mindless fun and I laughed at the Pacific Rim reference, but Arcade is so annoying that he almost reads like a caricature of typical villains that it wasn't hard to guess he had struck some kind of a deal with a bigger villain that I had no trouble guessing the identity of.

In all honesty, there have been several of these same stuck-in-a-deadly-game storylines featuring different superheroes throughout the years so in that sense, there's nothing really new here and to make it all worse, the dialogue is downright terrible and clunky. However, I did have fun seeing Elektra fight her way through so points for that, I guess.

The art matches the story pretty well and makes use of all the typical superhero comic palettes that it's hard to mistake it for anything else.

[Garrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let me start with: Elektra's new suit fucking rocks! WAY overdue giving this badass ninja assassin some pants.

This story will seem formulaic to readers of 80s X-Men books, and it doesn't feel much like a classic Elektra story, either, so old-school Elektra fans may feel left out. But it is a solid to return-to-feel, and much needed in the revitalization of this character. Good side characters, and fun, action-oriented artwork - my only complaint is the one issue where there's an artist switch-up, and I'm hoping that simply couldn't be helped. Nice evocation of her history, and a sense of humor often missing from Elektra books.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story puts Elektra in a new version of Arcade's murderworld. The premise sounds interesting, but really this story never quite clicked for me. There was no follow up on the previous Elektra series from 2014, which isn't a huge deal, but to me the character here never really felt like Elektra. The art wasnt bad, and the series itself wasn't bad. but it just didn't feel like it really captured the character.

[fatin]

elektra deserves a better villain to face-off with than loser arcade i just can’t stand him. other than that, i love the panels where there was a parallel with the time she spent with daredevil.

[Deniz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aşırı güzel? Konusu çok farklıydı. Elektra karım aşkım birtanem muhteşemsin❤️ Geçmişle paralel olan sahnelerin çizimi müthişti. Son sayının kapağına DD koyup Daredevil baiting yapmışlar clownlandım🤡

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've said it once and I will continue saying it I love assassins. My obsession with them started with Elektra. My comic store knows how obsessed I am that when I walked in today they walked up with the book and said they made the new Elektra into a tradeback. It was amazing 😉. About the tradeback itself it was Elektra being her badass self. The artwork was spectacular and I loved her new suit. If you adore Elektra like I do you should definitely pick up this new installment.

[Juan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I mean, I just do not see a valid reason why someone thought this story was going to be a good idea.

Related but not really.... I really dont like Arcade. Why does he appear to be like Liberace? I digress. In any event, this Elektra story does not really provide much to the overall story and I feel there was a big missed opportunity to follow up on what we believe was an attack made by The Purple Man several arcs ago from the Daredevil series.

[Gamal Hennessy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A classic Marvel character and an exceptional artist are wasted in this story. The D-level antagonist and the heavy-handed use of pop culture cliches drain all the suspense from the plot. The ending reveals the whole thing as nothing more than the set up for the next arc. Having said that, I did enjoy some of the fight choreography. I hope to see more of this artist's work.

[Beelzefuzz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Elektra-ish person fights the worst X-Men badguy. The writer clearly wanted to do a Psylocke book. Avoidable and forgettable.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Matt Bouchard · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best solo Elektra run I’ve ever read!

[Emma Gear · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kinda just read this one on a whim. I've always had some level of affection for Elektra as a character and I personally really like the outfit she's rockin' here and given that this is so short I figured why not.

Eh. It's alright.



The story here is a very simple one. Elektra comes strolling up into Vegas once upon a time and comes across a young woman who's very clearly got visible signs of abuse on her body. She obviously can't just sit by and allow that to happen, so she decides to intervene on the woman's behalf, and uncovers a larger conspiracy involving kidnapping patrons of the casino or otherwise and forcing them into horrible murderous themed events.

You might call them murderworlds.



Yes it's a very simple Elektra runs through a Murderworld story. She is forced to compete with a number of other competitors, attempts to save them, and eventually travels through this video game-themed world. It has all the potential to be something interesting but I think it mainly suffers from a severe mood whiplash problem.

The mood in the first couple issues is something more tense, and dark. People are being subjected to horrors inside the murderworld, and many of them aren't making it out alive. Elektra's intervention in the first place is based on signs of abuse she spotted on a woman, and she makes short work of those taking advantage of her in a satisfyingly violent manner. The problem is that a bit into the Murderworld portion of the story it sorta shifts gears. Screwball is introduced early on but once she becomes a central villain it turns into something more action-packed, lighthearted, and borderline anime at times.



Had these two wildly different tones been part of separate runs or even different storylines entirely I think it would have done well. As it is, squeezing them both into the same one just kinda means they both rob from one another. The hardcore cool action scenes are distracting for some of the heavy themes at the start, and vice versa.

Overall just an average run at best. Taken in a vacuum both of these sections of the miniseries are half of something interesting. As a whole. Eh. Read it if you like Elektra, feel free to pass if you're looking to get started on the character or looking to change your mind if you don't like her.

[Jeff Lanter · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a character, I feel like Elektra can't catch a break. Her movie is bad and most of the graphic novels that focus just on her are sadly very mediocre. This one unfortunately fits in perfectly with that trend. It almost seems like writers don't know what to do with her outside of Daredevil but more on that later.

In this story, Elektra faces off with Arcade, a cheesy, but also dark villain from the X-Men. This is not a great pairing because Elektra is a dark and brooding character and Arcade is over the top and petty at the same time. It doesn't work as a foil very well. The art is the one thing I did like about this book which is really bright and crisp. There are a few jaw-dropping panels of Elektra in this though her costume redesign is not that great and I prefer her original design much more. The issue is that the writing is a bit cheesy with some bad one-liners and it almost feels like it is channeling Scott Pilgrim (which did this kind of thing much better). The one liners don't fit a character like Elektra and she'd be much better facing off against a darker "street-level" villain like the Kingpin.

And maybe that is the problem, the stories Elektra is best in have already been told so writers struggle with a way to tell a fresh story with her in it. To be honest, if the art wasn't so great, I would have given this two stars because I thought it was pretty disappointing and not worth reading. If you like Elektra from other things like Daredevil, I'd advise staying away from this as it does not nail what makes the character great.

[Kori Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story, great art. The las vagus and simulations led to opportunities for great lighting. Kinda wish there was more of the card deck based villains but it’s already a miniseries so I get there being no time. I assume the production was a little rushed, A few Colour errors like (The Bartender) Lauren’s eye colour changes, Elektra’s sleeve turns white and a far of shot were they seem to have forgotten to colour most of Elektra. Laura could have probably had a little more going on but again miniseries. Screwball and Arcade teaming ups makes a lot of sense. Arcade is a villain that most writers seem to feel the need to lampshade, (I guess if they don’t really like him there’s only so much they can change about him.) Screwball was very Screwball. Some of the references at the end felt off, i guess they were slightly clunky on purpose and it’s harder to date comic if you stick to well known games with longevity.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Elektra is not a character I normally follow. The art looked exceptional on this, so I picked it up.
Running from her past (what ever the last Volume of comic she was in would give the answer to this), Elektra has ended up in Las Vegas. Putting herself on the line for a bartender who is getting beat on by her boss, Elektra has a brief but violent fight that draws the attention of Arcade. Arcade eventually captures her and sends her into his stereotypical go-to, Murderworld. She spends the rest of the Volume working/fighting her way through that. A fun ride overall, but nothing crazy special. The end lets us know that Kingpin has been pulling some strings, but it's not indicated where we will see this foreshadowing come back into play.
Recommend, if you want a fast and fun read.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Always bet on red

Simulated game worlds, giant robots, etc. It doesn't seem to fit in the street level, Daredevil world, and I didn't find much of it very interesting. The first issue was great, but.... There are a few flashback scenes w/DD, and those are cool. The final panels connect this series to Kingpin, DD, and Bullseye. Those few scenes were much more interesting than 90% of the book.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

Elektra is a great character but she has never been able to have her old sustained run. Here, there just isn't enough substance to make readers care about Elektra. She looks amazing, she does cool stuff, but its just not enough. Added to that the incredibly one note antagonists and its a weak outing. The art was pretty good throughout with some gorgeous covers. Overall, an unfortunately light book that doesn't do enough to showcase the lead.

[Anna Roscoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had a slow start but I liked the main story. Not really a plot I would expect Elektra to be in but it made for a funny contrast. The pop art style of the illustrations is not my favorite but it's consistent and crisp.

[Villain E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Elektra is hiding out in Vegas, trying to get away from everything. But Arcade has set up a new Murderworld and Elektra gets roped in.

Entertaining, although I can't imagine it would appeal to fans of gritty Daredevil comics.

[Mr Osowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Owens does a really nice job with Elektra and Cabal has a nice, simple style that is very compelling. This run will hopefully go longer than the last run of Elektra--one of my favorite characters.

[Daniel Butcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly this has the potential of being a different kind of Elektra story but it was shot a little short of great for me.