Elektra: Black, White & Blood #4 Review

Written by: Matthew Rosenberg, Peach Momoko, Kevin Eastman, Freddie E. Williams
Art by: Alberto Alburquerque, Peach Momoko, Kevin Eastman, Freddie E. Williams
Colors by: Protobunker’s Fer Sifuentes-Sojo, Peach Momoko, Kevin Eastman, Freddie E. Williams
Letters by: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Cover art by: Peach Momoko
Cover price: $4.99
Release date: May 18, 2022

Elektra: Black, White & Blood #4 gives readers three final tales of the world’s greatest assassin as Elektra is hired to kill a Spirit of Vengeance, a Watchful Demon, and a Familiar Woman In Black.

Was It Good?

We’ve come to expect anthologies to present a mixed bag of stories with some shorts better than others. Elektra: Black, White & Blood #4 is par for the course. Let’s take a look at each short, and you can decide for yourself if it’s worth the cover price.

Powers You Can’t Comprehend

Early in Elektra’s career, she accepts a job from Kingpin to eliminate a man he wants to be removed as a threat. When Elektra pays a visit to her target, Johnny Blaze, in a rundown apartment, she soon learns vengeance is more powerful than money.

Solid art with a so-so story. There’s no universe where Elektra holds her own against Ghost Rider. When their hand-to-hand fight crashes through an apartment window and smashes to the pavement below, Elektra comes away with minor bumps and bruises. Miraculous feats of strength, heroism, and survivability with non-powered characters are the marks of lazy writing, but Rosenberg at least evens out the story with cool dialog.

Assassin

In feudal-era Japan, Elektra is hired to kill a wealthy man and his collection of guards. However, the guards and her target are not quite human. She fights off beasts and demons to win her prize and collect her reward. But is the person who hired Elektra all he claims to be?

If you’re a fan of Momoko’s art (as many are), you’re going to love this short. The panel compositions are interesting. The character acting in this wordless story is exceptional. And the unique plot gives you what you’d want out of this anthology – an original idea.

Rendezvous

Set and narrated to I Have a Rendezvous with Death by Alan Seeger, the good side of Elektra spins, weaves, and does battle with her darker half through the snowy cityscapes. As the battle reaches a bloody pitch, the two sides relinquish themselves to the woman in red.

This is the most artistic story of the bunch with heavy metaphors about living conflicted lives as what we want constantly pushes against what is right. The art is a classic Eastman style, and it suits the theme of playing Elektra’s inner conflict against the backdrop of a Seeger poem.

Bits and Pieces

Elektra: Black, White & Blood #4 swings for the artistic fences with myths, legends, and poetry in a stronger than average anthology. In fairness, some stories are stronger than others, but there’s something here for every Elektra fan.