I was delighted to see Scott Morse bring his unconventional art to the conventional world of Marvel Comics once again, and I hope this limited series isn't the end of it. While the story ends on a rather ordinary super-hero/martial arts note, the art remains different and richly detailed. This quiet but action-packed issue may read fairly quickly, but fans of Scott Morse's work should not miss out on this wonderful sample of his painted work, usually reserved solely for his covers.
At the urging of the ghost of a dead jazz man, Elektra must do battle with the new leader of the ninja clan known as the Hand. The leader is a confused young man -- the son of the ghost -- who's undergone years of training, but he doesn't understand where the ninja warriors he is meant to lead are. Both he and Elektra find they have more than they expected to contend with, and it leads to a climactic final battle between the new embodiment of the Hand and the female assassin who was once one of its number.
Scott Morse boasts a simple style, one in which rough shapes and lines merge to create form. Some might describe his pencilling style as crude, but that crude style has proven to be a strong storytelling method. And believe me, there's nothing crude about his painted work here. It's richly textured, and his choice of colors bring out the supernatural tone of the characters and the plot incredibly well. While this issue is a quick read, one would be well served to go back and go through slowly, a second and even third time, just to take in the beautiful, misty artwork.
Morse touches briefly upon the central theme of this series -- the love of a father for his child -- in this conclusion. The ghost's tender farewell to Elektra and passing along of a message was a nice, understated moment. I wish there had been more exploration of the theme in this final issue, to be honest.
For the most part, this issue is an ill-defined action sequence between Elektra and Lyle Crawford. Lyle's anguish and new powers are frustratingly vague, and the climactic confrontation is resolved in what seems to be a hurried fashion. I was also disappointed to find that the charisma that was supposed to make Lyle such a good choice to lead the Hand is really nowhere to be found in this issue.
