Loki Appreciation 2022

[Yoruno]

I've got mixed feelings about the first issue. It's got to be the exposition, but, imho, it doesn't really clarify the situation with all this cosmic stuff (or maybe I was too bored with it), and, at the same time, it doesn't give characterisations to its own characters. It's more like a combination of already existing backgrounds - which you have to be familiar with before you start reading. It might be too early for the characters to flesh out, of course, but damn, it took the whole issue for the characters to gather, just to gather and nothing else!
I can't remember where else they used Tarot cards... BTW, why does Blue Marvel have them, I thought he was more into science?
As for Loki's chaotic personality, well, that's what is sensitively missing from MCU rendition, but in Defenders it's over the top. To my mind, Loki should be unpredictable, but not because he "does what he wants" but rather because he's quick-thinking. Here, he's just giggling all the time. I guess he's happy to be free from guilt and to have an adventure, but it's not too consistent with any of his personae, even the one in the final of AoA. (Gods, I miss Kibblesmith).

[GhostCryptid13]

Man I was really excited about defenders beyond but I don’t think they got Loki right. Idk I guess I preferred the more thoughtful nature of him at the end of AoA to this “I always trick people lol” version.

[Raye]

Oh, I guess I'm not alone in that thought about finding the characterization annoying. I know some people were really disappointed that things didn't really follow up on AoA with the 'new' Loki introduced at the end, so i thought maybe I would have been in a minority in not liking it. With Agent of Asgard, I did like the ending on a plot level, mostly, but the characterization just didn't sit well with me. I wasn't keen on what basically amounted to a near complete reboot of the character, with wiped memories, a new personality and all, when I wanted to continue with the original, with a more gradual development. And, well, i just didn't like the new personality much. But yeah, if anything it seems to be even more exaggerated here compared to AoA.

I do think Loki should have a sort of playfulness and sense of fun most of the time (tho, he went through some **** dealing with guilt and being bound by fate and stuff after JIM and that's fine, as long as it's something he can overcome, even if it took a while) but yeah, as Yoruno said, it should be more clever, less 'lol I'm so random'

As for the cosmic stuff, yeah, that's exactly what's happening. Ewing has been crafting this little cosmic corner of lore for years in a bunch of different books. I have read some, but not all, of them. I do know enough to get the gist, though, and they all kind of tie together. But if you haven't been following that at all, i could see how this would be really confusing. Like it's kind of a lot, with the Eternity Mask and all the stuff about the Cosmos and Galactus' mom.... I get the sense that Ewing is kind of putting a bow on a bunch of his stories and tying them together, but if you hadn't read it all, it may be hard to follow, or care much about certain characters/concepts.

Tarot was used, but subtly, in the Pride issue, Loki was in the Hanged Man pose when he was tied up. And I think it was Strange's spell that had them, but then Loki stole them

[Emoandlazy]

Honestly miss America antagonising Loki at first was funny to me because I'm just that dumbass who finds it hilarious when Loki get bullied (mostly when he actually deserves it) . but looking at it now it felt way too cruel of her,yeah sure Loki is the former god of lies but it's not like Loki is the one responsible for every lie that happens . lying existed even before the dude were born jeez take some chill bills little Missy.

As for the iron fist axe : judgement day tie in it's actually gonna be written by Alysa Wong . I actually learned about it from her twitter. It seems like she's trying to find a way to get to write Loki again, since she did state that she wanna write them more. she should try and pitch a solo or a longer team up comic story if she wanna write him so bad but also I'm not sure if I want her to handle Loki at least not yet.

[Yoruno]

I've just read several explanations why the Hanged Man might represent the trickster archetype better than the Fool, so...
Iron Fist will possibly show Loki the way he's currently shown in his side stories: less menacing than he seems but still not exactly Chaotic Good. Seriously, are there any side stories which show Loki's current status as the King who left all his tricks behind? If we combine all new Loki's appearances, they make Thor books a standalone.

[Emoandlazy]

Here is the thing,what can you do with a Loki who left his tricks behind him? Trickery and lying is literary his biggest strength. Right now in the Thor comic Loki is basically doing nothing but be around and help sometimes then disappear in till Thor finishes his work.

[GhostCryptid13]

Here is the thing,what can you do with a Loki who left his tricks behind him? Trickery and lying is literary his biggest strength. Right now in the Thor comic Loki is basically doing nothing but be around and help sometimes then disappear in till Thor finishes his work.

Exactly why I think they should’ve kept this Loki (the god of stories) instead of rebooting him.

[Raye]

Yeah, the Hanged Man fits Loki super well, and I think shows she has a good understanding of where Loki is at right now.

I mean, if Alyssa Wong wants to write him, and she seems to understand where Loki is at right now, hey, why not? It would be better than Loki just occasionally popping up in fairly minor ways. Maybe the Pride issue and Iron Fist thing is a sort of audition. That's something i've kind of suspected about a few of his guest appearances lately. But it's not like Ewing or Kibblemith etc had written Loki before they got a go on his solo, and they did fine. I still think Chip Zdarsky would be my top pick for a Loki solo, and he's never written Loki. And if they can't get Chip/he's not interested, give someone else a try.

I don't think Loki's left tricks behind, (lies, maybe, but that's kind of different) just doing them for a bad purpose. it's entirely possible to do good with tricks and stuff. I just think he hasn't had a lot of opportunity to do a lot of trickery lately, thought here has been some. The problem with being king of Jotunheim, and why he finds it boring, probably, is because it kind of requires a more straightforward and, well, boring approach. As far as Cates in particular is concerned, I think he wants Loki to be bored as king, (which WAS also the case in Kibblesmith's run, and even Ewing mentioned it here in Champions. What differed in Kibblesmith's run, and why I suspect it was cancelled, was that I think Kibblesmith intended for him to abandon being king much, much sooner, but Cates had other plans for doing that. just... ones that would take a long time to come to fruition) so it will make sense for him to want to move on to something else. I mean, if he was having fun as king, why would he give it up, right? but in the meantime, he can't really show Loki having fun, or that would undercut the desire for a new role, which kind of sucks, because Cates' story is moving pretty slow. But even so, you can get the sense the fun side is there, just waiting to be turned loose, like how Thor kinda prodded him into helping with Mjolnir, and Loki just lit right up and seemed to be having fun as soon as he was back in plotting mode. But he was plotting for a good purpose. I think Loki feels kind of obligated to hold all that back at the moment, to be a good king, maybe because he sees it as that, or revert to being the God of Lies again, but it's causing him to be bored. It's still there, under the surface though.

edit - cus I was apparently typing as you were replying: I saw God of Stories as the reboot, not Aaron onward. That walked things back all of like, 2 issues, and even then, not completely, it was far from a reboot. I mean, this Loki we see in Champions is NOTHING like he acted in AoA up until the final couple issues, when it was a light switch being flipped. It was too much, too fast, and left behind all the actual character development that had been done in favour of, well, a reboot. Just starting over. Ewing seemed to be of the opinion that Loki's past actions prevented him from ever being a good (in a moral sense) character, so those past actions had to be ERASED from his memory, and that came with a totally new personality. I strongly disagree with that take. And I am glad God of Stories got walked back, I just wish things could have moved a bit faster. but even then, Loki did have some fun times, like the story in Hel, the Dr Strange arc, Kibblesmith's brief run, and stuff. It's just, as I said above, because he is in guest star mode, there just hasn't been a lot of room do do a lot with him. It's not the characterization that's led to him treading water, it's the size of his role, and the fact that the pacing of Loki's development is tied to Thor's story right now.

[Yoruno]

Exactly why I think they should’ve kept this Loki (the god of stories) instead of rebooting him.

I agree with Raye. Reboot is what Ewing did, in Doctor Who way (literally, because there are DW references in that AoA chapter): he tried to give Loki a fresh start by erasing his memories and giving him a new personality, the one that we see in Defenders.
On the other hand, Loki in Thor's books is the natural progress of Agent Loki. If we watch it in chronological order, the cornerstone is AoA, after which Loki takes the good side but he does the right things in such an ambiguous manner that he's still mistaken for an evil one. Another peak in the War of Realms where he chooses the good side again, this time in the most direct way possible, and becomes the war hero and the king. He tries to sabotage it a bit at first but then eventually accepts his role, and here we have it.
(I actually think that instead of cancelling Kibblesmith's run, they could have changed the story and show Loki learning to be a good king. There were some elements that could help, e.g. it was obvious that Frosty turned out to be too heartless, so Loki just had to go back, solve the problem and realize he couldn't be replaced on his throne so easily... well, it could have naturally led to Loki's current status quo).

And of course there are notable gaps which have to be covered, and the biggest one comes from what I've prevously written about. OK, today's Loki is the God of Stories, but in terms of personality he is the extension of the Agent. What happened to his "new" rebooted personality, where did it go? We see the rebooted one in Defenders, and he's a careless jester, absolutely different from Loki the King. Now it's the right time for Ewing to work on this. In Thor #26 (right?) it's made clear that King Loki and this loony God of Stories are the same person, so by the end of Defenders the difference between Ewing's Loki and the main story Loki should be minimised.

Not sure if I managed to explain it well, but TL;DR Current Loki's personality seems to be the development of his Agent personality, while the final AoA reboot is ignored. Now Ewing brings the rebooted version back and insists it's the same Loki. I hope these loose ends will be tied up in Defenders.

[GhostCryptid13]

Yeah im not sure how defenders is gonna end Loki-wise but I hope its a good ending. Maybe they’ll merge the Lokis or something?

Alternatively if god of stories Loki is kept around im ok with that too. I just want Loki to do something. I feel like he’s been static lately.

[Raye]

And there's nothing wrong with Dr Who, but I don't think Loki needs to become that. I think Kid Loki worked, in part because it was temporary, but also because it was kind of unique. I don't think it has to become Loki's 'thing' to constantly be reborn as something different. That, I think, is my biggest problem with it. If it becomes a Dr Who situation, then it doesn't allow us to grow attached to Loki as a character, if they are just replaced every few years with essentially a new character bearing the same name. I had become invested in Loki's attempts to become better, and then to kind of be told that we have to start all over again was a bit of a letdown.

And yeah, they maybe could have just told Kibblesmith to change his story, so we could get the story from both Thor and Loki's perspectives but maybe they didn't want to deal with the hassle of coordinating them... At first it seemed like it would be faster than it has been, so I definitely think we could have had some stuff with Loki on the side. It may have been hard to have that if it was supposed to be Loki becoming ever more bored with ruling over frozen wasteland. But if they had maybe done something with him actively trying to avoid becoming the God of Lies again due to the momentum of fate (even though I think this is more a fear on his part than something that is actually happening) that maybe could have worked, and maybe could have explained some of his actions in Thor, which currently have to be more inferred. But I do think after Banner of War, we may get things back on track there, and see some movement again. If so, a solo could work, if they work on coordinating the stories.

As for what happened, yeah there is a gap there. Clearly Loki got back, and then at some point realized his God of Stories ploy didn't actually work. But the specifics are anyone's guess. SOMETHING had to have tipped Loki off that despite his efforts, he was being drawn right back to his old role, and the persona fell away, and he instead tried to accomplish some good while still filling that role. Which did see some degree of success, until he finally broke free for real. My hope is this is covered in Defenders, but I dunno, depends on exactly when Defenders Loki came from. Was this during the time BEFORE the final confrontation with King Loki, or AFTER? if before, then we likely won't see a lot of change, if after, then maybe.

And yeah, as I've kind of said a few times now, if there is one thing I am frustrated by right now, it is the glacial pace of the story in Thor. I am normally pretty ok with decompressed storytelling but it's been a bit much. I hope things get moving again after Banner of War, especially if they go the way I hope (with Thor learning to be a good king and making Loki the champion)

[GhostCryptid13]

And yeah, as I've kind of said a few times now, if there is one thing I am frustrated by right now, it is the glacial pace of the story in Thor. I am normally pretty ok with decompressed storytelling but it's been a bit much. I hope things get moving again after Banner of War, especially if they go the way I hope (with Thor learning to be a good king and making Loki the champion)

Unfortunately Thor is fighting Venom next...personally I'm getting to the point where I'm going to stop caring about the Thor comics unless the plot starts picking up.

[Yoruno]

I presume Loki left after the confrontation, at least the NEXT door hints at it. He left the last panel of AoA to enter his first panel of Thor #26.
imgonline-com-ua-2to1-W6iNyA8ZvUpoUEba.jpg
The big question is, where will he return when the Defenders adventure is over? What was Loki's next appearance after AoA? Isn't it in Mighty Thor where Loki chooses to be a double agent? Well, he looks more or less like the God of Stories.
RCO030_1468836680.jpg

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I wasn't fond of the new Iron Fist miniseries but I never clicked with Iron Fist much. So maybe Wong has better luck with Loki? .

I'm not against DW regeneration but I rather it be like the revival where there's more of a sense of continuation between the iterations than in the classic series. That's how I saw Agents of Atlas's resolution- Loki rejects his need for Asgard's approval with the God of Stories.

In Legion of X, one character jokes about conducting an experiment where humanity forgets about Norse Myths. They are curious if Thor would still exist. I'm hoping it happens as like a crossover. I feel like Loki would handle it better than Thor.

[Raye]

I like Iron Fist but not enough that I have really been following the book, so can't really say. But should probably at least catch up on it before Loki pops up I guess

Unfortunately Thor is fighting Venom next...personally I'm getting to the point where I'm going to stop caring about the Thor comics unless the plot starts picking up.

It is weird because it has all this setup and foreshadowing, but then once all the pieces were in place, it was just... let's go fight the Hulk, and now Venom apparently. I know they can also advance the main plot while doing that, I mean the Hulk stuff is dealing with the Odin in the hammer thing, but... It's like they are too chicken to actually pull the trigger and make the changes they're hinting at for both Thor and Loki, instead taking detours and delaying what's been set up. I know comics, and a lot of fans, are resistant to change, but it's still getting pretty frustrating, just rip the bandaid off already.

I presume Loki left after the confrontation, at least the NEXT door hints at it. He left the last panel of AoA to enter his first panel of Thor #26.
imgonline-com-ua-2to1-W6iNyA8ZvUpoUEba.jpg
The big question is, where will he return when the Defenders adventure is over? What was Loki's next appearance after AoA? Isn't it in Mighty Thor where Loki chooses to be a double agent? Well, he looks more or less like the God of Stories.
RCO030_1468836680.jpg

Yeah, I think that was the first time after AoA we saw him. And he has the coat, but seems to have found a pair of shoes and gloves, and his hair is longer, and the tooth is back. So stuff has happened...

And yeah, after I think would make more sense, and could mean we see how Loki gets from here to there in Champions. But I also just get the feeling Ewing just wants to play with the Loki he envisioned, rather than worry about bridging a gap in the plot. But we'll see.