Journey Into Mystery #622-625
Originally released in 2011
Written by Kieron Gillen
Art by Doug Braithwaite
It's impressive how much a movie appearance can shake up the decades-long status quo of a character. That can be done to a negative effect (with Marvel comics that I've covered on here alone, there's been the downplaying of the X-Men and Hank Pym being aged into an old man), but there can be positive cases where it causes a character to undergo a major shift and break out of a rut that they've been stuck in.
The two biggest examples that come to mind for me are Loki from Marvel and Harley Quinn from DC. They had their fans, but Loki's portrayal by Tom Hiddleston (and Harley's portrayal by Margot Robbie, though that's not as relevant to today's comic) caused their popularity to skyrocket, and as a result, they underwent a major shift in character that seems like it would be difficult to step back from. The old status quo is now seemingly gone, as both of them made the transition from villain to anti-heroes who are, more often than not, on the side of good.
In Loki's case, this happened as the result of the Siege event. To make a long story short, Norman Osborn (the Green Goblin) was given control over a government agency, and managed to maintain a mask of sanity for a while. That lasted up until the point where he declared war on Asgard with his Dark Avengers. In the process, Loki (who manipulated him into attacking Asgard in the first place) was killed and reborn as a child.
Now, Loki has to help defend Asgard from a seemingly-mad Odin, who believes that the Serpent (who, in Norse mythology, is destined to kill Thor) is coming and that the best way to stop it is to wipe the Earth clean of life. As a child, Loki lacks the power or cunning of his adult self, and very few people trust him for obvious reasons.
Loki is aided by the spirit of his older self, who takes the form of a magpie and offers advice. However, by his own admission, he's a liar, and he's seemingly manipulating everyone (even his reincarnated self) for his own ends. A more useful ally is Volstagg, one of the Warriors Three. He might not trust Loki, but he has a soft spot for children and seems to hope that Loki can do better with his new lease on life.
In order to uncover the Serpent's plot, Loki journeys to Hel (the Norse world of the dead, ruled by Hela), which is currently located in Hell (the Judeo-Christian underworld, currently ruled by Mephisto) His presence and actions there nearly cause a war between the two, though he manages to find a way to get them to compromise while getting what he can to further his own plans. He also meets Leah, Hela's handmaiden. (though given that her name is an anagram of Hela, I'm guessing their connection runs deeper than that)
The art in this is gorgeous, with the colouring by Ulises Arreola doing a great job at making this feel like every panel is a painting depicting some lost story from Norse mythology. In these four issues alone, we get a good variety of Asgard's locations from the Rainbow Bridge to the mess halls, and from Odin's throne room to the dark torch-lit dungeons, with each one having a distinct feel to them.
I enjoyed reading this comic - the writing and art were great, and the kid version of Loki makes for an entertaining protagonist. If I had more free time today, I would have gladly read more of this. I'm interested to see where Loki's plans will go, and I can't wait for the inevitable train-wreck that happens when all of these plans, plots, and schemes that the various characters (including multiple versions of Loki) have in mind collide with each other.
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