First Appearance Friday ~ Elektra

Any comic fan knows that Frank Miller’s run on Daredevil in the early 80’s is considered one of the gems of that entire run. A lot took place during that stretch and Miller was a friggin rockstar on both writing and penciling duties. One of the big plot points he introduced was the character, Elektra!

Elektra Natchios was introduced in the pages of Daredevil #168. The book hit newsstands in January of 1981 and the character took fans by storm immediately. Elektra is a Greek assassin who wields a pair of deadly sai. She is highly skilled and to complicate things further, it’s revealed that she has a complicated past with everyone’s favorite blind lawyer by day/superhero by night...Matt Murdock...AKA Daredevil. They are each other’s love interests but her violent lifestyle seems to always get in the way of Netflix & Chill.

Let’s take a look at the actual book. Here is my copy. Looking at it now, I notice it needs a pressing to clean it up. I’ll get on that soon. If you are unfamiliar with what pressing is, check out a couple of my past pieces I did on the subject recently.

https://steemit.com/comics/@blewitt/adventures-in-pressing

https://steemit.com/money/@blewitt/how-i-make-side-cash

Fantastic cover with her name spelled different than how it’s used normally. As mentioned earlier, Frank Miller did the story and pencils, Klaus Janson perfected it with inks, Dr.Martin on colors, Joe Rosen Did the lettering, while Denny O’Neil was editor. All while being under the reign of Jim Shooter as Editor in Chief. Some say those were some of the best years under Marvel for storytelling but that’s a conversation and debate for another day...

Let’s take a peek at some panels from the interior.

Here is her first panel.

This is where Daredevil recognizes the ghost from his past.

Elektra was initially only supposed to appear in this one issue according to Miller but he decided to use her throughout his stint on Daredevil until her death in issue #181. Accorded to a Miller, Marvel promised not to use her again without his consent. That did not happen as they “resurrected” her and have used her a ton in recent years, giving her, her own series several times and having her join part of the team Thunderbolts.

Elektra remains a popular character in the Marvel Universe. Tons of merchandise has been pumped out from action figures to statues and everywhere in between. Even a dreadful film featuring Jennifer Garner. Do t bother if you missed it. Just be thankful...

Daredevil #168 remains a KEY issue that collectors strive to hold in their personal collections. It’s a book that always attracts interest in the shop and at conventions. High grade raw copies will bring in anywhere from $150-$250 bucks depending on the specific condition. Got a CGC 9.8? Well you are in luck. In recent years, 9.8’s of keys have “mooned” and DD #168 is no exception with those slabs averaging around $1300! All of these keys are great investments if you can find em for a song.

Before we finish up, I just want to show off my favorite Elektra piece. This is the Elektra #1 variant from 2014. This amazing piece was done by the amazing Bill Sienkiewicz and was available through a 1:75 ratio meaning...not a lot of these are out there. These typically fetch around $150 on average. Such a gorgeous image.

Thx for taking a look with me!

Blewitt

• Thumbnail pic courtesy of greghornart.com
• Elektra naned photo courtesy of marvel.com
• Last pic courtesy of marvel.com
• Gif courtesy of giphy.com

All other photos are MINE!