Journey Into Mystery #626-631

Journey Into Mystery #626-631

Originally released in 2011

Written by Kieron Gillen

Art by Doug Braithwaite (#626, 629), Richard Elson (#627, 630), Whilce Portacio (#628-629, 631)

I remember wanting to get back to this series at some point, since I really liked the art, and I feel like I haven't really focused on Thor's side of the Marvel universe as much as I could have.  Where I last left off, the Fear Itself event was starting, Odin's brother (the Serpent) was plotting to start Ragnarok for real this time, and Loki was scheming to put a stop to it.

His plan involves a specifically-worded deal with Surtur, along with stealing the Destroyer armour from Asgard.  Given that the Serpent has his base in Dark Asgard, which is floating above New York City, it seems like Surtur is going to play a part in destroying that.

 

Issue 627 switches focus to Mephisto as we see how higher planes of existence are handling the Serpent's actions.  Given Mephisto's role in Ghost Rider's backstory and One More Day, it's fun to see him belittled here.

Mephisto tells all of this to a bartender, who proves to be a complete and total moron by accepting a deal with Mephisto without even thinking about it.  Seriously, you would think that if the Devil (or at least as close to it as the Marvel universe gets - it's a plot point that Satan is missing) offered you a deal, then there would be some kind of a cost.

Mephisto's main role in the overall plot of the series is to send an anonymous note to whoever's in charge of Asgard once this is all over to let them know that Loki freed Surtur.  I was a little concerned that Loki's plan would be a main part of the Fear Itself storyline, resulting in it being skipped over in Journey Into Mystery, though that wasn't the case; the next issue has Loki infiltrating Dark Asgard along with Leah (Hela's handmaiden; the book clearly seems to be setting up a relationship between her and Loki, even if both of them would deny it at this point), Tyr, and the Disir, who seem to be Asgardian vampires or zombies.

Loki's plan is to break into Dark Asgard's library and, using a pen made from Surtur's sword and the blood of Leah as ink, he adds a bit to the Serpent's backstory.  He can't completely rewrite history, or alter prophecy, or end the Serpent's history with "and suddenly, the Serpent has a heart attack and died", but gods are creatures of stories, and the stories change constantly, so minor additions like this are something that will work.

Loki can only add a small moment of weakness or fear into the Serpent's story, but it's a crack in the armour, enough to take the Serpent from "impossible for anyone on Earth or Asgard to beat" to "can be defeated with massive amounts of effort." After this is done, Loki summons Surtur to destroy Dark Asgard, though Surtur isn't too happy with the arrangement at first, feeling like he was cheated. (Loki allows him to return to his home dimension rather than being trapped in Limbo, which calms him down somewhat)

Loki and his allies escape, including his raven Ikol, who is described by the narration in such a way that the narrator is practically screaming "this bird is not to be trusted!"

Unfortunately, prophecies, particularly those of Ragnarok, are not so easily rewritten.  Much like in those stories, Thor seemingly dies at the hands of the massive Serpent, killing it at the apparent cost of his life.  I haven't read Fear Itself, so I don't know how that plot point is handled.  Does Odin sacrifice himself to revive Thor? Does Thor stay dead for a few real-time months, leading to another character taking over the book? I have no idea. (Obviously, he's alive in current Marvel comics, and Jason Aaron's Thor run starts about a year later, possibly less than that, so this doesn't stick)

The Destroyer armour needs a soul to power and control it, and it turns out that its pilot was Volstagg. This makes the victory a bittersweet one for Volstagg; he helped with the victory, but it came at the cost of Thor's life.  Returning home, Volstagg tells a wildly exaggerated history of the Serpent (and how Volstagg the Voluminous defeated him twice) to his many children, but at least he's raising them right.

In the aftermath of Fear Itself, Odin has left Asgard to watch over his brother's corpse, leaving a trio of queens as the rulers - Gaea, Idunn, and Freyja. They quickly determine what Loki was responsible for (and Odin said that whoever stole the Destroyer will have to learn to live without skin), but they agree to keep it a secret as long as Loki serves as their agent and doesn't try to betray them.

Meanwhile, Hela returns to her own domain after being forced to share territory with Mephisto, though she leaves Leah on Asgard to keep an eye on Loki, much to Leah's annoyance. Loki insists that they're going to be B.F.F.s, which just annoys Leah further because she has no idea what that means.

While I felt like I missed out on a lot of key details due to not having read Fear Itself, this was an enjoyable set of issues.  It's interesting to see Loki trying to navigate his clean slate and trying to be a good person (or at least a person working towards the greater good) while everyone has centuries of reasons to not trust him. I'm curious about where Leah's plot is going to go, though I'm guessing it won't end well.