RANDOM ISSUES: Dark Reign: Elektra

Welcome to RANDOM ISSUES, where I go back and read some, well, random issues of comics that I haven't read before and review them. Let's get started.

Dark Reign: Elektra, written by Zeb Wells, with art by Clay Mann, inks by Mark Pennington, colors by Matt Hollingsworth, and letters by Cory Petit.

Why was I pulled towards this mini-series set during one of the darkest periods of the Marvel universe starring one of the most popular female anti-heroes of all time? Was it because it was written by Zeb Wells, the newest writer to take over The Amazing Spider-Man? Was it because Elektra had been getting a lot of the spotlight recently as the new Daredevil, especially as the (confusingly similarly named) Devil's Reign crossover concluded? Was it just because the covers by Lee Bermejo looked gorgeous?

Okay, it was all of that. Honestly, I didn't know what to expect, but what I got was a little diamond in the rough: a quick, five issue mini-series that goes at a breakneck pace, even as it skips huge chunks of time. It feels like an action movie, like John Wick or John McClane, except it's a woman wearing a red one-piece wielding dual sais.

The plot begins as the crossover Secret Invasion ends: with the Skrulls, who had carefully been replacing heroes and villains throughout the Marvel universe, being defeated and a shipload of the actual, non-Skrull characters being helped by S.H.I.E.L.D. Elektra, however, is not like the others: she has clearly been traumatized even more, injured and bleeding, refusing the speak at all. A S.H.I.E.L.D. doctor takes her in to heal, but pretty soon, this isn't S.H.I.E.L.D. anymore: it's Norman Osborn's H.A.M.M.E.R. and he wants to know what happened with Elektra. More than that, however, is someone has put in 82 million dollar bounty on Elektra's head and she doesn't know why.

Honestly, once you get past the whole "abducted by Skrulls" and "national defense taken over by supervillain" things, the premise is pretty simple: Elektra has to figure out who wants her dead while simultaneously avoiding any and all attempts on her life. Each fight scene is swift and brutal. Each word she says is carefully cultivated, just like her red outfit is designed to hide any blood.

It's five issues that go by very quickly, too. With some interesting villains and a nice cameo and one hell of a twist ending, well, this definitely goes on the recommend list. Read it for the art. Read it for the fight scenes. Read it for Elektra spitting a tooth into one guy's mouth in order to choke him.