This was an interesting tale for me. Part of the Ultimate series, it takes heroes of Marvel and recasts them in younger days. In this case, Elektra and Matt Murdock (aka Daredevil) are college students. When Elektra's father ends up in a raw deal with a relative who is connected to the mob, young Elektra knows she must act. Given that the Natchios connection goes all the way up to the Kingpin, that may not be so easy. It was a light, entertaining read, and I will look forward to more. ( )

Ultimate Elektra collects issues 1-5 of the eponymous comic book limited series written by Mike Carey with art by Salvador Larroca. The story follows the events of Ultimate Daredevil and Elektra, in which Elektra’s father lost his business after some thugs destroyed it and the two main characters had a falling out.

In this volume, her father makes a deal with some cousins to arrange a loan in order to reopen his dry cleaning business. The Natchios cousins are part of Wilson Fisk’s criminal organization and target their former bookkeeper when he plans to divulge the workings of the organization’s finances. Meanwhile, Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson begin an internship and the law firm representing the bookkeeper. Matt tries to help Elektra, but she rebuffs him as the bad blood between them remains following Matt’s choice to follow his sense of duty rather than be with Elektra and the moral compromises she makes.

Carey’s story also includes Bullseye, who goes by the name of Benjamin Poindexter and works for the Kingpin as his prime assassin. He has a bullseye tattoo on his forehead and chest, with the later reflecting the Colin Farrell’s portrayal of the character in the 2003 Daredevil film, though toward the end of the story he dresses in a costume closely resembling his mainstream Marvel Universe appearance. Bullseye’s actions against the bookkeeper and his lawyer make him a common enemy for Matt and Elektra so that they temporarily put aside their differences. Larroca also depicts Elektra wearing a variation on her traditional red costume in the latter portion of the book.

Ultimate Elektra and its predecessor, Ultimate Daredevil and Elektra, take place early in Marvel’s Ultimate line after the early success of Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate X-Men, and The Ultimates and the addition of Ultimate Fantastic Four to the ongoing titles. Carey tells and entertaining story that works well as a reimagining of the Daredevil/Elektra/Kingpin saga, though he doesn’t take any risks with his plot. Larroca’s art ably contributes to the story, though it, too, follows standard conventions for the mid-2000s and, over a decade after initial publication, seems somewhat dated as a result.

Unfortunately, these background miniseries had minimal impact on the rest of the Ultimate line, though they are better than Orson Scott Card’s Ultimate Iron Man, which was poorly received and did not connect to the portrayal of Iron Man in Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch’s The Ultimates. This story helps explain Daredevil’s drive and gruff nature in his appearances in Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate X-Men, where he primarily appears in stories related to the Kingpin. After the Ultimatum crossover, Marvel cancelled Ultimate X-Men and Ultimate Fantastic Four while, in the pages of Ultimate Spider-Man, Spidey discovered Daredevil among the dead after Magneto’s attack. ( )

It's really a shame that more hasn't been done with the Ultimate versions of Elektra and Daredevil (especially before Loeb got his hands on the Ultimate Universe...sigh). I enjoyed reading this trade, even though I liked Greg Rucka's "Ultimate Daredevil and Elektra" a bit more. In this trade, Elektra is back living with her father, who has fallen on hard times since his dry cleaning business burned to the ground under suspicious circumstances. Matt, meanwhile, is in law school, where he's shadowing a lawyer who may not be all that he seems. Elektra, in an effort to pay off her father's debt, begins to get entangled in the seedier side of life, eventually running into the Kingpin.

I like Elektra here. Even though she and Matt had a relationship and she cared for him, she's looking out for herself and her father, and she does whatever it takes to achieve her goals. It's rather refreshing to read about a female comic book character who actually has a mind of her own and keeps her own needs to the forefront. Matt comes off as rather sanctimonious, but I think that's probably in line with his 616-verse self, so I'm not going to complain. And Ultimate Bullseye makes an appearance, which I loved. Larroca's art is also good. Altogether, I found this enjoyable. ( )