When it comes to hired killers, the Marvel universe has some of the deadliest assassins in fiction. From Bullseye's perfect aim to Taskmaster's photographic reflexes, there are few Marvel hitmen you'd want to cross at the top of their game, and none less than antihero assassin Elektra Natchios. But is Elektra truly Marvel's greatest assassin?
Introduced in Frank Miller's Daredevil #168, Elektra is an international assassin whose shifting morality often brings her into conflict with both ancient death cult the Hand and sometime-lover Matt Murdock, aka the superhero Daredevil. Though Elektra doesn't possess any enhanced powers on a permanent basis, she's one of the most skilled fighters in the Marvel universe, earning a spot on both the Red Hulk's team of dark-ops Thunderbolts and the brutal Savage Avengers team roster.
It's because of Elektra's incredible skill that her career has included many tasks impossible for lesser warriors, most notably the "Blackhawk Incident" in which she led an attack that killed two hundred and thirteen S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and being hired as the Kingpin's chief assassin. But in W. Haden Blackman and Michael Del Mundo's Elektra #1, the deadly killer is given perhaps her hardest task yet - to hunt and kill the legendary Cape Crow.
Approaching the Matchmaker for work outside New York, Elektra is asked to take down what her handler describes as "the most hard-boiled torpedo of the last thirty years." Cape Crow is a former hired gun who eventually turned to killing other assassins and stealing their contracts - the hitman's version of The Wire's Omar Little. Eventually, the Assassin's Guild put out a contract on Cape Crow, at which point he is shown taking down Sabretooth, Scalphunter, Taskmaster, and Bullseye in a straight four-on-one fight; perhaps one of the most impressive hand-to-hand victories in Marvel comics.
The last entry in this quartet is the most interesting, as Bullseye is the man who once killed Elektra, and indeed he defeats her again in Elektra #11 (albeit supported by a group of Hand ninjas), only losing to Elektra after foolishly leaving her to die. That Cape Crow is able to defeat Bullseye and Sabretooth - a vicious mutant villain who has frequently bested the X-Men's Wolverine - plus two more major Marvel killers suggests that, at least in his prime, he is perhaps the greatest assassin ever depicted in a Marvel comic.
Ultimately, Elektra finds and battles Cape Crow, who reveals that part of his incredible skill is a form of low-level telepathy that gives him just a millisecond's warning about his target's next move. It's a quality that has empowered other Marvel killers - most notably Wolverine villain Mister X, who also bested some of Marvel's top fighters. Now understanding her opponent, Elektra is able to clear her mind, utilizing her instincts and Cape Crow's advanced years to come out victorious.
Happily, it emerges that Elektra was hired by Cape Crow's son; not to kill the assassin, but just to locate him. Cape Crow convinces her that he is sincere in his desire to retire from the life of a killer, and the three combine forces to dismantle the Assassin's Guild and allow the title of Marvel's greatest assassin to truly pass to Elektra.