Loki Appreciation 2018

[Raye]

Ok, so three solicits/covers had Loki this month, and looks like, yep he is still Sorcerer Supreme:




AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #795
DAN SLOTT (W), MIKE HAWTHORNE (A) Cover by ALEX ROSS Hulk Variant Cover by Dale Keown
THREAT LEVEL RED Part 2
* Spidey pays the Sanctum Sanctorum a visit looking for a consult from the Master of the Mystic arts, Doctor Stephen Strange...
* ...but finds himself face-to-face with the Master of Mischief and new Sorcerer Supreme -- LOKI LAUFEYSON!
* And he's even MORE charming than in the movies! Don't believe us? Read this one and find out for yourself!

So that's a bit unexpected.... but I guess we did have that thing with the Osborn going after a magic power up. But we know Spidey and Loki have teamed up before, so hopefully this works out allright, despite the spider-sense on the cover.



DOCTOR STRANGE #385
DONNY CATES (W) GABRIEL HERNANDEZ WALTA (A) Cover by MIKE DEL MUNDO HULK VARIANT COVER BY MIKE DEODATO JR.
LOKI: SORCERER SUPREME PART 5
* Get ready for a super-powered wizard's duel in the Mighty Marvel Manner! Loki, Lord of Liars, versus Stephen Strange, the former Sorcerer Supreme! And this time, way more is on the line than the title.
* Will Loki gain the spell so dangerous, Stephen even hid it from himself?
* And how will Strange pay for the magic he'll need to defeat a god?

FIGHT! so now i guess we know what is behind the mysterious locked door...



THE UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL #29
RYAN NORTH (W) ERICA HENDERSON (A/C)
THE FORBIDDEN PLA-NUT PART 3
* For the first time in the HISTORY of comics, we present the color-coded fight we've all been waiting for: GREEN (Doreen) ON SILVER (Surfer)!
* And if fighting the Herald of Galactus-- a man who literally has the Power Cosmic at his disposal -- isn't enough, Doreen's got other problems to deal with, including intergalactic scam artists, Drax the Destroyer and LOKI LAUFEYSON.
* FEEL the thrill of the fight! SEE it happen, via artisanally selected images and words juxtaposed in deliberate sequence! HEAR the words in your head via your inner voice as you read them, which when you think about it is kind of weird! All we have to do is write down words on a piece of paper, and suddenly they're re-created in your mind exactly as we intended. Minds are crazy, and language is EVEN CRAZIER.


okay, this one has me all kinds of confused. I thought Doreen went to Loki for help, and what the hell is up with Drax and Loki teaming up vs Squirrel Girl?

He is also on an Avengers variant cover: http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stori...engers679c.htm

also, the Thor solicit had a line which i find a bit... suspicious:

"* Odin and his son unite to take on the Ultimate Judgment. But without their mightiest warrior, the time of gods may come to an end. "

... which son? It may be that it is just referring to Thor, but I mean, there have been two of Odin's other sons appearing in the book of late, Loki and Balder.

http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stori.../marvelfeb.htm

[dr4conianlaw]

It feels so fantastic that Loki's finally free and showing up places- and, yeah, of course he is. It's a role change that pretty immediately clearly has the potential for a lot of cool stories, and it's easy to find an excuse to bring him in, since Doctor Strange was already the kinda default character to get a cameo whenever a character needs to ask for some magic help. I wonder if this is a chance for Spider-Man to finally actually redeem that favor he got from Loki ages ago?

Re: that word choice from the Thor solicit: Yeah, that is kinda interesting... I still doubt it's referring to Loki though, since I think Odin is still in mourning over Freyja, so it might be weird for them to work together just yet. It would be cool for Balder to help though.

[Raye]

It may have happened too long ago for them to reference the never redeemed favor, but I do think it would be a nice callback. he could just say 'you owe me' and it doesn't really need any more explanation than that.

And yeah, Strange just kinda popped up whenever anyone had a problem of a magical nature. You find yourself facing a demon, or ancient magical curse or whatever else, you go to the Sorcerer Supreme for help. That's part of why Loki in the role is so interesting to me, and why I wanted it to last a while. Do they still go to the Sorcerer Supreme, or does their trust of Strange win out and they go to him instead? So far it's been two people thinking they are going to Strange and discovering Loki in his place, and thankfully they are characters who have had a somewhat positive experience with him in the past. Doreen met Loki after he had done his face turn, and they got on all right, and though Spider-Man encountered him well before JIM and all that, he helped Loki with his daughter (really, that's the part they may be trying to avoid bringing up again if they neglect to mention the favor, she's been swept under the rug, pretty much). but eventually everyone will just know.

but how cool it it to see Alex Ross paint the new Loki??

[Rosebunse]

I don't particularly care for that Spiderman cover. I feel like the artists don't really know what to do with Loki. He either ends up looking too slimy and like Old Loki or he looks too young and like AoA Loki.

But we knew this wasn't going to ladt, though I think the sheer number of ttiles Loki is appearing in does suggest that writers want to use him and are happy to find ways to fit him in.

If he does lose to Strange, then I take it as a loss for Loki, though maybe not a bad one. It's either going to be part of his downfall in Thor or it's going to be the kick of reality he needs to realize that he's spreading himself too thin.

[Riimi]

My take on the solicits/covers: it's neat that Loki's appearing in so many different places. Although the stories with him do arise somewhat organically (as mentioned, everyone runs to the SS for mystical help), I think it indicates more of a "push" of the character, building him up for the upcoming deal with the Infinity stones and the other plot points from Legacy (still not sure how Valerie Vector figures into all this--history has clearly been messed with and that, right now, seems like the focus of the current Avengers storyline; how that connects to the BC Avengers remains an open question, aside from the thematic emphasis on legacies).

I'm less certain that Strange made a deal with the Chaos King, simply because the solicits indicate that he's going to cut one with Mephisto, and I'm unsure they'd reuse a plot point in such quick succession. It could be that Cates really wants to emphasize that Strange deals with some shady stuff...and then there's the solicit cover for January...okay, I'm waffling on this point. I do think Loki's cut deals of his own to avoid paying the price, mostly because it's the kind of thing he'd do. Strange might realize his own methods have made him no different from Loki in this regard, and thus his claim is hypocritical--in fact, I find this more likely than him losing the duel, I'm guessing he comes to this realization in the middle of it so we don't end up with one of them being definitively stronger than the other. Either way, Loki would remain SS: I doubt they'd give back Strange the title so quickly; they're obviously building up to something big with Loki; there have been several indications that March is the next big relaunch; Cates talked about "getting the keys for the character [for his ] run, and I'd hardly qualify 5(?) issues as a "run". Having the showdown right before March makes it more likely it's going to be spun off into a Loki book, though we might get it split into two and have Loki as SS and Strange trying to redeem himself, or follow more of the model in TMT where the book has continued to focus on both characters.

Oh, also, I'm hoping the SG cover is more metaphorical in nature and indicates that Doreen is trying to direct the force of Chaos that is Loki. Although he'd totally throw her over for a chance to get an Infinity gem, especially if he thought he could fix it, which might be where Drax comes in.

[Raye]

Yeah, some artists, including Ross here, do draw him too old. It will take a while for his new look to take hold, and there will always be artist variance, like with any other character. But I think it's still cool, he is a legend as far as artists go, and undeniably talented. I don't think there was ever intended to be an age difference between his Agent look and now, though. Early 20's for both, it is just that he is a bit more worn down at the moment.

And I think, despite my earlier worries on the previous page (I do that sometimes, over react a bit before I think things through) if Loki gets through this issue with the title, he will have the title for a while yet. I think he still needs it for the Final Host thing. I have my doubts the current Avengers story will tie into that much at all, I think it is No Surrender tying up the storylines in the Avengers books right now, then they will do a major Avengers shakeup immediately after with some roster changes, new creative teams etc. So it may set things up at the end, but I think it is more about tying up the current status quo than it is about setting up the next one, that will likely fall on the shoulders of the new creative teams. Of which, I do strongly suspect Aaron is one of them, with his Final Host story.

On that note, I had a thought. I don't think Loki cut a deal for his price avoidance. I think he is using the Celestial to pay the price. I don't know how I never thought of that right away, but we saw him go down there looking for a source of power, it stands to reason he is already using it. Still doesn't explain why it has never been an issue for him all the years before, but... I guess this is the new magic now with Marvel.

I also don't think Strange is cutting a deal with Mephisto, I think Mephisto is an unintended side effect, from what I have been able to gather.

It would be cool if Loki got his own book in March, but I have mixed thoughts on launching it out of Damnation. On the one hand, it could give it a sales boost right out of the gate, and it did end up working all right with JIM and Fear Itself. But if it is too reliant on Damnation, it could also work against it. It is hard to do what JIM did, to tie into something, but in a way where it can still stand alone. A recent example of this done in a way that I think hurt a book is Secret Warriors. It was so reliant on Secret Empire, that you can't follow it without knowing what happened in Secret Empire itself. Anyone wanting to try that book without reading Secret Empire is screwed. I was considering that book for my niece because it had 2 of her favorite characters, but just couldn't because she has no clue what is happening outside of Moon Girl, Ms Marvel and Champions, and the book just can't stand on its own. (also probably more mature than I was hoping, if Moon Girl is in your book, keep it suitable for a kid, dammit.) So yeah, that is my only worry with it launching out of Damnation, if it does happen. But at least it is just a corner event, smaller scale, so if Damnation is basically considered part of it's first arc, not as big a deal, one extra trade. and at least Loki ought to be participating in Damnation itself, so reading it (and the first arc of Doctor Strange, I guess) should still feel like part of his story rather than just required reading to follow the plot. I imagine he will be coming in at like the second issue going 'wtf did you do, Strange?!' And Mephisto as the first foe in a new ongoing would be pretty fitting, imo.

Squirrel Girl, I dunno, it is weird, it also says she is fighting the Silver Surfer, which means she is fighting 2 good guys and Loki who is questionable. so maybe it is Squirrel Girl that got like, brainwashed or something? Something weird is definitely going on there, though.

[Raye]

I unlocked Kid Loki today in AVAC (and am on track to get Thor as well, turned in everything for him, aside from having Heimdall do his thing as soon as I unlock him. Most of the other characters will go unranked, but oh well, Kid Loki and Thor, I'm happy). That I already had all the previous Asgardians (minus Thor and Beta Ray Bill, who i still will not get), including Sif and Angela's Huntress costume, certainly helped. So i figured i would share all the Kid Loki related dialogues for those not playing: https://imgur.com/a/OEwUP

In Sims news... things continue to go well, but I went to get Strange set up in his sad, tiny apartment, with all his accolades from his illustrious ghost banishing career put up all over the apartment to remind him of what he had lost, and got him going as a veterinarian. Then I set up Squirrel Girl and Nancy, and they ended up being super cute, with Mew and Tippy toe and everything. There was a fire their first night, which Doreen put out because she has the 'brave' trait, so i figured, hey, I'll make her a firefighter, and that worked out pretty well for her. I also took Doreen to China to get her the Martial Arts skill, and worked on boosting that, as well as her fitness and charisma, and i figure that is enough for her. But they are super cute. their apartment was super ugly, though. Nice layout for them, but wow was it ugly and some poor quality furniture, i fixed it as best i could with my limited funds before switching back to Loki.

It was then that I realized i had forgotten to turn off Story Progression, which makes the town you are living in evolve and change over time, people move in and out, have babies, get married etc. And my aging which had been set to 'epic' with lifespans of several hundred days, had somehow gotten reset back to the default. So by the time i got back to Loki's household, he and Zelma had aged up to adults, which was easily fixed with Loki's maxed alchemy skill, brew up a couple 'young again' potions, and bam, back to 'young adult' and i set the aging back to super slow. But it screwed up some of their outfits and hair, because they had been using some 'young adult' exclusive items, apparently, so had to fix most of their outfits, and that was annoying. But the story progression was the big thing, it meant Mew (who i realize should be male, but forgot about that when creating him) had kittens, like, an hour after i switched back over to Loki and Zelma, Loki had adopted a random dog,and they had killed their pet raven, (snake was still alive at that point tho) and Strange got engaged. And you know how people commented that with free will Strange and Loki might end up being besties screwing everything up? yeah, story progression decided to make them 'good friends' completely out of the blue. >.> Also i got burgled my first night back, so yeah it was kind of chaotic. I also discovered that Maxis had for some reason decided that when you max out the Mystic career (Loki's lifetime wish, and i accomplished it shortly after switching back to him) caused massive relationship problems with 'nice' characters, which Zelma is, because for some stupid reason the aura he gets is the exact same as the 'master of evil' aura, so all the good wholesome sims hate him. Fitting, in a way, but kinda broke things with Zelma, so i got a mod to fix that. Considered putting the dog up for adoption but when I looked at it, it was an elder dog, and quite close to death so that felt wrong, and i kept it. when it dies, i can have a ghost dog. Instead, i went to get one of Mew's kittens (and cheated to make Mew a male as he should be, so even if Story Progression gets turned back on somehow, no more kittens) to keep the dog company. I also invited Strange over and cheated him out of his random ass engagement to a woman he had barely met, and then got back to things for real.

I invited Nancy over, and got her and Loki up to being friends, she happened to be there right as my pet snake died, so that was sad. But then I took Loki traveling, and found a black and white striped snake just like in the comics while in Egypt, so that worked out allright. I figure if i take him to the travel locations and do some dungeon crawling, that's him doing Sorcerer supreme stuff, since while Mysitc is cool (once the aura was taken care of) because he only works 2 days a week for 4 hours, and he gets some fun interactions from it, it is mostly a rabbit hole career, not as engaging as the Ghost Hunting career, which was fun, but inconvenient because it had Strange working nights, 5 days a week. and traveling allows me to find some relics and stuff to fill the Sanctum Sanctorum with. I remodeled the upstairs to allow an area to display that stuff, and create an office. the colour scheme is also switching over to green. But I am just getting started with that, though i had done one trip to China and one to France before that, but I think Loki will be doing a loooooot of traveling now, clearing all those dungeons, fighting off mummies etc. He's stinking rich, anyway, he can afford it. Strange followed Loki to Egypt tho. *edit - and as I look at that picture, i see one other thing Story Progression did which i never noticed until just now. it gave him a tattoo. I guess that would explain why when i switched over to him, he was in the tattoo parlor... gonna have to get rid of that... Doctor Strange does not have tattoos.

[Nisus]

It would be cool if Loki got his own book in March, but I have mixed thoughts on launching it out of Damnation. On the one hand, it could give it a sales boost right out of the gate, and it did end up working all right with JIM and Fear Itself. But if it is too reliant on Damnation, it could also work against it. It is hard to do what JIM did, to tie into something, but in a way where it can still stand alone. A recent example of this done in a way that I think hurt a book is Secret Warriors. It was so reliant on Secret Empire, that you can't follow it without knowing what happened in Secret Empire itself. Anyone wanting to try that book without reading Secret Empire is screwed. I was considering that book for my niece because it had 2 of her favorite characters, but just couldn't because she has no clue what is happening outside of Moon Girl, Ms Marvel and Champions, and the book just can't stand on its own. (also probably more mature than I was hoping, if Moon Girl is in your book, keep it suitable for a kid, dammit.) So yeah, that is my only worry with it launching out of Damnation, if it does happen. But at least it is just a corner event, smaller scale, so if Damnation is basically considered part of it's first arc, not as big a deal, one extra trade. and at least Loki ought to be participating in Damnation itself, so reading it (and the first arc of Doctor Strange, I guess) should still feel like part of his story rather than just required reading to follow the plot. I imagine he will be coming in at like the second issue going 'wtf did you do, Strange?!' And Mephisto as the first foe in a new ongoing would be pretty fitting, imo.

I want to ask something related to this.

I about to introduce a friend to JIM, but he doesn't know anything about Fear Itself. Should he read FI, too? It isn't a much beloved event...

[Raye]

When I first read JIM, I had not read a Fear Itself, and followed along just fine. I have read it since then, because I was curious if it would add to JIM, but didn't find that it added a lot. I think that though it ties in, it does so in a way that reading the event is not essential, it explains the big essential plot points well enough, and the Fear Itself plot is more of a secondary thing.

[Nisus]

Thanks. Do you think the same about Gillen's Thor and Siege? I want to read it because it's really relevant to Loki, but I wonder if it's too tied to the event.

[Raye]

Well, Siege obviously had some major repercussions on the Thor books, but more in the aftermath, i think. in the leadup, Gillen wrote a one-shot with Loki which is where i think most of the tie on aspect happened, but my memory on that is pretty fuzzy, to be honest.

One of the concept artists on Ragnarok has posted some alternate Loki costume designs. I like this one: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bb5OPIllNS7/ not so much this one, at least not for Loki: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bb3WShDlpb0/ I wonder why they decided on the blue and purple in the end.

[Rosebunse]

I want to ask something related to this.

I about to introduce a friend to JIM, but he doesn't know anything about Fear Itself. Should he read FI, too? It isn't a much beloved event...

To be honest, Gillen's JiM tie-ins are more or less the most important parts of the event anyways.

Well, Siege obviously had some major repercussions on the Thor books, but more in the aftermath, i think. in the leadup, Gillen wrote a one-shot with Loki which is where i think most of the tie on aspect happened, but my memory on that is pretty fuzzy, to be honest.

One of the concept artists on Ragnarok has posted some alternate Loki costume designs. I like this one: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bb5OPIllNS7/ not so much this one, at least not for Loki: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bb3WShDlpb0/ I wonder why they decided on the blue and purple in the end.

Yeah, there was that Siege: Loki one-shot. The interesting thing about that was how it really set up Loki's current story while also sort of being a send-off for Old Loki. Also, I enjoyed the kidLoki parts of Fraction's Thor run. He should never, ever be allowed to write Thor ever again, but his kidLoki was good.

I don't get the blue and purple thing either. Was that just something he picked up because he was trying to fit in with Grandmaster's crowd?

[Nisus]

Thanks for the answers!

Also, I enjoyed the kidLoki parts of Fraction's Thor run. He should never, ever be allowed to write Thor ever again, but his kidLoki was good.

Yeah, I agree. For example the Silver Surfer-KidLoki teaming was cool. It was unusual, but it was well done.

[Rosebunse]

Thanks for the answers!


Yeah, I agree. For example the Silver Surfer-KidLoki teaming was cool. It was unusual, but it was well done.

I want to see Loki teamup with the Silver Surfer again!

[Raye]

I want to see Loki teamup with the Silver Surfer again!

From the sounds of things, that may happen in Squirrel Girl. I mean, the solicit has them both listed there.