Elektra: The Hand by Akira Yoshida and Christian Gossett

Free comic book day. What a great weekend for sales and stocking up on comic books. I couldn't find any more She-Hulk or any other variation of She-Hulk volumes, but BAE picked me up an Elektra comic. I remember that Jennifer Garner played Elektra when she was in that Dare Devil movie with Ben Affleck (probably where they met and hooked up), but she was mostly unmemorable. (That entire movie is unmemorable. I remember seeing it in theatres and it was going to be awesome JUST LIKE the spider man movie. NOPE.)

ANYWAY, on the cover, I am not impressed with her outfit. High rise leotard. Trust, baby doll, wedgies and camel toe galore. That is not a suitable crime fighting outfit. Maybe you like the freedom that a leotard gives you. I get it. There is a reason dancers wear leotards.... but not even tights? Tights would help you. It would keep everything in place (if you have a good leotard). Also, the bandana and these bright red gloves that don't cover her hands. I am unsure what the purpose of those things are. Finally, I see at the bottom thigh highs... oh man. A wedgie and thigh-highs that come down immediately when you start walking. I need to talk to someone at Marvel about Elektra's outfit. 

Ok, on with the story. So... this comic isn't about Elektra AT ALL. It's the origin story of The Hand, which is I think is an assassin group, a la League of Assassins? She appears in the very beginning and watches these guys try to bring this mummy to life, and instead the mummy kills the guys instead. Elektra mentions something about being a foreigner and a woman and how that may throw a wrench into her being accepted as a member of The Hand, and her guide told her to wait just a second, because she wasn't the first foreigner and the first woman to ever join their ranks. 

BOOM! SCHOOLED! 

It then does a flashback where it shows the start of The Hand, and how Japan wanted the foreigners to leave their country. It's a story of samurais, star cross lovers, cultural preservation and human expectations. It's a good story with a twist on the comic book style. It was more manga, which was cool. However, this isn't an Elektra story at all. Other than putting her in the beginning of the story and at the very end, she serves no purpose, only to listen to her guide inform her about the start of The Hand. 

By the end, the reader finds out how they became evil, but as I am not familiar with Elektra's story, I have no idea how The Hand and Elektra work together. I thought she was also a good guy? 

Meh. I feel like I've watched anime and read other stories that do the Samurai thing much better.