Loki Appreciation 2019

[Raye]

pretty cool variant cover for issue 2 by Duncan Shalvey:


https://twitter.com/declanshalvey/st...13662695956481

[Raye]

So today is the day, Loki #1 is out! and I liked it quite a bit. Also looks like i am still on the right track about a potential twist.
so a recap. this will be long since the issue is very densely packed.
spoilers:

Loki is in the casino as previously established in the preview, when the management sics their muscle, Armadillo, on him. Further cementing the shadiness of the operation, since the proprietor, who we still don't know the identity of, though Loki seems to know, has a sueprvillain in their employ. They fight. It seems to be established here that while Loki is in Asgard or Jotunheim, or presumably most of the other realms, magic is free, but as soon as he steps foot on Midgard he has to abide by the 'cost' thing that's been happening over in Dr Strange. Anyway, he goads Armadillo into charging him, but apparently the price for turning some perfume into snake venom (from the same snake that had tortured him for years) was a bit of bad luck causing him to trip and get knocked out of the casino, which is apparently a blimp, and fall int the Hudson. Nightmare was apparently spying on this, and concludes that if Loki is on Midgad that means the throne of Jotunheim is unguarded and he's gonna take the opportunity to attack. Meanwhile, Thor has a vision from King Thor (?) in the future, warning him of 'the unfather' and to stop 'your brother' from destroying the Earth. Yet again he fails to mention WHICH brother, and King Thor also apparently got the wrong brother himself, he had interned to appear to someone else. So, this is in line with the previous two 'brother' teases, and makes me even more suspicious that it really isn't Loki that destroyed the earth. If we assume all 3 of the 'brother' teases are related, then the 'brother' in question is also his own brother, so then the person 'Thor' INTENDED to appear to had to have been one of his other siblings, of which only 3 remain alive, and old enough to understand such a warning, unless Vidar or Hermod get pulled out of limbo. So he had to have intended to appear to on of the siblings. Which means that Loki or Balder is the brother that wrecks the earth, since we know it wasn't Thor, and their continued insistence on not NAMING the 'brother' makes me more and more sure it is Balder having done a heel turn, and off-model King Thor intended to appear to Loki cus he is the new protector of the realms, taking Thor's place as the new 'Thor'. Especially with a later revelation at the end of the issue. Anyway, Thor thinks the vision is just Loki trying to get his attention, since, for some reason, King Thor (?) in the future has both eyes... hmmm.... so Thor thinks Loki messed up his illusioin and doesn't take it seriously, thankfully. But he goes to find Loki... Who he finds in a police station, after he was taken in very wet and very drunk the night before. The cops are debating if it is really him or not, until Thor comes for him. I get the impression from this scene that Loki is not actually as ok, mentally/emotionally, as he is trying to project to those around him, especially with his 'stomachs can be very lonely places' comment in regards to why he was so drunk (so the first drink had company). I think he (understandably) found his time being digested 'alive' to be rather traumatic, but is trying to put on a brave face, and act like everything is fine. Anyway, Thor hauls him off back to Jotunheim. Loki yells at Drrf in Icelandic/Old Norse, (Kibblesmith apparently has decided that in times of stress Loki reverts to not just the usual thees and thous of old school Asgardian speak, but full on speaking in different languages, he said 'crap' in runes earlier in the issue and basically called Drrf a 'puny wretched idiot' in the Icelandic/Norse mishmash) because Drrf had narced on him to Thor. (when asked why 'because I'm Thor' cus obviously) and he deals with the 'important' matter that was brought up earlier.... one of the giants stole the ax of the other. I told you it would be something utterly trivial. Loki makes his judgement and then argues with Thor a bit, and makes his snowman. Proclaiming "There. Satisfied? the throne of Jotunheim is safe." to which Thor says "please take this seriously" because at this point it is just a big lump of snow. So Loki pulls out.... the Norn Stones!? which he got from... somewhere...and places them into the snowman, much to Thor's shock, and it comes to life, Loki names it Frösti, and commands it to defend Jotunheim. Nightmare, with the worst timing imaginable, attacks. He chose to attack thinking it would be undefended, but thanks to not double checking before popping into the realm, it is in fact defended by Loki, AND Thor, AND Frösti. They make quick work of Nightmare, with Frösti literally eating Nightmare, in what i can only assume to be an intentional callback to Loki and Laufey, and Frösti proclaims that he will digest and excrete Nightmare back to his home dimension. disturbing. And Loki says "See? Realm defended." and I mean, he's not wrong. But Thor doesn't seem pleased, and hauls him off to the Halls of All Knowing, but not before Loki tells Frösti to defend Jotunheim, and right as Thor and Loki bifrost out, Frösti replies with an ominous "I would kill for my king." and I'm sure that will be nothing at all to worry about. Loki calls Thor out for the hypocricy of Thor of all people scolding him for neglecting his duties for trips to Midgard for some light heroics, and Thor says that's not it, that Loki lives again due to herioc acts, but that he is a king now and he 'must learn to sacrifice for your people without actually sacrificing yourself.' and then Thor reveals that he's found some books that Odin had kept hidden from Loki and Thor, because he believed in 'keeping knowledge secret to protect it's power' and Loki asks what Thor believes, and he says 'change' and he hands Loki the 'books of Loki' asking if he wants to know how they end, and Loki of course wants to see. But that's the last we see of that, and we jump forward to the end of Midgard with King Thor (???) ... with dark hair... having apparently been hit super hard by.... something... and it is implied that this is the fight for the very fate of the Earth. and he kinda scolds himself for getting the wrong room again... cut to a view of the Earth from orbit with a bright light blooming over the surface of the Earth, and that's the end of the issue. I do not think this is King Thor. I am not sure why he has the Destroyer arm, but considering the timing of the final page just as Loki sneaks a peek at how his story ends, and Thor's cryptic comment about having to sacrifice without sacrificing himself, and this Thor had dark hair, and both eyes, when we know actual Thor is missing one eye..... This is Loki, in the role of protector of the realms, and that narrows down the brother candidates to one: Balder. And Loki died, (or "died" anyway, since we know he will be back) just as Thor's granddaughters said, when the Earth was turned to ash. In a tremendously bright surge of light. called it. So Loki actually does have Mjolnir in this issue. Just not present day Loki.

end of spoilers

so yeah, I liked it a lot! I am wondering now if ordered for issue 1 were upped because apparently this is where we learn what led to the King Thor future, which I am sure some people will be curious about.

I liked Loki and Thor interacting, Loki felt much more like himself in this issue, but I do wish we had gotten a little bit from Freyja and Odin. I am just really curious to see how that will go, but they may be saving that for next issue of Thor.

[Rosebunse]

I really liked that even though it was a lighter book and we have Loki back in top form, it's not forgotten that Loki's go-to strategy is to kill himself when things get hard. It isn't because he's always looking for an easy way out, but because he's a very all or nothing type person.

And while it would be nice to hear from Odin and Freya, bearing that concern come from Thor really shows that their relationship is on the mend.

Thor coming to pick him up from the drunk tank was really cute and, well, normal. It's exactly the sort of thing I was wanting from this book.

[Snoop Dogg]

Not sure what I expected, but this was great! The Kibbles has a tight Loki voice and I need more of the babies' trickster tips. And it has my homie ARMADILLO! AND HE SPOKE SPANISH! AND HE DID A SPINDASH! Glad he's back on his feet with legitimate employment. Also interested in the bigger game being played. And Bazaldua and Curiel are killing it. 44/30 BEST COMIC EVER.

Oh, and I liked the Norn Stone bashing

[Rosebunse]

The only issue I had was with some of the paneling during the fight. I felt like I was counting panels.

[rpmaluki]

LOVED IT!!!

@Raye - to add to what you said regarding the future "Thor", when he called said "brother" and Thor instinctively thought it was Loki. I think Thor recognised the voice and responded accordingly, even while half asleep. What trips me up however, is the intended recipient of the vision because of that first "brother". It sound like vision "Thor" is calling out to present Thor but due to whatever's weakened him, the vision maybe starts mid sentence and we get the whole in the next panel. It's all confusing but I may join you in your theory that Balder is the "brother" referred to. And if this vision "Thor" is Loki, why in the world is he dressed like real Thor (unless that is now a thing now), down to the Destroyer's arm?

[Raye]

yeah, that's true about Thor thinking it was Loki before actually seeing the illusion, so he may have recognized Loki's voice.

But as you say there are some oddities, I don't know what to say about the Destroyer arm, or why he was dressed just like Thor, rather than his own unique take on the whole role, that bit was definitely odd. but I think this continued refusal to call the 'brother' who destroys the world by name is waaaaay suspicious, especially since they've now done it 3 times. Like if it was Loki, I think they would have just said it by now, especially with the solicits for King Thor being out. And the timing of the final page right after Loki reads how his story ends, plus the fact that this is, you know, Loki's book, it doesn't seem to fit unless the 'Thor' there is actually Loki. (and Thor's reaction to that end, as well. Like he had read it, clearly, and still trusted Loki, and seemed to think Loki would like what he read. that doesn't fit with Loki having been the destroyer of worlds)

[Karabaja]

Had to read it twice to make sure I don't miss anything important. Liked it a lot.
spoilers:

If the "visionThor" was future Loki, and Balder is the one who destroys Earth, whose room was he supposed to be in? The message was obviously not for Thor, and if it's not for Balder either, than who is the "brother" he thought he was talking to? Tyr? Oh, and also, I liked the blink-and-you'll-miss-it mention of Sigyn and the legendary serpent punishment. Glad that the writer references older plots (and myths). Also, while I like the prospect of Loki going full Nordic when upset, shouldn't that actually be impossible if he's speaking the All-tongue?

end of spoilers

[rpmaluki]

There's something else to consider, as far as we know, Thor doesn't have weird magic/time travelling/teleportation abilities but Loki sure does. If Loki shows up in the past, we don't question how because it's in his wheelhouse, the details might be a little grey from book/writer to book/writer. I don't know much about Balder but I doubt he has this ability as well, one more thing pointing to Loki being vision "Thor".

Say all of the above is true, is Necro Loki (the one in King Thor) a different Loki to our present Loki and this vision "Thor"?

[Karabaja]

I wonder that, too. Necro Loki bothers me a lot. I really hope that future gets averted.

[Raye]

In the King Thor timeline, there is a looooong period of time between the destruction of the earth, and Necrosword Loki. millions of years long. During which everyone apparently believed he was dead. Thor's granddaughters seemed to have thought he was killed when the earth was destroyed, which fits with the vision here. But he didn't die, he just went into hiding, for some reason. Who knows what happened to him in that time.

Also, yeah, I don't think Balder has the ability to astral project, let alone through time, his powers are light based, he can create bright light and heat, that's about it aside from the usual Asgardian stuff.

Had to read it twice to make sure I don't miss anything important. Liked it a lot.
spoilers:

If the "visionThor" was future Loki, and Balder is the one who destroys Earth, whose room was he supposed to be in? The message was obviously not for Thor, and if it's not for Balder either, than who is the "brother" he thought he was talking to? Tyr?

end of spoilers

I think he was trying to go back and warn himself I think he knew he was about to lose and this was his one shot to make sure he could get a chance to do it better a second time round.

Also having a second look, he only has the destroyer arm in one panel. of course, it is the largest panel, but after that his arms appear to be normal, so that may have been an art slip up. We'll see.

[rpmaluki]

I wonder that, too. Necro Loki bothers me a lot. I really hope that future gets averted.

This is me as well. Whatever happens in his book, I know I will be very disappointed if Necro Loki is his final fate, set in stone, never to be averted, as you say.

Edit: I don't know why it bugs me so much compared to say Loki being the cause of Ragnarok. I think the former has a sense of finality to it compared to the latter. There's no rhyme or reason to why Loki does what he does. He's destructive, selfish etc. I can live with that, this Necro Loki just feels like they've drained what Itty bitty little grey he has and have made him completely "unredeemably" evil. King Loki was like that but that wasn't the end of Loki's story and we got a sense of that even when it looked like he had the upper hand. Necro feels like the end, at least the story is being sold like it is.

[Raye]

If what Thor said was true and keeping knowledge secret made it have power, then Loki learning of his fate here may mean he can change events, and avert the end of the world and everything that follows.

cus yeah, I really hope Necrosword Loki is not his final fate and he's unable to change that no matter what. I know it's millions of years off, but it's still sad. though it does kind of fit with the 'worthy' requirements if he knows he will likely fall, but he keeps trying anyway to avert that.

[Karabaja]

If he was trying to warn himself, why would he call himself "brother"? Unless of course the word "brother" was just a part of a sentence that got fragmented and distorted.
Also, if he was trying to warn himself, he didn't miss just a room; he missed the whole realm.

[rpmaluki]

He may have forgotten that he took up residence in his birth realm. Loki's not keen on being stuck in Jotunheim for longer than he deems necessary.