Elektra in Elektra: The Hand

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intp
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Elektra in Elektra: The Hand

Post by intp »

I have a question about Elektra: The Hand by Akira Yoshida, which I just read for the first time. There, Elektra has apparently been resurrected by the Hand and is told the Hand's history prior to her joining them (although it's expressly noted that she will have 'free will' and not be in thrall to them).

In the current project, Elektra's appearances for Elektra: The Hand (EL:HAND 1, 5) are placed right after her resurrection in DD 190, and just prior to her return in Fall From Grace in DD 322:

ELEKTRA/ELEKTRA NATCHIOS
...
DD 181
DD 190
* EL:HAND 1
EL:HAND 2-BTS
EL:HAND 3-BTS
EL:HAND 4-BTS
EL:HAND 5
DD 322
...
[large gap]
...

EL2 35
W3 20
W3 21
W3 23
W3 24
W3 26 (1 - 13)
ACADX 13 (13:5)
W3 26 (14 - 23)
W3 27 (1 - 13&14:1)
IRRANT 2-FB
W3 27 (13&14:2 - 23)
W3 29
W3 30
* W3 31
* MA 16-FB
SECINV 8-FB
A:I 19
DR:EL 1
...

What I'm wondering is, wouldn't it make more sense to place Elektra's appearances some time after (or maybe during) her appearances in the Wolverine: Enemy of the State storyline (W3 20-31)? As I'm sure everyone knows, Stone of the Chaste resurrected Elektra in DD 190, so why would she even be with the Hand (let alone resurrected by them) right after?

I haven't read all of the Wolverine: Enemy of the State stories (I only have the first Tpb which goes up to W3 25), and unfortunately Wikipedia didn't really clarify matters, so I'm not sure precisely where to fit her appearance, but I do know that in that storyline, Elektra disappears while fighting the Hand (including their assassin, Gorgon) for SHIELD (this is during the period when the Hand is mentally controlling Wolverine); at some point thereafter, she pops up as the head of the Hand in New Avengers (just prior to Secret Invasion), although it's later revealed (in MA 16-FB) that the Skrulls switched her out some time in the interim.

marvel.wikia.com also notes as follows: "The Hand, under Gorgon, attacked both Wolverine and Elektra, placing them in their service. Elektra assumed control of the Hand. [citation needed]"

The issues Elektra: The Hand were dated 2004/11 to 2005/02. W3 25 (from Enemy of the State) was dated 2005/04, so they're at least in the same neighborhood. The site marvunapp listed her appearance as occurring after the Enemy of the State storyline:

ELEKTRA (Elektra Natchios) - ninja, former lover of Daredevil, father killed by terrorists, rejected by the Chaste, corrupted by the Hand, former assassin for Kingpin, killed by Bullseye, resurrected and purified by the Chaste and Daredevil.
Master of armed + unarmed combat
EPSILON, LITTLE AMBER (I#4, D#4, M, OH: DD, ME, net)�Daredevil I#168 ... 169,174-181"d" 190("d") Elek:Ass#1-8, DD#319,320,324,325... E 35, Wolverine III#20-25, 26-31, Elektra: The Hand, Daredevil II#77-80, [88]

Unfortunately, I haven't read W3 26-31 so I'm not quite sure exactly where to fit her appearance in Elektra: The Hand; it might be immediately after W3 31, or it might be at some point in between W3 25-W3 31.

Comments or corrections would be appreciated. If anyone has W3 26-31, please help clarify.
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Re: Elektra in Elektra: The Hand

Post by intp »

Note: post last edited ~11:15 pm:

I just discovered the Marvel Calendar, which is a really impressive project. Anyway, the thoughts there tend to support the notion that Elektra: The Hand should occur near the end of the Enemy of the State storyline in W3 31 (albeit not exactly at the end) (see material copied and pasted below, from Paul Bourcier's Marvel Calendar, Year 23); as noted in my previous post, I think it does make more sense to place this story somewhere in the context of Enemy of the State:

Wednesday, April 8

...

WOLVERINE v3 #30

One day. It is "the better part of a week" - and more than three days - after W3 28. It may be two weeks, not "two months" after
W3 25 (13/14-20); ... Gorgon impales Logan and acquires from Elektra's mind the location of the hospitalized Nick Fury.

WOLVERINE v3 #31 (1-18)

The same night as W3 31. It cannot be "close to eleven weeks" before W3 31 (19-23); maybe it's eleven days. It is "a couple of
months" before GSW 1 (1-17). Elektra may appear next in E:HAND 1. ...

Thursday, April 9

ELEKTRA: THE HAND #1

One day. This story may occur after Elektra took control of the Hand following W3 31 (1-18), not "years" before comics
published in 2004. Six members of the Hand perform a ritual over a body that is concealed in white wrappings, all dying in order
to return the body to life. Elektra, watching all of this with an unnamed Hand member, is told of the origins of the Hand.

ELEKTRA: THE HAND #2

The same day as E:HAND 1. The story of the Hand continues to be told to Elektra.

ELEKTRA: THE HAND #3

The same day as E:HAND 2. The story of the Hand continues to be told to Elektra.

ELEKTRA: THE HAND #4

The same day as E:HAND 3. The story of the Hand continues to be told to Elektra.

ELEKTRA: THE HAND #5

The same day as E:HAND 4. This story may occur before W3 31 (19-23). Elektra's nameless narrator tells her that her destiny
is in her hands. Elektra and the anonymous Hand member disappear, and the resurrected figure on the slab awakens - the person
being revived was Elektra all along, and the conversation she had was a vision or hallucination that she had while being brought
back to life. Elektra discards her wrappings in favor of her white costume. If this story indeed occurs after W3 31 (1-18), then
Elektra discards the white costume following this to appear in a new red costume in M/N:I 1-6.

[NOTE: M/N:I apparently refers to Marvel Nemesis: The Imperfects, which I haven't read and couldn't find in the key, and which apparently isn't in the Project yet].

[EDIT: I didn't realize that M/N:I had been deemed non-canon; just saw that from the FAQ. 11:16 pm]

...

Sunday, April 19

WOLVERINE v3 #31 (19-23)

One day. This segment must occur before NFHC 1, AAF2 10, and A4 14-FB (15:2, 15:4), and may occur after E:HAND 5. I
have it before C&DP 13. It cannot be "close to eleven weeks" after W3 31 (1-18) - it may be eleven days - but during this time
Logan has been "off the radar," searching for something and leaving a trail of corpses from Jersey to Japan, and Elektra has
presumably re-started the Hand as her own militia in eastern Europe
. ...

...

Monday, June 22

...

MARVEL NEMESIS: THE IMPERFECTS #1

One rainy night. The Thing is out getting pizza and leaves a phone message for Alicia, who's not home. After eating, he gets a
call from Reed.. Ben hangs up and a light shines on him from above. "12 blocks away," Wolverine and Elektra (in a new red
get-up)
fight on rooftops, when a light shines on them and they're pulled up into a spaceship. Inside, Dr. Roekel injects Thing,
Wolverine, Elektra, and Spider-Man with the extract. They each hear voices then turn green. Full moon.

...


Note: this analysis from the calendar is very helpful since, as noted, I haven't read W3 26-31. It suggests the following modification:

ELEKTRA/ELEKTRA NATCHIOS
...
DD 181
DD 190
* EL:HAND 1
* EL:HAND 2-BTS
* EL:HAND 3-BTS
* EL:HAND 4-BTS
* EL:HAND 5
[remove and relocate:}
DD 322
...
[large gap]
...

W3 30
* W3 31 (1-18)
* EL:HAND 1
* EL:HAND 2-BTS
* EL:HAND 3-BTS
* EL:HAND 4-BTS
* EL:HAND 5
[relocated]
* W3 31 (19-23)
MA 16-FB
...
Last edited by intp on Wed Jun 10, 2015 11:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Elektra in Elektra: The Hand

Post by Col_Fury »

As it turns out, Marvel Nemesis: the Imperfects is a crossover with a video game and treats those pre-existing video game characters as natives to Earth-616. As such, it's non-canon.

Anyone have any thoughts on Elektra: the Hand? It's been years since I've even looked at it.
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Re: Elektra in Elektra: The Hand

Post by intp »

Sorry, while you were posting (but before I saw your post), I edited my old post upon realizing that M/N:I had been deemed non-canon (in the FAQ).
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