PREVIEW: Original Sin: Thor & Loki - The Tenth Realm, #4

[CBR News]

CLASSIFIED


Full article here.

[jackolover]

Classified?

That silence of Angela to the proceedings between Thor, Loki and the Queen, seemed to sit uneasily on her mind. I expected some sort of response on Angela's part, as to whether the claims of her parentage were true, and why weren't the Angels kicking Angela out of Heven for being an Odinson? Instead, Angela is mulling quietly, inside herself. That tells me she is aligning more with Thor than Heven, and she will see this situation a little less emotionally than you would think. I would have expected Angela to fly into a rage of indignation that she belongs to this tribe of vipers, the Odin Clan.

[Punisher007]

Angela seems to have a certain warrior code of honor that the other Angels lack (in fact they seem to actively despise the very notion of such a thing). When she insisted on fighting Thor alone last issue, one of the others even said that it "wasn't very angel-like." Oh and Loki's totally going to pull a triple-cross here, it's really obvious.

[randomengine]

Simone Bianchi needs some more time to improve. Either the inker doesn't know how to ink over the pencils or the pencils are so incredibly rough it introduces errors in the inking. It just looks like a muddy mess and is not pleasing to the eye at all. This art needs more time in the oven to bake.

There is obviously potential here, but there needs to me a lot more improvement before the art can be as great as I think Bianchi can be.

[Punisher007]

Really, I think that it's intentional. The art style changed as soon as the entered the Tenth Realm, so it seems like a deliberate artistic choice. Maybe to show how corrupt/rotten/perverse this place really is.

[Raye]

The style shift is because there are TWO ARTISTS on the book. Lee Garbett does all scenes outside of Heven, and Simone Bianchi does all the Heven scenes. I have to agree about the sloppyness of the art on the Heven scenes. Simone couldn't get the details of Loki's costume even close to right, (though, not a problem at this very second. But drew the costume very wrong even though I know damn well an excellent model sheet of it exists. In the covers and painted pages, even the color was wrong) and the anatomy and expressions everything is just wonky. I mean look at the first panel on page 2. LOKI DOESN'T HAVE ANY LEGS

Anyway. Bad Loki. BAD! I mean, I am sure it's all a trick and he will double cross the Angels in the end. But still. He's not wrong, though. But I think he may be talking about Angela as much as about himself. I think he's trying to tell Thor he has a plan, but Thor's maybe a bit slow on the uptake.

[John Ossie]

Angela does seem to be having some second thoughts, and it looked like Loki was going to use that to get her to help Thor.

[jackolover]

Angela does seem to be having some second thoughts, and it looked like Loki was going to use that to get her to help Thor.

Why would Angela be having second thoughts though? She is a product of the Angels, so she should have an agenda committed to their cause. Unless Angela has felt a suddenly pang of familial synergy with Thor and Loki? Can someone, without experience of Asgardians, (if they are secretly family), turn into an Asgardian as soon as they meet them?

[ImprobableQuestion]

Well she wasn't exactly acting like an Angel while she was with the Guardians, she changed as soon as the rift opened (or maybe Old Loki did something to her) and she has that whole honor thing that confuses the others. It's possible that the memory problems she has are conflicting with one another. Apparently no matter how far you remove an Asgardian from their culture they still have a genetic predisposition for Honor. Points for Griffindor indeed.

[Raye]

Well, in addition to the apparent predisposition towards honor, she may be putting things together. I mean, 2 Asgardians barge in looking for their long lost sister, and here she is, the lone wingless angel... I mean, it's fairly obvious. I think Loki put it together already, and she is now realizing what it means as well. It is probably leading to some inner conflict as she realizes she has been lied to her whole life, and is in reality her adoptive family's hated enemy by birth. Loki probably knows what she is feeling right now better than anyone, because he is in a very similar position himself, but unlike her has had years to deal with it, (often badly, but he seems to be doing better now, these preview pages aside) and will probably use that to his advantage. Now we just have to see how she deals with it. We know that Loki has never really felt a real connection to the Frost Giants except when convenient, and generally identifies as an Asgardian first and foremost. If she is like him, she will continue to side with the angels, but she may be different.

[MikeMC005]

Angela seems to have a certain warrior code of honor that the other Angels lack (in fact they seem to actively despise the very notion of such a thing). When she insisted on fighting Thor alone last issue, one of the others even said that it "wasn't very angel-like." Oh and Loki's totally going to pull a triple-cross here, it's really obvious.

Loki is for sure going to pull a triple-cross here... Loki is going to plant seeds in Angela's head and get her to realize who she is and then the 2 of them are going to free Thor end of mini series. I really should be a writer.

[jackolover]

Well, in addition to the apparent predisposition towards honor, she may be putting things together. I mean, 2 Asgardians barge in looking for their long lost sister, and here she is, the lone wingless angel... I mean, it's fairly obvious. I think Loki put it together already, and she is now realizing what it means as well. It is probably leading to some inner conflict as she realizes she has been lied to her whole life, and is in reality her adoptive family's hated enemy by birth. Loki probably knows what she is feeling right now better than anyone, because he is in a very similar position himself, but unlike her has had years to deal with it, (often badly, but he seems to be doing better now, these preview pages aside) and will probably use that to his advantage. Now we just have to see how she deals with it. We know that Loki has never really felt a real connection to the Frost Giants except when convenient, and generally identifies as an Asgardian first and foremost. If she is like him, she will continue to side with the angels, but she may be different.

Yes, you bring up a good point, about Loki being in the same boat as Angela, and it wouldn't surprise me if Loki took up the Queen of Hevens offer to stay and be an Angel, while Angela flips across to be an Asgardian. No one loses.

[Raye]

Well, not 'no one loses' Thor and Loki would lose their brother if that happened, their relationship right now is better than it has been in.... ever. If it weren't for solicits, it would be more suspenseful. But even ignoring how he is written currently, (which displays a genuine affection for his brother, betraying him (For real, not a fakeout. Fakeouts are fair game.) would be wildly out of character at this moment, even if it was pretty standard behaviour in the past) we know he won't join the angels because he's going to be, like, everywhere in a few months, as a dude. Getting captured by Dr. Doom, participating in Axis, appearing in Thor, possibly-maybe-according to some rumours joining the Avengers... It's like Marvel has decided the changes by Gillen and Ewing over the past few years are complete at long last, and are ready to unleash the new him on the MU. As a fan of his current direction, it worries me a bit, honestly. Ewing has shown that he is continuing down the same path that Gillen started him on, but all the other writers... I dunno, this is still a relatively new characterization for him, and I worry they won't get it, or just want the old villain back. Which may be why they brought in King Loki, so if someone wants villainous Loki, they can just use him without wrecking all the character development over the past few years. But still, he's probably going to be defeated soonish. And if Ewing doesn't clarify exactly what is going on there, it can still be used as a way to just claim he's on the path to villainy again, anyway, even if they kill him or send him back. I don't think that's what is happening, I think King Loki is not even real, he's a living retcon, a character inserted into Loki's story, like Leah was inserted into the Serpent's story. But if that is not made clear, then it can just be used to say he goes bad in the future.

[Expletive Deleted]

Classified?

CBR News pulls the blurbs for these threads from the solicitations, and that's how this mini-series was originally solicited.

[John Ossie]

Why would Angela be having second thoughts though? She is a product of the Angels, so she should have an agenda committed to their cause. Unless Angela has felt a suddenly pang of familial synergy with Thor and Loki? Can someone, without experience of Asgardians, (if they are secretly family), turn into an Asgardian as soon as they meet them?

I don't know why Angela would be having second thoughts, merely saying that to me it looks like she might be. Your guess is as good as mine. We'll soon find out.