Loki Appreciation 2020

[Raye]

A little old, but came across this: https://whatsondisneyplus.com/loki-w...disney-series/

Definitely seems like the Disney Plus show will be treading similar ground to what Loki has been dealing with in the comics for the past 10 years, with questions about fate, control of his own destiny, and such. Though of course, this is the Loki reset back to the end of Avengers, so lacking the development he had from that point onward.

Back to comics, just gonna ramble a bit to clarify some things from recent discussion. Been thinking a bit, about some things said before in the thread, and I think it's important to kind of separate what is good for Loki as a person and what is good for him in terms of good story, and find a balance between the two. I know it's tempting to want maximum good from both sides of things, but the two are often at odds with each other, since good stories need some form of conflict, whether it's internal or external. But conflict can get in the way of personal progress. If everything goes great for Loki, that usually means the story will be kinda dull, with low stakes and minimal conflict, or at the very least not meaningful conflict. Like, random fight with random baddie, sure it might be fun, but it accomplishes little overall unless it slots into a larger overarching narrative.

I said before that I don't think the whole 'roles' thing is actually all that good for Loki (or the other Asgardians) on a personal level, but it is good for the bigger picture story when you look at things as a whole. When dealing with long form stories like this, I think it's good to step back and look at the bigger picture and not just issue by issue or arc by arc, because it is usually the bigger picture stuff where a run can be seen as something special or not, that's where you really see the overarching story and themes, what it has to say. So I think the Asgard side of things in general, could benefit from this because it gives them a framework to say something bigger, and an overarching narrative that allows them to explore how the characters react to being put in new situations across the board, and how they deal with things once they no longer have the safe, familiar, status quo to deal with, which can cause some inner conflict from character to character. Dealing with the same basic situations with some details switched around over and over again loses it's impact after a while, which could be fixed by swapping everyone's roles in the story around, even if the overall structure remains vaguely the same. (just like how it works in-universe) I think the 'roles' thing has so much potential for creating interesting stories in the Asgard corner of things, and it could say a lot of interesting things about stories, about belief, about the characters, about free will, and more. But.... I recognize that it kind of comes at a price for some characters. Tyr, if we are right, did a huge heel turn because of it, and while I don't think he has legions of fans out there that will be fuming about this (tho, every character is someone's favourite) it still means bad things for him as a person, because he's now on the wrong side of things, and will always be in conflict with the rest of Asgard until another role switch happens, which, judging by the past, could be thousands of years off, this may be effectively permanent for him. (though I recognize that in real life, it is possible a future writer could revert him back to more hero/anti-hero much sooner) And even Loki, he looks to have probably gotten a good role, but is it one he actually would have chosen for himself? Judging by his recent attempts to define new roles for himself, probably not, I think he'd like something a bit more gray area. Thor seems to be dealing with being made king of Asgard.... poorly. Sif seems to be dealing with her new role fairly well, but she still lost her brother.

But I think a middle ground can be found between the two, where we can have both obstacles and hardship that lead to engaging stories, and forward progress that is good for Loki as a person. In the long run, it could even be better for him, even if it may not seem that way in the present. I think Loki (and we) needs to focus more on the things he can control an do in the present, and not the eventual outcome. It's good to have goals, but when working towards them, i think it's better to focus on the steps immediately in front of you, and things you personally can control, rather than the overall outcome and things that you can't control which may interfere. I think part of his problem is that he's been focused too much on what could go wrong, and his goals are too big and far off, too focused on fate, something he can't control. I think that's one of his biggest flaws, he likes to be in control of everything, and when he can't control something, that pisses him off. So when things don't go his way, he gets discouraged, or angry, it feels like he failed at controlling events, then things can seem hopeless, especially if you throw in a big dose of guilt that may convince him that he is just bad, and can make it seem like the larger goal is out of reach, and i think this kind of thinking is what led to the depression spiral during Aaron's run. Or he begins over thinking things, and gets caught in thoughts of how things have gone wrong, or might go wrong in the future, rather than what did or can go right. But if he took it more one day at a time, and focused on the present and doing the best he can in that moment, accepted that sometimes things are going to happen that he can't control, but he CAN control how he reacts to those things, it would be easier to be optimistic, and be better able to deal with unexpected obstacles. He might have a setback or failure where things didn't go well, but as long as the goal each day is to do the best he can with the present situation, he can, succeed at that every single day, instead of looking at it as failing every day, because he didn't reach the big goal. If he screws up, he can try to make it right, it doesn't have to mean everything is going off the rails. Small steps add up to a big journey in the end. He may not end up where he originally planned, he may take detours along the way, but he could still end up somewhere good, as long as he doesn't give up on trying to move forward. I mean, he kinda ended up where he is now without trying specifically, it just kinda happened because he tried to make the best of a VERY bad situation. (Laufey killing him) I don't think he ever planned on being king of Jotunheim, or seriously considered he might be worthy of Mjolnir, but here we are. It's not what he wanted, really, but he can definitely work with it, even if all this roles stuff is still obstructing him from being what he may have chosen for himself when he started. He may feel like things are out of control, but as long as he reacts as best he can, it's still a win. And Thor or other heroes may lash out at him and not take him seriously, but he can't do much about that beyond just trying to show them he's changed. Even if they never believe him, that doesn't mean his daily goal of being the best Loki he can has to fail. Yeah he can try and help Thor get over his issues, not saying he has to give up on him, but ultimately that's up to Thor, not Loki, (and vice versa) to actually make that progress, so Loki just has to work around it if Thor continues to be an ass. All of this applies to Thor too, really.

Kinda the same thing with whether this is better in a solo or Thor's book. As a Loki fan, I think a solo would be cool, it would be nice to get a guaranteed 20 pages of Loki every month, and it was disappointing to have a new solo axed after so few issues. But we have to work with what we've got in front of us, and I think some good things can come from having Loki do his thing in a Thor book, for the reasons stated in the posts above. It may not be what is ideal for me as a fan of Loki specifically at this moment, or what i may have hoped for from Agent of Asgard or when the new solo started, but I do think good can come out of it, maybe even better than what i was anticipating initially, as long as i stay open minded and judge things for what they are rather than what they aren't. I love to speculate about what may come in the future, and I know can get really deep into some of my speculation and probably overthink it. But I also try really hard to not get too attached to that if it doesn't pan out. When things go in a way I wasn't anticipating, I adjust my speculation to account for new information, and I try not to judge things for not being what I had initially speculated. Not always successfully, but I try. (but I still like speculating because it's fun, especially if i do end up being right, and keeps my mind thinking about the story between issues, and cements details in my brain, so I don't forget what's going on) What happens with Loki is beyond my control, all I can do is try to find joy in what happens. Not saying I have to like everything that happens, it's ok to have opinions, but i can at least try to look at things in terms of what it does well rather than what it does poorly, or what it did do, rather than what we may have been hoping for but didn't pan out. It may not be exactly what I was hoping, and there is always a possibility that it could all go wrong, and I may not like what happens, but there is also always the possibility it will be fantastic in some unexpected way. Tho, more likely it will be somewhere in the middle. In any case, I think it is more productive to maintain some optimism rather than dwell on how it might go wrong.

Anyway, yeah, I just had some thoughts rattling around in my head. That's how i try to look at things, and how I keep optimistic about where he's headed.

spellcheck seems to have fixed itself, so that's good.

[Pallux]

Agreed about the conflict, love my conflict. I can love or hate the specific choice of conflict but I'm not interested in everyone being peachy keen all the time. I've been thinking that it's time for Loki specifically to get some external conflict. Because, even though I'm a sucker for internal, reflective stuff, we've had Loki's internal struggle being the focus of his story for so long, it's started to feel tiring to me. And Loki can be so fun and cool to watch solving external type problems, just seems a waste to not use him like that more. TMT started out seeming to do just that but we know how that turned out. Ofc, I'd love more internal struggle too (in fact I'm a believer of every story needing at least some level of internal conflict) but a different one than "can I be break free from evil" finally.

I don't know if anyone was confused about this, but for clarity's sake: when I talk about good or bad things for Loki, I'm talking about the status of his face turn, or like, out of universe popularity and such. I'm absolutely one of those people who loves to watch their faves suffer . (not very relevant but this really amused me at the time: when Laufey ate Loki and it got me THE MOST HYPED I'd been over Loki in a LONG time, and I searched the internet for more reactions, I found a fair amount of Loki fans going "please stop treating my fave badly!!!". I was like??? You think this is bad treatment????? But look at all that pain! The horror! The attention! Anyway.)

Also. All this time we've been theorizing about the roles stuff I've been feeling guilty about Tyr haha. Especially after the All-Mother's stunt in AoA. The thing is though, I wouldn't see it as Tyr being forced into the villain role because there's a vacancy that wants to be filled, and more as Tyr becoming villanous because that's the choice he's making right now, and falling into the role because there happens to be a vacancy. That won't make it any less bitter if he does ever want to change and maybe he's held back by the role, or for fans who don't want to see him as a villain ever at all, but there you go.

And going back and skimming your post I'm sure there were more things I had to say but I've forgotten them now lol.


EDIT: OH RIGHT. One of 'em came back. About the positivity/control thing. I 100% believe anyone has the right to hate where a story is going and express that and complain and stop reading and everything. But I've seen plenty of threads (not just on cbr, in general) where a large chunk of the posts seem to be "this writer sucks! They hate [x] character" And just... SOMEtimes it's as simple as just waiting to see where the story is going. Not that people aren't allowed to be worried/misled in the meantime, but it can get so extreme and uh, infectious. And drowing out all the stuff that WAS in-character or funny or whatever. So I think you're absolutely right about it being "more productive to maintain some optimism rather than dwell on how it might go wrong."

Especially in a medium that's as, well, messy and inconsistent as comics tend to get, given that all these characters are switching hands all the time and they go on and on. Which means that there IS a bigger chance of things eventually happening that you don't like. Just gotta accept (and if it gets TOO unacceptable I'm not above ignoring what I hate and making up my own stuff based on the great things I did get, tbh. For entertainment in my own head)

[Raye]

I wasn't thinking of anyone in particular when i wrote that, just kind of an aggregate of people I've seen or encountered, because yeah I have noticed the same thing, not just with Loki but in general. Whenever the character faces a hardship or obstacle, suffer a loss, or they maybe react badly to something, it's met with accusations that the writers/editors 'hate' them, and things like when Dan Slott and Nick Spencer received death threats over Superior Spider-Man and Hydra Cap. It was just baffling to me, because it was plainly obvious from the outset that they were just stories, and the good guys would win in the end, and everything would go back to normal and Cap and Spidey would be ok. I don't understand the mentality that a character should never ever have to struggle or even lose at times, that they always have to be at their best and never lose, because it's usually when a character is brought low that is most interesting to me. It's often at that point that they find something inside themselves that makes them push to be better and win in the end, and you see how strong they really are in a way you wouldn't if they just curb-stomped everything in their path. I really think Loki being eaten by his own father was his hero origin, (I'm just frustrated it wasn't shown on panel very much) like Tony Stark in that cave, going through that taught hims something about himself, and led him to find strength to overcome death itself, he came out the other side of that ordeal better than before, so it was a bad thing that happened, but good for him as character in the end. You also kinda really learn more about a character in those moments, and I love getting inside characters heads and figuring out what makes them tick. So yeah, bring on the pain and hardship. Just.... I'd like some good times mixed in with that. I do think Loki's had an extended stretch of bad times, and i think he's earned a reprieve, and should be allowed to have some fun with what he has achieved, at least for a while. But too much of that, and it will get a bit stale after a while, and he'll have to face another hardship. And that's ok.

And yeah, sometimes, something will happen when writers do things to a character that can be disappointing and even cause you to not like a character any more. I used to be really big into Nightcrawler, but the thing was, i liked him in Excalibur, that was peak Nightcrawler for me. He was just a fun and cool character, i liked how he treated everything as an adventure, I liked how kind he was, I liked how he had an objectively awful backstory that would be traumatic and cause angst in most people, but he found the good in his situation. A lot of my 'find the good in things' attitude actually probably comes from him. Then they started getting ever more into the religious side of things, and the fun aspects fell to the wayside more and more, and just, the religious aspect was the thing i cared the least about with him, and it just engulfed his whole character, so he just.... became a character i wasn't as interested in any more. I keep tabs on him, i still like him, but not in the same way as before. Sad, but I found other characters i liked. And now I have Loki, and I'll have fun with him for as long as he remains as interesting as he is. I hope it's a long time, but...

As for Tyr, yeah, I feel kinda bad for him, and I think you put it well, about how he's not being forced into the role, but that he's falling into a vacant role because of choices he made. it's a situation where a lot of factors have to align, i think. But as Loki experienced, fate may try to keep him in that role for as long as possible now that he's in it. At least.... in universe. In the real world, he has no choice, the writers decide his actions, and when they decided to make Loki turn face and stick with it, and set up this whole roles thing with the whole 'there must always be a ____' thing, then someone, apparently Aaron during the Hel arc, even though the full consequences are not coming out until now, decided to make Tyr turn heel. I don't actually think it's bad for him as a character, even if it's bad for him as a person, though. I think he could potentially get a lot more exposure and development as the new villain of the story than he would as one of Thor's often sidelined brothers. He got it better than Vidar or Hermod, in that he at least still shows up on panel sometimes, but not by a ton, because he's usually just not that central to the plot. Now he could in theory be as important to the plot as Loki was when he was the main baddie of Thor's rogues gallery, and it could lead to a lot more panel time and development as they dive into his motivations. But in universe, it still means he will go down a dark path, be hated by his family, and will get his butt kicked a lot, because that's what happens to bad guys.

[rpmaluki]

I admit I am not particularly versed in all that is currently going on with the Asgardians but I feel as though Loki thrives best with internal conflict stemming from a past/fate he's trying to escape compared to Thor who definitely thrives best with external conflict, hence he's so good throwing that hammer of his. Where I think is a problem is that Loki's decade long face turn has essentially left a massive gaping whole in Thor's story. The conflict between the brothers defined their characters for well over fifty years and if Loki continues on the current trajectory, that sort of leaves Thor's side of things floundering. I'm not saying there's a shortage of villains that Thor can cut his teeth in but rather he's missing that truly defining element that made him "Thor", the defender of Midgard and Asgard etc. You kind of see it with some fans who still can't accept Loki's face turn and believe he's playing a long con on everybody and perhaps even some writers/Marvel itself holding on to that one card that resets everything should they so wish. You also saw it with how a majority of Thor fans raged against Aaron's unworthy Thor arc. That did not sit well at all with those who are used to Thor being at the top of his game. That was internal conflict for Thor and something so unflinchingly rejected that I doubt any more of that type of writing will ever be accepted again, not even a revisit to Thor's prideful days when he was younger which is what Cates could be doing(???). Thor and some of his fans (I mean this with absolutely no disrespect) are desperately holding on to Thor's glory days and refuse to accept anything less. And this is where I think it clashes with the Loki side of things. There's a sort of rebuilding of the status quo due to Loki's popularity in and out of comics and that will keep things uncertain all round as one side tries to progress and the other, well, doesn't. It sucks because I think both sides would stand to benefit more if they were moving in the same direction, bts that is. It may not be anything but look at how quickly their getting along was done away with between Kibblesmith and Cates. There may be a story reason for it and it may get resolved but at the moment it just seems as same old same old, even if Loki is no longer actively playing the role of a villain.

As to Loki's suffering, it is to be expected because he's got decades' long of wrong that he can't just simply wipe away. Do I like to see him suffer? Yes and no. Yes because it's an opportunity to tell a well rounded arc for as long as it's still worth telling but also no, because I love him and I can only take so much pain and suffering as a fan that wants to see him happy for just a little while. At some stage we have to stop going around the same mountain and seek other avenues to explore.

[Raye]

It's looking like this page of the thread might be extra wall-of-text-y, and it's normally an unusually verbose appreciation thread as it is.

Yeah like i said, I think it's time for Loki to catch a break. While I like the development he's gotten from his recent troubles, and think it's led someplace good despite it being pretty rough on him as a person, I don't want it to be neverending misery with him, and he definitely has potential to be a very fun character. Though it's looking like we will have at least one more dark arc before that can happen, but maybe after that. And the horror arc may be dark in general tone but it may be that Loki gets something good from it, anyway. I mean, we have gotten SOME... it's just kind of short little things here and there, I'm kinda feeling like we need a year or thereabouts of something just unabashedly fun, then we can have some drama again. Seemed like we would be getting some fun from the solo, but... ah well. I still have my fingers crossed for a solo in about a year, hopefully that can be fun.

I'm not sure Aaron's unworthy arc was resoundingly rejected. It was rejected by some vocal fans online, yeah, but that's not everyone. Pretty sure they are a vocal minority, and these sorts of things are self-reinforcing, since people with similar opinions tend to congregate to vent or gush, whichever, and people with opinions that differ just don't want to post there, find some place else, because everything being an argument can be pretty exhausting. ( I know that's why I stopped even looking at the Thor thread, it's just not a discussion I am interested in participating in because it will just end up being me being a dissenting voice and being forced on the defensive. And yes, I realize this can apply to this thread as well, tho, you know, whatever.) so you get little bubbles of shared opinions at various places, I've seen some other places that were pretty positive about Aaron's run, but here at CBR, the negative ones seem to have won out. It sold fairly well (for a Thor book) I don't think it was selling what it did purely on hate-buys, and it got pretty good reviews, so...

Regardless of how widespread the dislike is though, the fans that don't like Thor facing internal struggle are likely to be disappointed with this arc in the long run, I think. Thor's been kicking a lot of ass, and been out in space doing space adventures, sure, and that's been making some of his fans happy for now. But it's also been undercut by some emotional issues that he's going through. I think some of the ones who just want him to be more physical and tough might be overlooking that to an extent, just caring that he's smacking down Galactus and being a badass, but I am pretty sure the emotional issues will be coming around to bite him in the ass, and he will have to deal with the repercussions of his actions, and he will not be able to do that by hitting something with a hammer. And I think that's another reason why I kinda like the idea of the role switch. Yeah, Thor has generally been a very action oriented character, if there is a way to solve a problem by hitting it with a hammer, he'll find it. But I think taking a character out of their comfort zone can lead to some interesting stuff. Force Thor to sit on a throne and deal with matters of state? apparently that makes him feel like he's past his peak and on the decline, which makes him really, really grumpy and makes him lash out at people he shouldn't. that Mjolnir is getting heavier (and he's trying to hide that from people, but Loki noticed) certainly isn't helping.

[rpmaluki]

I'm not saying that the book was rejected, but more of Aaron's vision with (unworthy) Thor was. And yes it could be a case of a very vocal minority and not a true reflection of fans' reception of a Thor who was suddenly second to Jane in how she did his job.

I do agree about what's coming for him under Cates.

[Raye]

I might be misunderstanding what you mean by vision, but I don't think Aaron was saying that's just how Thor was, or that Jane was just better than him. (tho i do think he may have had her come across as a little too saintly or competent at times, even tho in hindsight, i think some of that was the hammer/role acting through her) I mean Aaron wrote God of Thunder too, which led into that, and he was badass there. It's the same character, it's just he was dealt a blow and he reacted kinda badly because it's not something he deals with often, in addition to it being one of the things he feared the most. He (like his fans, i guess) is accustomed to things going his way, because they usually do, and while Aaron introduced an aspect where he was kind of always a bit worried in the back of his mind that he wasn't really worthy, i don't think his reaction was out of line, given all that. Tho yeah, because it is not something we usually see from Thor, i think some fans really didn't like it. But personally, though there were some aspects i didn't like so much, I thought it was interesting, and pretty sure I am not alone in that.

and, just as a reminder that maybe the vocal negative fans who want everything to go back to an old status quo aren't the ones to listen to, initial sales charts for March were released: https://bleedingcool.com/comics/spid...0-marketshare/

Of note here, Thor #4 came in at 4th place, above X-Men, and Wolverine. Sales estimates have not been done yet, but we can come to a ballpark if we look at February: https://comichron.com/monthlycomicss...0/2020-02.html Thor #3 came in at 17th place, with estimated sales of 49k, while X-Men had 92k and 77k (2 issues that month). So. What unusual thing maybe happened in Thor #4 that could have cause the jump, hm? ok, the first appearance of the Black Winter probably contributed, and this is probably Marvel overshipping because they knew what happened, even tho the stores didn't, likely by 50% judging on where it fell in relation to X-Men, but i suspect the hammer lift was a major factor in their decision. Which also might point to it being significant in the long run. Also, looks like Strange Academy debuted fairly well.

[Karabaja]

https://www.newsarama.com/49999-diam...ng-titles.html
Thor #5 on May 20
No Strange academy, though it was to be expected. I hope the book survives this; I really liked it.

[Karabaja]

https://bleedingcool.com/comics/than...ay-new-comics/
But more comics here, Strange Academy included

[Raye]

I kind of expected Strange Academy would be in the first shipment from Diamond since it was one of the April 1st books, so like, it's already at Diamond's warehouse. So yeah, the BC list looks more complete. That's good, I mean, no guarantee Loki is in either one, I think Thor is likely given what happened in 4, Strange Academy.... enh, maybe... (was still a fun book tho. I have it almost built in Sims, btw. was a biiiiig build, it is enormous) but still, good that new comics are on the way again (tho i still think they should have released digitally)

[Raye]

More info on what is shipping form Marvel and when: https://bleedingcool.com/comics/marv...s-a-wednesday/
For stuff Loki has a high probability of appearing in, looks like Thor 5 will be hitting June 24th, Strange Academy July 8th, and no Valkyrie or Star until after July at some point, so yeah, a lot of stuff delayed by quite a lot.

ok, so 2 separate thoughts came to me the last couple days related to the whole 'roles' thing. First, a minor thing i just thought was kinda cool, a page came across my dash on tumblr, and i realized that this whole role switcheroo thing was being built towards since God of Thunder. It's just we didn't see it for what it was at the time. (also this particular role switch then got muddied later, because serial storytelling) But the first role switch hinted at was the Warriors 3, with the League of Realms. Honeyshot = Fandral, Ud = Hogun, Screwbeard = Volstagg, and the sorta 4th member, Waziria = Sif. They even lampshaded it. But at the time, it was like, it just came across as 'hahaha, that's cute' kinda thing, because there was no other indication at the time that everyone in Asgard, pretty much, would be changing their roles. But... in hindsight.... Tho, as mentioned they kinda walked this one back, as they added more members to the League, and the Warriors 3 themselves got a new member to replace Volstagg as he moved to more political pursuits, rather than just have the trio just... kinda break up, to be supplanted by the League. Serial storytelling, it's just messy like that, you can't go back and edit things as you reach the end of the story or come up with new ideas, like you can with a novel or whatever, so inevitably stuff like this happens where things change direction midway. But you never know, it could be that Fandral and Hogun step aside for one reason or another as well, and Honeyshot and Ud come in to take their place, so it could still sort of work. But I think they will need to spend some more time with the Warriors 3, and build up Hildegarde some more, and send Hogun and Fandral off to some kind of new thing, before they could do that.

Second, I was on the page for the most recent solicits and saw the Valkyrie one again. And noticed that there is a wolf in the moon, probably something to do with Fenris then. and read the text:

The Last Son of Kraven has come to New York City on the hunt for a mythic beast — one whose freedom risks the safety of all the realms. So why is Valkyrie standing in his way?! And if a monster of Hel is roaming Midgard, where are the queens of Hel? What is Karnilla singing to sleep in her underworldly bower?!

And it dawned on me. If Tyr is taking Loki's place, then he kinda needs some monster kids, doesn't he? could that be what Karnilla is singing to sleep? (Poor Balder! It always seems to come back to 'Poor Balder...') but then what's the deal with Jane protecting.... Fenris? I mean, wolf, so guess it could also be Garm. But if Fenris, I mean obviously Tyr's not gonna like Fenris very much, after eating his hand and all, so maybe he wants Fenris taken out of the picture by Kraven so his new spawn can take his place? Anyway, if Tyr is replacement Loki, then I think it's likely this possible baby is probably his, and likely monstrous in some way. But as mentioned it will be a looooong time until we can see if that is confirmed or not. Kinda weird because the story in Valkyrie right now actually seems to be taking place prior to the current arc in Thor, and at this rate Thor may be moving on to it's second arc by the time the next issue of Valkyrie comes out.

[Raye]

There's been an update on release schedules which affects one of the Loki books, and though still no mention of Valkyrie anywhere, (tho comixology has it listed for the 15th of July) but Star is in fact coming out on the 20th, just.... only in digital. https://bleedingcool.com/comics/marv...-digital-only/

so we will actually have something that Loki (probably) is in in just a couple weeks, so that's nice! I think most of us here are digital anyway, so... but if you were buying in print just a reminder that the issues do come with a digital code, so you can have the complete run in one place. Here's the link to the next issue on Comixology: https://www.comixology.com/Star-2020...xpc3Qvc2VyaWVz also issues 1-3 are only 99 cents right now. I'm a little disappointed they did not reduce the price of the next couple issues as well, considering printing costs and undercutting shops are no longer a factor, though. But still cheaper to get them at 99 centsx3 and 3.99 for the next two than it would be for the trade.

[Karabaja]

I decided to afford a little treat for myself for Mother's day and I've just ordered AoA collection from Amazon. I just hope it manages to travel safely from USA to my tiny eastern European country. Based on previous experiences, my hopes for me getting it without complications are some 30-40%. Though it's usually the clothing items that disappear (I suspect my local post offce). Books tend to reach me safely; thankfully they are not that attractive

[Raye]

Nice! that all in one omnibus type deal? I got myself a lava lamp to look pretty on my desk, some fancy soaps, and a bath robe... and cough drops cus I actually got the virus, a few weeks back, and though I had a very minor case and recovered fine and technically no longer have it, the cough persists, and it is annoying. (not for Mothers day specifically, cus i have no children, but... it did arrive today, so close) Sucks about your post office, though, so hopefully it gets through!

Slightly late to see this news but apparently there is a rumor that one of the What If episodes on the Disney+ series will be Loki centered 'what if Loki found Mjolnir?' https://thedirect.com/article/marvel...n-the-avengers

On the subject of magic hammers tho, had a thought. OK, so Stormbreaker got broken, right? And while we didn't see what happened to it afterwards, we know that Dr Strange has previously fixed a broken Mjolnir, (as well as Thor himself at the end of WotR, though that was a different kind of situation.) So if Sif brought the pieces back to Asgard, in theory it could be fixed with magic. And luckily, Loki happens to be pretty good at magic, Sorcerer Supreme levels, even, something we know for sure that Cates damn well knows. So my thought is, what if the whole situation with Mjolnir was a bit of a test by Sif, in part because she was thinking of bringing the pieces to him to fix Stormbreaker? I mean, it just feels to me like there had to be a reason to not just have Bill show up there, but to have Thor break Stormbreaker, rather than just knocking Bill senseless, or something, it feels like there has to be more with the hammer and Bill there. And Cates has confrirmed that Bill will be back, just no word on Stormbreaker yet. (and it was in fact that tweet, and my response to it, that sent me down this rabbit hole) The Mjolnir thing would tell her first of all that he could probably be trusted to not pull any funny stuff, and secondly, we saw with Mjolnir that when it broke, the enchantment was still active on the pieces, so just saying, having someone who could lift the pieces would probably make reassembling it easier. And if he could lift the fragments, as well as the reassembled hammer, that would have the side benefit of verifying the lift as not being something wrong with Mjolnir, that he is actually woorthy. But also, and this is the big thing I've been getting to, could Stormbreaker be reforged with a piece missing, which could then be turned into a NEW weapon? Like, shave a bit off, fill it in with regular Uru or something, to give Loki not Mjolnir, but his own weapon that functions in the same way in terms of worthiness? That way Loki could have something more suited to him than a hammer, like a sword, but it would have the same enchantment, though maybe not as powerful due to just a small portion being used, but since Loki can do magic, that's not a big deal, what he really needs is a symbol that he's being a good boy. I do think him lifting actual Mjoilnir again but this time with witnesses is also still needed, but then Thor could maybe keep his hammer, while Loki also gets a weapon with effectively the same enchantment, that could help keep him on the right track.

this is all kinda shots in the dark, I know, I don't really have much to support it beyond that I could see it working, but still, just thought it might be interesting.

[Karabaja]

Good you're feeling better. My several colleagues were affected too, and my kids' nanny and her family, and they are all fine now. It will be all okay and I'm fairly sure I had it too, though I turned out to be negative on PCR testing. I can't wait for serological tests.
It's an omnibus I've ordered pity it won't include the Axis parts which are not AoA. But nevermind. I haven't had a print version of a Marvel book in a looooooong time.

ow you got me thinking; who is currently more powerful magician, Loki or Strange? Early back in the day, during their first clash, there was no doubt Loki had the upper hand, it was right there on panel. But now they seem pretty much equal.