A shocking and unprecedented event has occured. There are NO COMICS TO REVIEW THIS WEEK! Let me rephrase that, actually. There are lots of comics out every week, but none came out this week that I review on here.
Deadpool #27, which was kinda funny, but ultimately what you'd expect; pointless. Then there were a couple of Shadowland tie-ins with varying degrees of necessity, but I don't review those anyway.
Saying this, I've been scouring my collection to find a suitable comic that could serve as a good edition of The Mast Looks Back, since I haven't done those in a while, or I may even do another 101/Where to Start with So and So post. We'll see!
That's for then, not now. Why? Because tonight WE'RE TALKING ABOUT DEATH.
The Mast's 30 Days of Comicdom (Day 21): What Is the Most Memorable Death?
I'm gonna go ahead right now and give this as little an introduction as possible. Why? Because there can honestly be only one, for me. Sure, Superman's death rocked the world, but for me personally? There is just this and only this in contention.
The Death of Elektra.
Elektra has become somewhat of a cult character. She has a fanbase that isn't comparable to the likes of Spider-Man, even Daredevil, but among Daredevil fans she is a total favourite, usually.
As I stated in the other installment of this list, the romance one, I have a deep affinity for Elektra and her relationship, not just with Matt Murdock/Daredevil, but his existence. I had read most of the stories up until Daredevil #181 (The death issue), including her debut in #168 (Not the actual comic at this point, just a reprinted story), even before I had actively started searching out Daredevil's back issues. I couldn't get to a comic store with regularity as a child, so I got a few single issues frequently, but mostly kept up with the stories through collected editions or what not.
I didn't have the appreciation for Elektra I do now, but she was a refreshingly useful character even then, and I knew that. She was throwing Daredevil through a loop in a manner I hadn't seen a female character do before.
By the time I eventually got around to reading Daredevil #181 in an actual single issue form, I was very much caught up on things. I received this comic as a gift when I was...I don't even know how young, and opened the wrapping paper to see this:
What a striking cover that is. Even for today, it's a truly attention-grabbing piece.
To appreciate what kind of stir it caused to advertise a death on the front cover, you have to remember that this issue came out in April of 1982. There was no internet, no rumour mill, no discussion board. If you wanted to voice an opinion on a comic you had to write a letter to the Marvel Bullpen and hope it got published.
Can you imagine just how amazing and more suspenseful comics were back then? No endlessly spoilerific solicits, no spoilers in general. Everything was so easy to keep secret.
Naturally, by the time I read this, Elektra had died and come back long ago. Still, it was by first time reading it. One of Daredevil's most fierce and hated foes is fighting his first and arguably most intense love interest, and one of them dies? For real? I couldn't read the book fast enough. Bullseye and Elektra fight and in his inimitable and sadistic tone, Bullseye says, after getting the better of her:
"You put up a pretty good fight, toots. You're pretty good, but me? I'm magic."
Click that to see the page in large, beautiful glory.
After doing what he does on that page, he then grabs one of her own sais and, in an intentional moment of rather aggressive sexual and violent symbolism (Remember, this was in the '80s and in a comic book, when censoring shit was big), thrusts it right through her body and out the other side.
He doesn't do it fast, it's not drawn as a quick or fast action. He PUSHES it through her, as if intending to make a hole from which her life can drain out of her, with a grin on his face.
She crawls to Matt's doorstep and dies in his arms. It's a shocking, violent and in many ways, disturbing scene. Miller referred to it as a rape-murder in a superhero comic, simply because of how he penetrates her with her own weapon. That symbolism wasn't lost on anyone, at all. Now, consider in the 2000s where they won't even let Wolverine smoke anymore (Not that I care, but it just seems odd), what uproar such inter-gender violence caused back then.
This was 13 issues after her debut and she had been killed off. Frank Miller never intended her to return. I'm partially glad she did, because I think her later involvement and development is what makes her earlier involvement that much more epic, but I do respect Miller too much to disagree with him here. If he says she should've stayed dead, she should've.
It was just...a perfectly done scene. It had to be Elektra, and it had to be Bullseye. It all worked so, so well. In many ways, that's why everyone was so hyped for Shadowland and why the Bullseye death, in the same manner, got such acclaim. It was seen as the first real exploding point after Matt had bottled all this up.
Matt carried this particular loss with him for his whole life, right up until now. He probably always will. She's back, and has been for ages, but you don't forget something like that. That is why, to me, this is the most memorable death.
Daredevil #181 is honestly one of the best comics I've ever read on its own, and you can probably get one for a very reasonable price on eBay, really. I do heartily recommend reading from Daredevil #168 to #181, seriously. I'm pretty certain it's out in a trade too.
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I really enjoyed this post. I guess, due to how fucking ruined Daredevil is getting, I am appreciating how good we've always had it. More on THAT later, though.
Thanks for reading, thanks for commenting and thanks for supporting Welcome to the Mast.
*Plays Simply the Best by Tina Turner in the background*
I've been The Mast, YOU'VE been the best!
Until next time, peace.
-The Mast
