The art of war with Elektra

If you ever wonder if superheroes without superpowers can still be called “super,” I assure you they can.  Those without any enhancements (Punisher, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Winter Soldier, etc.) make up for being normal humans with being unstoppable combat machines capable of not just dominating the finest UFC fighter, but all the UFC fighters.  At once.  Realistic?  I don’t care.  If we want to believe a dude with a bow can stand shoulder to shoulder with actual gods and mutants, we understand he makes up for his non-powers in other spectacular ways.  Like not missing a shot in years.  And today in Dark Reign: Elektra #1-2, written by Zeb Wells and drawn by Clay Mann, we see further proof of a “normal” superhero’s capabilities — y’know, as in they’re not normal.

Okay, so right after Secret Invasion — where the shapeshifting Skrull aliens disguised themselves as popular superheroes/supervillains to invade earth secretly — Elektra Natchios gets captured by HAMMER (Norman Osborn’s SHIELD).  After all, her skrull’s death started the whole shebang in the first place.  But this is the real deal now, and it’s safe to say she’s not staying as a guest.

Because Elektra is the world’s greatest assassin, she escapes.  We never had any doubt she would.

Elektra, who remains quite vulnerable to bullets, now has to fight her way past a dozen HAMMER agents.  And she has lingering injuries from her Skrull capture.  Luckily, she does have a knife, a hacking glove, and a few dozen years of ninja training.

You’re about to witness art.  I mean, not just the drawings on the page, but like if the scariest Olympic gymnast spent all her time murdering people instead of on the balance beam.  She may have a few broken limbs, a limp or two, and enough bruises to confuse her for a (sexy) dalmatian, but these goons never stood a chance.  You can click the picture for a bigger version.

I’ve played enough Batman: Arkham games to know the power of fear.  I mean, after I miss my grapple for the third time, accidentally use the batarang instead of the smoke bomb, and finally jump into a vent with only a sliver of health remaining — the enemies’ll eventually get scared and make mistakes again.  Bad analogy, but you get the idea — who needs superspeed when one’s the deadliest woman alive already?

That’s right, they don’t show it, but we assume she caught up to the doomed henchman mid-free fall and used his jet pack to fly away.  Then she spends the rest of the miniseries stabbing people while strangely holding on to her own code of ethics.  When a series stars a supervillain (Elektra) going up against another supervillain (Norman Osborn), we’ll root for the slightly nicer evil-doer.  And that’s Elektra, because you can’t be all that bad if Daredevil will make out with you.