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I believe this omnibus collects all of Frank Miller's Elektra work outside of Daredevil's regular ongoing series.

First is an obscure, untitled vignette from Marvel's black-and-white magazine Bizarre Adventures. Elektra has second thoughts about a job from a questionable employer.

"What if Elektra Had Lived?" provides an alternate outcome for a classic Daredevil story -- although, as the Watcher points out, even this happy ending may not last forever.

"Elektra: Assassin" is an eight-part limited series with multimedia art by Bill Sienkiewicz. It's a mad, hallucinatory blend of political satire, super ninja action, espionage and spiritualism. It was groundbreaking in its day (1986), and I still don't think it's been surpassed. A masterpiece.

In "Elektra Lives Again," Elektra's killer is resurrected to bring a final end to the rogue ninja, with Daredevil in the middle. Vaguely dreamlike and ambiguous, it gives a touching finale to Elektra's story. I like to think it's the last one. ( )

I read the Elektra: Assassin graphic novel, which collected all eight issues written by Frank Miller and painted by Bill Sienkiewicz, until the spine broke and the pages fell out all over the inside of my locker. I had never seen a comic drawn or written like it before.

Elektra is the daughter of a Greek ambassador who is assassinated. She is trained in childhood by a master assassin / kung-fu guy. We get a brief glimpse into her background and psychosis. Now she is planning to assassinate the President, Ken Wind, who appears to be an anti-christ-like figure. He is referred to as “The Beast.”

The artwork is like a fever dream. The scantily-clad, but deadly main character suckered me in. The weird 1980s political undertones are… well, weird. The action, blood, and ink splashes across the panels and knows no rules. Most comics have narration that explains everything for the young reader. Elektra: Assassin goes pages without any narration or dialogue, the panels darting from flashbacks to the present. The SHIELD agent John Garrett is likeable in a Tony Soprano kind of way. He’s a sociopath who curses a lot, drinks a lot, and lusts after Elektra a lot.

I have not seen the Elektra movie, because I’m afraid and almost certain it would ruin everything that was good about the graphic novel. I read one other Elektra comic that takes place after the story in the novel and was disappointed. The graphic novel is one of a kind. Frank Miller and Bill Sienkiewicz worked on a Daredevil graphic novel as well, which is good, but doesn’t have the same brand of surrealism and inspiration. ( )