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2009 Reading #81: Elektra: Assassin
Books 1-10.
Books 11-20.
Books 21-30.
Books 31-40.
Books 41-50.
Books 51-60.
Books 61-70.
Books 71-80.
81. Elektra: Assassin by Frank Miller and Bill Sienkiewicz (Re-read). It occurred to me as I was re-reading this (a process that was much interrupted) that, while I don't re-read novels much, I re-read comics often. Usually they're by Alan Moore and Grant Morrison and such, though, so I'm not sure they qualify as comfort reading--anyway. I don't re-read Miller all that much, particularly since his recent flowering into full-blown crazy. But Elektra will always have the added resonance of Sienkiewicz's art, and Sienkiewicz is like unto a god as far as I'm concerned. I confess that sometimes when I read comics I barely look at the art--it registers peripherally, enough that I see what's going on, but I focus on words. In part this is a comment on the unremarkable nature of most comic art, in part (I fear) a deficiency in me as a reader. With Sienkiewicz I have never had this problem, and Elektra is one of his finest achievements. Storywise, it succeeds mostly by virtue of going as far over the top as possible, piling on the paranoia and the ultraviolence until it becomes sublimely ridiculous. Lucky it has that going for it, because thematically it's an early echo (not to say retread) of many of Miller's pet obsessions: power as corrupter (particularly of apparently well-meaning liberal politicians), woman as manipulator, evil as disease. It's largely due to the art that Elektra manages to transcend all that and attain classic status.
Books 11-20.
Books 21-30.
Books 31-40.
Books 41-50.
Books 51-60.
Books 61-70.
Books 71-80.
81. Elektra: Assassin by Frank Miller and Bill Sienkiewicz (Re-read). It occurred to me as I was re-reading this (a process that was much interrupted) that, while I don't re-read novels much, I re-read comics often. Usually they're by Alan Moore and Grant Morrison and such, though, so I'm not sure they qualify as comfort reading--anyway. I don't re-read Miller all that much, particularly since his recent flowering into full-blown crazy. But Elektra will always have the added resonance of Sienkiewicz's art, and Sienkiewicz is like unto a god as far as I'm concerned. I confess that sometimes when I read comics I barely look at the art--it registers peripherally, enough that I see what's going on, but I focus on words. In part this is a comment on the unremarkable nature of most comic art, in part (I fear) a deficiency in me as a reader. With Sienkiewicz I have never had this problem, and Elektra is one of his finest achievements. Storywise, it succeeds mostly by virtue of going as far over the top as possible, piling on the paranoia and the ultraviolence until it becomes sublimely ridiculous. Lucky it has that going for it, because thematically it's an early echo (not to say retread) of many of Miller's pet obsessions: power as corrupter (particularly of apparently well-meaning liberal politicians), woman as manipulator, evil as disease. It's largely due to the art that Elektra manages to transcend all that and attain classic status.
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I have this vague feeling that Sienkiewicz is around, doing the occasional cover or even inking occasional issues of things, but it doesn't seem to have done anything really, really cool in a while (or I've just been oblivious).
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I'm sure he must do tons of cover and design work, but yeah, I'm not aware of any major comix work he's done recently. (If I'd had any say in my covers I would have suggested we try to get him to do one.)
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And they know the first two.
But you're right. Sienkiewicz is a genius.
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Of course, if I really want to impress them, I tell them I read Love and Rockets for six months from the original boards.