Elektra Lives Again
"Elektra Lives Again," published in 1990 by Epic Comics, is a graphic novel that explores the psychological turmoil of Matt Murdock, also known as Daredevil, following the death of his love, Elektra. The narrative unfolds over a span of ten days, beginning with Murdock's obsessive thoughts about Elektra, who has become a spectral presence in his life, haunting his dreams and memories. The story intricately blends reality and delusion, as Murdock grapples with feelings of loss, guilt, and the desire for redemption. Elektra, portrayed as both a deceased lover and a vivid hallucination, draws Murdock deeper into a world filled with ninjas and the supernatural.
The artwork by Frank Miller, alongside Lynn Varley's coloring, plays a crucial role in establishing the graphic novel’s surreal atmosphere, employing dynamic and bold visuals that emphasize the tension between dreams and reality. Key themes include the struggle for closure, the nature of obsession, and the interplay of violence and desire. The relationship between Murdock and Elektra reflects deeper existential questions about passion and suffering, presenting a complex narrative that resonates with psychological and mythological undertones. "Elektra Lives Again" is recognized as a significant work in the evolution of both the Elektra character and Miller's artistic trajectory, marking a pivotal moment in comic book storytelling.
Elektra Lives Again
AUTHOR: Miller, Frank
ARTIST: Frank Miller (illustrator); Lynn Varley (colorist); Jim Novak (letterer)
PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics
FIRST BOOK PUBLICATION: 1990
Publication History
Elektra Lives Again was first published in hardback only in 1990 by Epic Comics, an imprint of Marvel Comics, in an oversized format. A paperback edition was published in 1993. The work is included in the 2008 Elektra by Frank Miller Omnibus, with additional materials, stories, and works connected with Elektra and Daredevil.
Plot
The story is organized chronologically, starting with Monday, April 1, suggesting, through the use of April Fools’ Day, that Matt Murdock (Daredevil) is delusional throughout the story. On the first day, Murdock walks along snow-covered streets; an internal-monologue narration reveals his obsessive thoughts about Elektra. Matt enters a cathedral and confesses to a priest his hatred for the Church and his obsession with Elektra, who he explains became an assassin and is now dead. Murdock also shares a gruesome vision of Elektra that haunts him.
On Tuesday, April 2, Murdock’s dream of Elektra—nude and bloody, then in her costume—is intermixed with scenes of the city and Murdock tossing and turning in bed. Then, the reader is pulled fully into the dream, with Elektra chained in a snow-covered scene. In the dream, Elektra is being chased by a horde of zombielike creatures who overtake her. These creatures have all died at Elektra’s hands, and they dismember her while taunting her. The narration drifts back and forth between Murdock in bed and his dream/delusion. Murdock struggles against the dream and forces himself to stay awake, but the delusion wrestles itself into his conscious state, where he admits he wants Elektra back and alive.
On Saturday, April 6, Murdock wakes from the dream still fixated on Elektra being alive and calls Karen Page, who brushes off his advances. After working out using the boxing bag, Murdock visits Elektra’s grave; the artwork shows Elektra as the headstone, supporting the surreal nature of this story.
On Monday, April 8, while speaking with a client, Alice Courtney, Murdock remembers a violent memory from his childhood. He takes Alice for a drink and then dinner, which leads them to make love. Murdock leaves Alice in the bed; Elektra remains on his mind. He is shown kneeling at her grave surrounded by ninjas in all white, believing what he envisions is a dream. As he fights the ninjas, Elektra joins him, dressed in her red costume. Elektra tosses a star, which strikes Murdock in the right palm before he passes out.
On Tuesday, April 9, Murdock, with a bandaged right hand, takes Valium, although the internal monologue explains he never uses drugs, and settles into a hot bath. There, he struggles to understand what is real and what is a dream, believing Elektra is alive and being tracked by the Hand, a band of ninjas whom Elektra left. Murdock mentions the resurrection of Kirigi, whom Elektra killed, and nearly falls asleep; he is roused by a phone call from Foggy Nelson.
On Wednesday, April 10, the opening scene details the killing of Bullseye in prison. Murdock/Daredevil’s fights with Bullseye are mixed with his recollection of Bullseye killing Elektra, who makes it to Murdock’s house before collapsing. Next, Murdock and Foggy are at prison, with Bullseye’s corpse in the prison morgue; the people surrounding Murdock claim Elektra is alive, and she is shown going to the morgue to decapitate Bullseye, where other corpses come to life and attack her. Murdock confronts Bullseye’s assassin, who appears to have control of Murdock’s mind, leaving Murdock unconscious and the assassin dead from a brain hemorrhage. Elektra, nude, bursts through a window. The entire city is on fire around them, and Murdock takes her in his arms only to discover she is cold—and that he is dreaming again.
Murdock returns to the boxing bag and then is attacked by a ninja; they fight, leading Murdock to chase him across building tops. Murdock thinks of Elektra, and the scene shifts to Bullseye’s corpse being raised from the dead, as Murdock continues to chase the ninja to a cathedral littered with the bodies of ninjas and a bloody nun, where Murdock, along with the nun, fights Bullseye; the nun slays Bullseye. Murdock holds the bloody nun, Elektra, who tells him good-bye. He then struggles to the emergency room, his faced scarred and bloody, before buying five gallons of gas and burning down the cathedral to fulfill the priest’s recommendation that he let go of Elektra.
The final two pages are a full spread showing Elektra standing alone and facing away.
Characters
•Matt Murdock, a.k.a. Daredevil, is the central figure of this Elektra story. He is the haunted former lover of the deceased Elektra. He is a lawyer who seeks to rid himself of his obsession with Elektra after her death.
•Elektra, the daughter of a Greek diplomat and ninja assassin, fills a secondary role in this graphic novel named after her. She appears as either a resurrected former lover of Murdock or a delusion so powerful that it drives Murdock to behave as if she has been resurrected.
•Karen Page, a former lover of Murdock, is mentioned briefly as Murdock attempts to reconnect with her while fighting his nightmares about Elektra.
•Alice Courtney is a client of Murdock, with whom he has a one-night stand.
•The Hand is the powerful and corrupt order of ninjas to which Elektra had belonged, a fact that leads them to club her for revenge. Ninja assassins from the Hand attack Murdock and Elektra throughout the story.
•Franklin “Foggy” Nelson is Murdock’s former college roommate and law colleague. He accompanies Murdock to the prison where Bullseye is assassinated.
•Bullseye, an archenemy of Daredevil, murders Elektra and is assassinated in prison and then resurrected. He is a supervillain (an assassin for Kingpin) without superpowers but has highly refined skills that allow him to use nearly any object as a weapon.
Artistic Style
Miller’s art and Lynn Varley’s coloring are central to Elektra Lives Again, a work driven by narration (more than dialogue) and by the art and coloring, since many panels and pages have no text. Miller’s style is nearly fully realized by Elektra Lives Again and moves beyond the classic “comic book” style of his earlier work (which looks more like Sal Buscema or Ross Andru than Jack Kirby, whose style seems influential on Miller). The emerging style includes a stylized and rougher Kirby-esque technique that emphasizes the surrealism of the story and the evil or darkness that lurks beneath all the characters.
Miller’s art is distinct, with a heavy line emphasis that makes characters dynamic and dark; even Murdock is often monstrous, bloodied, and sinister. The panel design is central to the surreal nature of the narrative, which is bound by a short span of time, ten days, but ambiguous about the distinction between reality and Murdock’s delusions and obsessions. Full-page panels overlaid with smaller panels help blend time and reality or dreams. Miller also emphasizes setting using bold cityscapes, snow-covered scenes (with Elektra), spiraling staircases, and the ominous cathedral that bookends the narrative.
Miller’s attention to motion and action are also notable and bold. Murdock is shown often in acrobatic movements and the fight scenes are aided by the large-page format that allows full-page scenes packed with multiple assailants (for both Murdock and Elektra) and sequenced action to highlight time and the violent nature of the battles.
Another key element of the surreal nature of the narrative is Miller’s perspective. Many scenes angle the reader’s view to shift perspective and even distort perspective, especially to offer a greater view of the scene and to capture the passing of time. For example, the scene in prison between Murdock and Bullseye’s assassin skews the images of the characters behind bars against a white background and small panels that overlay their psychic battle.
Miller’s solo work is supported heavily by Varley’s coloring, which presents dynamic colors against the dominant dark work. Varley’s detailed coloring matches Miller’s highly detailed scenes (that contrast the occasional stark artwork punctuated throughout). Varley’s coloring helps emphasize the contrasts of the narrative and reinforces the surrealism, dream states, and overall ambiguity of the story line. The contrasts of light and dark raise the tension and dramatic effect of many scenes throughout.
Themes
Loss and the quest for redemption and closure bookend Elektra Lives Again. Murdock represents the power of loss to fuel and distort the psyche, and his quest for understanding and letting go of his compulsion connected with Elektra builds a powerful psychological drama that leaves the reader unsure of the fine line between reality and delusion.
The mythological reference tied to Elektra’s name (and the association with Freudian and Jungian psychology and literary analysis) connects the guilt motif to the themes of loss and redemption. Elektra is driven by the murder of her father, which parallels Murdock’s inability to leave his love for Elektra behind after her murder. The guilt motif is also reinforced by Murdock’s confession to the priest and the final apocalyptic scene in the cathedral.
Possibly the work’s most powerful theme is the blurring of reality and surrealism; the reader is left with ambiguous distinctions between Murdock’s haunting dreams and the actions of his conscious life. However, the narrative never confirms the ambiguities. The recurring dreams and nightmares reinforce the Freudian and Jungian elements of Elektra Lives Again.
Dreams carry a double meaning, representing those composed during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and the hopes that Murdock still holds for Elektra to be resurrected. Resurrection and the mystical powers of ninjas weave within the broader consideration of dreams and reality.
Revenge is presented as a key element of redemption and release, both for Murdock in his journey to be free of Elektra (if he cannot be reunited) and for Elektra as she seeks to keep Bullseye from being resurrected. The revenge motif is also paralleled in the assassination of Bullseye and the confrontation between Bullseye’s assassin and Murdock.
Violence punctuates Murdock’s and Elektra’s personas, and it seems integral to many of the other motifs of the work, including revenge, redemption, and release. Sex and intimate relationships are examined throughout Elektra Lives Again. Murdock’s relationship with Elektra is one of turmoil and contradiction, since he pursues justice and she lived her life as an assassin. Nonetheless, their connection suggests the power of soul mates and the influence of fate. Murdock’s attempts to calm himself by calling, and hoping, to see Page and the “hollow” one-night stand with Courtney contrast with the deeper (although more problematic) passion he feels for Elektra. The torturous connection between Murdock and Elektra expresses the existential argument that passion is also the source of suffering.
Impact
Elektra Lives Again serves as one of many reconsiderations of Elektra in the history of the character and in the career of Miller, who seems unable to set the character aside even though he has expressed a desire to do so. The work is a continuation of Miller’s stylistic development, falling between The Dark Knight Returns (1986) and Sin City (1991-2000).
Films
Elektra. Directed by Rob Bowman. Regency Enterprises, 2005. This film stars Jennifer Garner as Elektra. As a spin-off of Daredevil (2003), it features a reborn Elektra as she is trained to be an assassin.
Further Reading
Miller, Frank. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986).
‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. Sin City: The Hard Goodbye (1991).
Miller, Frank, and Bill Sienkiewicz. Elektra (2008).
Bibliography
Miller, Frank, and Milo George. Frank Miller: The Interviews, 1981-2003. Seattle, Wash.: Fantagraphics Books, 2003.
Paul, Ryan. “Star-Crossed in Comics Land.” PopMatters, February 6, 2003. http://www.popmatters.com/comics/elektra-lives-again.shtml.
Thomas, P. L. Challenging Genres: Comic Books and Graphic Novels. Rotterdam, Netherlands: Sense, 2010.