Marvel comics have been remade many times into movies, series, but also books. Another experiment of the “House of Ideas” was the creation of a graphic novel. Two recognized creators were hired for this. But is the end result what the fans would like?
Alternatively
Elektra and Wolverine. Redemptionis an album dubbed a graphic novel by its publishers. This may seem a bit confusing as it is more like a picture book. Its storyline is set in the Marvel Universe – but certainly not on any of the main Earths. The main characters don’t know each other, and yet they have dealt with each other many times in the comic books. They were even lovers. Their first meeting was also different. In addition, Elektra has apparently never heard of mutants, and there are characters completely alien to us in history. So we enter an alternate reality. A ninjtsu master is hired to kill a gentleman without leaving a trace. However, his daughter is a witness to the murder, and now she can tell the authorities about everything. The girl is in mortal danger. So Logan is hired to protect her. And so begins the fight between the title pair. Over time, however, a lot of information comes to light that changes everything …
In a word…
For writing the script for Elektra and Wolverine. RedemptionGreg Rucka answers. Fans of comics, the author needs no introduction. For many years he created the adventures of such superheroes as Batman, Superman and Punisher. He has won several Eisner and Harvey awards. So, a real star of the comics world was chosen, believing that he would easily cope with the new challenge. Well, it can be said that he did not quite succeed in this art. The end result is not bad, but it stopped somewhere on the line of mediocrity. The story is not revealing and hardly surprising. Even the plot twists and plots are trite and predictable. The style also leaves a lot to be desired. There is no greater emotion here, even in moments when everything around is exploding and the corpse is densely littered. I think Rucka wrote it the way he writes comic book scripts,
However, I’m not going to just criticize the story, because it has its pluses. Although the action itself may not reflect the full drama, the situation is saved by the interactions between the title characters. There is a spark of tension between this and from the first meeting. The changing relationship flows to us from the next pages and thanks to that we want to read everything to the end. But what I liked the most was getting to know Wolverinefrom a slightly different side. We can find out what Logan feels when he is badly injured or even temporarily dead. Because when reading comics, have you ever wondered how his healing factor actually works? Well, the hero feels everything in the form of terrible pain. Imagine that your lungs are punctured, you cannot catch your breath, you are choking on your own blood, but the torment does not end. Slowly everything begins to seal, but you still feel all the wounds inflicted. This is what Wolverine experiences at every opportunity. Scary, but also allows you to sympathize with the characters even more.
…and an image
Great fame is also responsible for the graphic design of the novel, and not only in the world of comics. The paintings for Elektra and Wolverine were created by the Japanese artist Yoshitaka Amano. It was he who collaborated with Square Enix on Final Fantasy , and won several awards for The Sandman: The Dream Hunters based on the novel by Neil Gaiman, including Hugo or Eisner. If you are interested in manga , let’s add that you may also know staff for Ganja or Vampire Hunter D. And that’s still not all. You may not know, but he was the one who co-created the anime Yattaman and Kingdom of the Calendar. It must be admitted that his works – also in this album – are unique and inimitable. He captured the beauty of Elektra and the wildness of Wolverine. Both more dynamic shots and static ones, in which the characters, for example, only look at each other, are great. The choice of colors, the play of shadows, the emotions tormenting the characters – all this has been rendered, and we have the pleasure of admiring the master’s works.
Collector’s Edition
Elektra and Wolverine. Redemption is an album originally released in 2002. We can be happy that thanks to the Egmont publishing house it also reached us. It has been supplemented with a few sketches and an interview with the author. It is not related to the main story from the Marvel universe and does not add much to the plot. Amano’s drawings are particularly noteworthy. The whole, however, is more of a curiosity and probably fans of comic books will pass by it indifferently. It may be of interest to people fascinated by Japanese studies, as well as fans of the title couple. You have to judge for yourself if you want this title on your shelf.
