It’s an undisputed fact: Elektra Natchios is the best assassin in the Marvel Universe! And a murderers’ row of all-star Marvel creators are here to present the proof, in glorious black and white…with lashings of blood! Trained by both the vicious Hand and the benevolent Chaste, Elektra walks the line between good and evil — with style! And now, a dozen astonishing tales set throughout her long and lethal life illustrate her fighting skills, ninja training and sheer determination! Prepare to see Elektra in a whole new light…and on the larger-than-life pages of a Treasury Edition!
Charles Soule is a #1 New York Times-bestselling novelist, comics author, screenwriter, musician, and lapsed attorney. He has written some of the most prominent stories of the last decade for Marvel, DC and Lucasfilm in addition to his own work, such as his comics Curse Words, Letter 44 and Undiscovered Country, and his original novels Light of the Jedi, The Endless Vessel, The Oracle Year and Anyone. He lives in New York.
I have enjoyed all the Black White and Red books so far from Marvel/Disney, but this is the one I have been looking forward to the most. Partly because Elektra is one of my favourite characters. I am glad to say the book did not disappoint.
The book contains 12 short (more emphasis on the artwork than the dialogue, which again fits Elektra perfectly), over 4 issues. The stories vary in how the writer sees Elektra as an assassin, a protector, an avenger, a vigilante, or an instrument of death in general.
I think the book covered all the different aspects of Elektra's different personalities or roles. There are stories about her intelligence and messed up personality but always deadly. This is a must-have for any Elektra fan. I love the A3 format and great artwork. The book finishes with a variant cover gallery.
If we're going to be doing these short black+white stories, the artists really need to bring their A-game. Too many of these just feel like pointless short-stories that do not expand on the character or world of Elektra. So they at least need to be captivating to look at and most aren't.
That feel when you are a ninja assassin but you aren't allowed to wear pants.
I love Elektra but I wasn't the biggest fan of this. 😭 This is an anthology with 12 different stories in only black, white, & red. Such a good character to give this treatment to! All the stories were pretty creative but also I felt like I didn't understand half of them?? Like for real I just sat confused because what??
Some of them were just so out there and then there were ones with no words. I don't mind panels with no words, the art speaking for itself is fantastic but it didn't do it for me here. But really I think a lot of the stories I didn't understand had words lol.
I love the different art styles that were used but there was some ugly art too. It was all so violent which obviously duh but it was lots and lots of bloodspray. I'm glad Daredevil can't see because man he would be so disappointed to see Elektra hacking and slashing without care.
Very disappointing it mentions how she's been Daredevil on the contents page which is the best character arc in her entire history but then every single story had her same ugly original outfit. I will die on the hill of jesus christ which horny dude designed that outfit because it sucks.
Lots of the stories did do a bunch of random things but I wish it had been less nonsense and blood spraying and more of a theme.
I just enjoyed this so much!!!! Elektra is one of my favorite superheroes, or better anti-heroes, ever, and I've picking up her comics since I was a kid, and this one did not disappoint!!! I LOVE that this is an anthology of multiple little stories - they're all so set in its own style, very unique in that way, and then it's just this use of red that is beautiful and incredible to see!!! This is such a good book and big recommendation!!!
I love Elektra, I love treasury edition sized books, and I love the overall aesthetic of duochromatic black, white and blood colored stuff. So, this had a lot going for it right out the gate.
These were mostly fun and pretty, low impact one-shots. Was nice to see some favorite returning creators “Daredevilverse” creators like Ann Nocenti, and it was also cool to see industry favs who rarely Marvel, like Kevin Eastman. The rest of the contributors did a pretty good job. There was some Greg Land, but it was short.
Anyway, this won’t change your life, but it’s not a bad way to spend 20 minutes of it.
It's not too often that Marvel gets experimental, so when they do it's usually something special. "Elektra: Black, White, and Blood" is one of those times.
This book collects 12 bite-size tales about our favorite deadly assassin, Elektra Natchios. Like most anthologies, the stories here run the gamut - there's a beautifully illustrated poem ("Rendezvous"), an unexpected matchup ("Powers You Can't Comprehend"), and even a straight-up "what if" vampire story ("Red Dawn"). Some stories feature our leading lady in almost every frame, while in others you only get a fleeting glimpse, a flash of red ribbon and a victim left motionless on the cold ground. Some of the stories worked better for me than others, but most were at least interesting.
The central theme of the book isn't story, but style: as the title implies, the illustrations are black and white, with red being the only color used throughout. I guess there are a few other books that did this with other characters, but it's a style uniquely suited to Elektra, giving artists lots of opportunity to play with how red works into the otherwise monochromatic color palette.
"Elektra: Black, White, and Blood" isn't a deep cut by any means, but offers twelve unusual glimpses of one of the most unique, compelling characters in the Marvel universe. I hope they continue exploring experimental storytelling like this.
This is an anthology series featuring Elektra, and the only colors used in the art are black, white and red. Some of these are in continuity stories, others are more "what if" type tales. A few cool guest stars pop up, notably Ghost Rider and Black Widow. Some of the stories are straight forward, others are more existential. I liked the experimentation, and also liked the traditional stories.
This was pretty much what I expected: a cash grab. A bunch of short stories, primarily focusing on Elektra. Unfortunately, they are so short that there is very little depth. Some of them offer a glimpse into her thoughts, but most of them are just showcasing her ability to kill, which is a shame because Zdarksy has worked so hard to move her away from that in the current Daredevil series.
The title of the book is partially due to the fact that it is in black and white, plus the color red, namely used for her costume and all of the blood. The violence is excessive and not needed, IMO. Keeping her as a cold-blood assassin is shallow and a waste of a character, and that's why she's just languished for so many years.
Marvel put some high-profile names in for writers, but most of the artists seem to be new, and up and coming, as if this was a chance for them to get their feet wet and showcase their work. Sure, some of the covers are nice, but that's about it.
I was going to give this 2 stars, but now I don't think it's even worth that.
J’aime vraiment bien ce concept et j’avais aimé ma lecture de Deadpool donc j’ai sauté sur l’occasion d’acheter celui d’Elektra. C’était une bonne lecture, le livre est un très bel objet. Comme pour Deadpool, je dirai que malheureusement les histoires ne se valent pas toutes, c’était parfois déconcertant, parfois du génie mais cela reste globalement très plaisant à lire.
May 25th, 2023: Elektra: Black, White, and Blood, by a varied creative team. After I enjoyed the Moon Knight entry in this series a whole ton earlier this month I wanted to read another in the series, and I always loved Elektra as a kiddo. Borrowed via Hoopla.
Black, White, and Blood is a series done in a three-color palette of black, white, and red, which works particularly well for characters like Moon Knight and Elektra who do the dirty work. Each story is maybe eight pages or so and it seems like the creators have free reign to so what they please. My favorites in this one were the very first story, a short vampire tale that uses the palette to really cool effect (Elektra, as a vampire, looks at humans and sees their veins as red pulsing outlines through their skin, which looked very neat), and the entire second issue--Elektra saves a woman from a domestic violence situation at Wolverine's request, a police investigation into one of her assassinations is told via security camera footage, and then a silent story where Elektra deals with a yokai in Japan. "Weapon of Choice," where Elektra frees a number of Black Widows from their mind control, was also a highlight.
This didn't have the same strong character work that the Moon Knight volume did, where many of the creators seemed really interested in digging at what makes Marc who he is, but it was nice to see a lot of creators portray Elektra as self-reliant and eminently capable. I especially appreciated several of the stories focusing on Elektra helping women, without being heavyhanded about it. Overall this series is a very cool gimmick and I've had a lot of fun reading them!
Heavens know I don't expect too much from these anthologies; especially when I get them out of the library in oversized editions, I'm more here for striking visuals than any remarkable insights into the chosen character. Doubly so when it comes to Elektra, a character who's never quite convinced in any of her post-Frank Miller appearances. And visually, much of this obliges, with Greg Smallwood and Kevin Eastman in particular doing some gorgeous work (though I didn't see Eastman's story anywhere credit the poet whose Rendezvous With Death he uses as a text, Alan Seeger, which is a bit of a liberty). There's even one story, by Al Ewing and Rod Reis, which makes a nice little urban horror tale by shifting the great assassin from lead to barely glimpsed threat, and if I can't wholly buy the physics needed for it to work, then sod it, she's a ninja, we can go with the myth. But what I can't overlook is that the three-colour format has rules, and while you can certainly finesse that a little with different reds, what you cannot do is have the first sodding story close on a flash of orange.
I didn’t know anything about Elektra other than the film iterations, so it was nice to finally see her comic origins come to life in front of me on the page. I will say, I never realized how cutthroat and badass she is. I knew she was an assassin and deadly, but we get the fluff version of her with Jennifer Garner compared to the original source material. I like that she’s not afraid to go after what she wants and kill those who get in her way. In many ways she has an anti-hero vibe to her (similar to Catwoman if I may dare say), but way more intimidating and lethal.
Now I will also say this graphic novel is a collection of short stories, so it was more of a snapshot of who Elektra is as a character, rather than one specific storyline of her. Through the pages though, I thought the writers did a great job at capturing her essence. She is strong and not one in the Marvel canon to be crossed. The only thing I wished this collection would’ve let me in on (as a newcomer) was how Elektra’s powers of reincarnation work. It’s alluded to, but never explicitly explained, but I feel like that’s somewhat my fault for not having some Elektra/Dare Devil background coming into this. The character and stories portrayed in this collection definitely made me want to read more though.
Some of my favorite stories were “Not the Devil,” “Cut and Run,” “Weapons of Choice,” and “Powers You Can’t Comprehend.” The art in “Not the Devil” is amazing! The fact that Romero wrote and drew the entire thing is very impressive. His art reminds me of Darwyn Cooke somewhat. I love how they both draw their women, strong, bulky, and powerhouses. I also loved the fun mashups between Elektra and Black Widow, as well as Ghost Rider. This collection was very fun and I highly recommend!
Elektra Natchios je najlepší zabijak v Marvel univerze!
Nájomný vrah, neľútostný zabijak, mystický bojovník alebo hrdina - Elektra sa počas svojho pôsobenia v Marvel Univerze predstavila v rôznych úlohách. Antológia Black, White & Blood priniesla množstvo príbehov, ktoré nevynechali ani jednu z nich.
Prvé dva zošity sú čistý adrenalín a krátke príbehy nešetria akciou a červenou farbou. Vidíme tu jasnú demonštráciu toho, prečo je Elektra taká nebezpečná a smrtiaca. V druhej polovici už zbierka trochu stráca dych a kvalita príbehov začne trochu kolísať. Napriek tomu je to svižné čítanie, ktoré nestráca čas zbytočným filozofovaním. Niektoré príbehy sú vyslovene bez slov a za Elektru rozprávajú jej sai.
Ak táto postava patrí medzi vaše obľúbené, určite túto antológiu nevynechajte. Čaká vám Elektra na niekoľko spôsobov, či už vizuálnych, alebo príbehových.
V sérii Black, White & Blood sa okrem Elektry už predstavili Wolverine, Moon Knight, Carnage, Deadpool a na ceste je Darth Vader. A keďže Wolverine a Elektra ma nesklamali, určite sa pustím aj do ďalších postáv.
Not a great month for comics so far and lo and behold Charlie Soule is writing on this one too. Yikes. Well this is an anthology series so I can't fully blame him. I can't blame the format because Batman Black and White is an all time fav and Wolverine Black and White and red was fun. This suffers from the fact none of the writers seem to know who Elektra is (Batman and Wolverine have more established and grounded backgrounds and characters) and every story creates a completely different version of her. I could live with that if the stories were interesting, but they really aren't. You would think a female ninja assassin could be the basis of some cool short stories but the wrtiers are really uninspired. Big fail.
Quaint little collection of stories involving Elektra all done in the titular style of back and white and only pops of red color for accent. There's no need for continuity or for her to even survive the story. It's just various creative explorations of Elektra.
I wish she didn't get beat up so much - those always make it feel like she's not as good as an assassin as she's supposed to be. Not all stories in this collection are like that, at least. There are some great ones that really celebrate her as a lethal killer - one that can move literally faster than the eye. Others are just purely fantastical explorations of things like Elektra as a vampire or Elektra in feudal Japan.
A G Floy presenteia-nos com mais uma belíssima edição em Preto, Branco & Sangue. Depois de personagens como Wolverine, Deadpool e Carnificina, chega a vez de Elektra. Se era um nome da Marvel desconhecido para muitos, a personagem de Jennifer Garner em Daredevil (2003) e no filme homónimo (2005) trouxe a bela grega para os olhos do mundo, e também para os meus. Embora seja a primeira BD em que encontro a personagem, não posso deixar de registar que gostei muito deste álbum, com uma história coesa e uma arte de se lhe tirar o chapéu em muitos dos seus apontamentos.
Marvel went on a bit of a spree with anthology series in 2021. At least 4 characters got this treatment. 'Black, White, and Blood' is a bit of a big deal right now. These Elektra short stories are, arguably, the best of the best. It looks like Treasury size might be an even bigger boon for this idea/format.
The art is strong. The writing is crisp. Nothing veers off into well read territory.
Bonus: Elektra vs Vampires. Strong start to the collection... Bonus Bonus: The best stories contain no words. Prove me wrong.
Ugh, my first Marvel, probably by subconscious accident: I saw a hard copy sitting gloriously next to "Harleen" at my local geek store, which might have increased its value to me by association. The cover was enough to grasp my attention.
Not going to lie, I love "Elektra" as a concept, but she is too shallow in this anthology. All stories were too abrupt and quick to go to fighting. "Elektra" felt like just another underdressed comic character trying to fulfill the fantasies of poor teen or adult men with underdeveloped social skills and a sore handgrip.
I'd previously read the Wolverine series in the same format and really enjoyed it. Elektra seemed like a great character for the same treatment. Unfortunately, this who book seemed like an afterthought. Of the 12 stories, almost none seemed like they could actually take place in Elektra's world or made me want to read more. There was some solid art but some missteps as well. Overall, a missed opportunity to say the least.
I enjoyed these shorts! I had never read anything Elektra related before and got this because I love Peach Momoko (only to find out just one of the stories was hers) but I’m glad I read this!
Elektra’s story is powerful and I absolutely want to know more, but I do wish the shorts were all connected somehow in more than just the subject.
Overall, great art and good stories when looked at individually
İlk yarısını bitirdiğimdeki fikrim her ne kadar olumlu olduysa ikinci yarısından sonraki fikirlerim bir o kadar olumsuz oldu. İlk yarısında yaratıcı fikirler ve konseptler varken ikinci yarısı bomboştu. Sırf yapmış olmak için yapılmış hikayeler desem yeridir.
On iki farklı kısa öyküden oluşan bu kitap benzerlerinin yaşadığı sorunu yaşıyor. Farklı yazarlar ve çizerler bize farklı tatlar sunsa da her yazar her karakteri güzel yazamıyor.
Expected it to be more gruesome but overall enjoyed the stories, my favourite one was probably the greek myth elektra story paralel that was dope. It was also a cool homage to elektra's journey as a character and honestly im so happy where she is at after chip zdarsky made her new daredevil she has been one of my favourite female characters since that run looking forward to reading more into her.
This is really a showcase for some beautiful art. I love the treasury edition format for these Black, White, and Blood anthologies. The stories really are secondary to the art, not that they are bad or uninteresting, just limited by the space allowed for each one. So, if you are an Elektra fan, pick this treasury edition up and enjoy.
Some stories were good, some were meh. They might have stood together more strongly in individual issues rather than a collected graphic novel. It felt like a collection of different artists' takes on classic Elektra battle poses (flying side kick, crouching leap, dramatic sai pose). With a couple of exceptions, the black-white-red coloring was not used to effective graphic effect.
Nice couple of short stories from Elektra with the black white and blood format that I've read previously!
These are always a nice little treat, some of the stories make really good use of the visual limitations, resulting in AWESOME mini-comics. Also fun to spot some artists that I've read from before!
Also peaked my interest to read some Elektra stories down the line!
Son historias sueltas de diferentes etapas de Elektra. Algunas pertenecen a etapas concretas de los comics de Daredevil. Otras parecen relatos sin conexión alguna con nada. Son como pensamientos, sentimientos de Elektra plasmados en viñetas, que están muy bien. He disfrutado el comic mucho.