Loki Appreciation 2018

[AlmightyJellyfish]

I thought this was freakin' fantastic! And I don't know what anyone's getting upset over. I think this new Loki IS the same Loki, he's just gone through a transformation by owning himself, so to speak. By embracing the fact that "lies" in and of themselves aren't necessarily bad things, that a lie is just a story, and stories are massively powerful. If gods are stories, or made up of stories, than Loki is the god of gods, in a way. In that sense, that makes him one of the most powerful gods out there, and I think he's just realized that, and realized that he can be whatever the heck he wants to be, and nobody, not his parents, not his brother, none of the "hero's", and not the part of himself that hates himself, can tell him or make him be anything else. This is Loki finally gaining confidence and respect in himself, and that's freakin' BEAUTIFUL. I think this is a huge, huge thing, and a wonderful thing, and people should be happy.

This is Loki winning, and not allowing himself to be forced into anyone's "fate". The way Loki just told off his original and child self, the way he stuck it to King Loki, the way he overcame all of the odds here, despite everything being seemingly stacked against him, was a huge moment of triumph. And just like I thought, Verity was the one who helped inspire him to the realization that he could be whatever the heck he wanted to be, and that he wasn't bound to any fate or path. Verity and Odin both, actually. Odin told Loki to remember what a lie is, and to embrace his own power. Odin knows how powerful Loki actually always was, he understood it better than Loki himself. And now Loki's realized it for himself, and embraced it, as his father told him to. Seriously, I couldn't be happier with the direction this is going. I'm just damn proud of Loki, to be honest.

That's what I had had hoped it would be but this talk of "not this me", keeping a few things and not the rest and him seemly only having the impression Verity is his friend suggest its a different version to me.

[cosmicjoke21]

Well I think it's the same him. He said he'd see her later, so, you know. He's just changed in the sense he's gained confidence and self-respect. Also, Loki is Loki is Loki. They're all him, all aspects of him. They're all the same god. So when you look at it that way, it's really just Loki accepting all the essential parts of himself and being okay with them. Being okay with who he really is and not letting anyone else tell him who or what he is. It's a triumph for him, on a personal level.

[rpmaluki]

I thought this was freakin' fantastic! And I don't know what anyone's getting upset over. I think this new Loki IS the same Loki, he's just gone through a transformation by owning himself, so to speak. By embracing the fact that "lies" in and of themselves aren't necessarily bad things, that a lie is just a story, and stories are massively powerful. If gods are stories, or made up of stories, than Loki is the god of gods, in a way. In that sense, that makes him one of the most powerful gods out there, and I think he's just realized that, and realized that he can be whatever the heck he wants to be, and nobody, not his parents, not his brother, none of the "hero's", and not the part of himself that hates himself, can tell him or make him be anything else. This is Loki finally gaining confidence and respect in himself, and that's freakin' BEAUTIFUL. I think this is a huge, huge thing, and a wonderful thing, and people should be happy.

This is Loki winning, and not allowing himself to be forced into anyone's "fate". The way Loki just told off his original and child self, the way he stuck it to King Loki, the way he overcame all of the odds here, despite everything being seemingly stacked against him, was a huge moment of triumph. And just like I thought, Verity was the one who helped inspire him to the realization that he could be whatever the heck he wanted to be, and that he wasn't bound to any fate or path. Verity and Odin both, actually. Odin told Loki to remember what a lie is, and to embrace his own power. Odin knows how powerful Loki actually always was, he understood it better than Loki himself. And now Loki's realized it for himself, and embraced it, as his father told him to. Seriously, I couldn't be happier with the direction this is going. I'm just damn proud of Loki, to be honest.

THIS! I really couldn't have said this better myself.

What I find ironic is this similar argument that arose back when Ikol took over Kid Loki's body and set off to try and change and people weren't happy then as they aren't happy now, now that AoA Loki seems to be gone for good (we're still not 100% sure he is) and someone else has taken his place. Now this new (Stray)Loki isn't good enough and his changing doesn't seem to be worth much because it didn' t exactly happen the way people wanted or expected. Loki is owning himself, THAT IS A BIG DEAL. The one thing that I have said over and over is that all these Loki(s) ARE Loki, the one and same but going through their individual journeys, shaping him and changing him until such a time he will reach his final form. By that reasoning, I don't buy that this is his true final form. It is what it is for now. Of course there are things I'm unhappy about like the fact that he looks like he could use a bath and a trip to the barber and the tailor but that's not such a train smash imo, because those are superficial issues that are easy to fix. What I cannot do is be mad that this change happened at all. He faced his evil self, his innocent self, both telling him, essentially, that he wasn't good enough or even worth existing as an individual, while very much self loathing, his future evil self is telling him he was wasting his time trying to be good, trying to change and he overcame the weight of that horrible fate and one more thing to remember is that he's a god, not human, so even our own expectations for him shouldn't dictate the worth of each transition/transformation/change/whatever HE chooses to go through for himself. You can't truly live if your life is constantly being dictated by others or something that's beyond your control and Loki's taken control of his life, what more can I want?

I absolutely love AoA Loki, he's the first ongoing comic book I ever cared about and bought first, before back tracking to JiM, YA and BB and I will mourn it when it finally ends but if Loki's story continues in some other form, in his own book, I cannot complain because I love him, the character and am enthralled by his journey, wherever it leads. The only thing that will ever make me stop reading is if his ongoing ended completely and he ends up in Thor or Angela or some other book that's not really about Loki, none of these characters can hold my attention long enough for me to filter their books for a little Loki fix, a reason I never really enjoyed YA. As for his physical looks, I figure if I can love BB Loki, this new Loki can't be all that horrible. If he remains a "stray" I will learn to love that disheveled peter pan look, as long as his story is just as compelling as Kid's and AoA's stories were.

ETA: @cosmicjoke21 you are correct, Loki is Loki is Loki, he may look different even behave different but he is still Loki not a different person altogether. I think if you can accept this premise from the get go, it makes it easier to accept all his different forms and not treat each one as though it is separate being from the last, like how John is different to Peter is different to Jane. The other way to look at it is what AoA Loki said in axis, he can change his form to anything as long as he remains Loki, whether it's Lady Loki, unicorn Loki, Siege etc, he can and will always look different but it's still him, the difference is that this particular change effects his outlook in life, Siege, Kid and perhaps even AoA will never return as the current form Loki because each stage is a sort of rite of passage more than anything else and more than a superficial change.

[cosmicjoke21]

THIS! I really couldn't have said this better myself.

What I find ironic is this similar argument that arose back when Ikol took over Kid Loki's body and set off to try and change and people weren't happy then as they aren't happy now, now that AoA Loki seems to be gone for good (we're still not 100% sure he is) and someone else has taken his place. Now this new (Stray)Loki isn't good enough and his changing doesn't seem to be worth much because it didn' t exactly happen the way what people wanted or expected. Loki is owning himself, THAT IS A BIG DEAL. The one thing that I have said over and over is that all these Loki(s) ARE Loki, the one and same but going through their individual journeys, shaping him and changing him until such a time he will reach his final form. By that reasoning, I don't buy that this is his true final form. It is what it is for now. Of course there are things I'm unhappy about like the fact that he looks like he could use a bath and a trip to the barber and the tailor but that's not such a train smash imo, because those are superficial issues that are easy to fix. What I cannot do is be mad that this change happened at all. He faced his evil self, his innocent self, both telling him, essentially, that he wasn't good enough or even worth existing as an individual, while very much self loathing, his future evil self is telling him he was wasting his time trying to be good, trying to change and he overcame the weight of that horrible fate and one more thing to remember is that he's a god, not human, so even our own expectations for him shouldn't dictate the worth of each transition/transformation/change/whatever HE chooses to go through for himself. You can't truly live if your life is constantly being dictated by others or something that's beyond your control and Loki's taken control of his life, what more can I want?

I absolutely love AoA Loki, he's the first ongoing comic book I ever cared about and bought first, before back tracking to JiM, YA and BB and I will mourn it when it finally ends but if Loki's story continues in some other form, in his own book, I cannot complain because I love him, the character and am enthralled by his journey, wherever it leads. The only thing that will ever make me stop reading is if his ongoing ended completely and he ends up in Thor or Angela or some other book that's not really about Loki, none of these characters can hold my attention long enough for me to filter their books for a little Loki fix, a reason I never really enjoyed YA. As for his physical looks, I figure if I can love BB Loki, this new Loki can't be all that horrible. If he remains a "stray" I will learn to love that disheveled peter pan look, as long as his story is just as compelling as Kid's and AoA's stories were.

ETA: @cosmicjoke21 you are correct, Loki is Loki is Loki, he may look different even behave different but he is still Loki not a different person altogether. I think if you can accept this premise from the get go, it makes it easier to accept all his different forms and not treat each one as though it is separate being from the last, like how John is different to Peter is different to Jane. The other way to look at it is what AoA Loki said in axis, he can change his form to anything as long as he remains Loki, whether it's Lady Loki, unicorn Loki, Siege etc, he can and will always look different but it's still him, the difference is that this particular change effects his outlook in life, Siege, Kid and perhaps even AoA will never return as the current form Loki because each stage is a sort of rite of passage more than anything else more than a superficial change.

Right, right. It's more like an internal, fundamental change in his outlook, both on life and himself. He's truly changed here, not in that he isn't the same person, physically and spiritually, but he's changed in how he looks at everything, and most importantly, how he looks at himself. Loki's accepting who he is, the god of lies or, the god of stories, because lies are just stories, and they aren't inherently bad, thus, Loki isn't inherently bad. People try to put negative connotations on lies or the concept of lies, but lies are a part of survival and a part of living. They're important and help us to have better lives. Loki knows he has a friend who believes in him, he knows he has a brother he loves (and him saying he loves Thor is such an amazing thing here, because it's absolutely 100% true), and he's holding fast to these parts of him, and to the part of him that doesn't have to be what anyone tells him he has to be. This is Loki accepting all, true aspects of himself, and being alright with them, and acknowledging that they don't make him evil, don't make him irredeemable, don't make him worthless. Honestly, I don't see how anyone could look at this as anything other than a triumph for Loki, and to feel proud of him. He overcame it all, the rejection from his mother, from Thor, the schemes of his supposed future self. And he completely cast off becoming that evil future self to become his own person. That's what we all wanted for Loki, and he's accomplished it here. He's his own god, who defines his own destiny. I love it man.

[markstony]

I see a pretty female Loki every time I look at her now.

[kaimaciel]

Unfortunately, I also think this new Loki is not AoA Loki anymore. Not only did he say he would return changed, but he also doesn’t seem to remember Verity, just that he’s supposed to her friend, which leads me to believe that AoA Loki left a few important details in his future reincarnation before pressing the reset bottom.

I’ve asked Al Ewing if Loki did lose his memories, and his answer was “We’ll get more about that next issue!”

I know this is a good thing for Loki, to finally accept himself and move on, but I would prefer if we had a confirmation that this is still the Loki we’ve been following for 2 years, not a new one who is brand new with no memories of his past.

Which also begs the questions: did new Loki’s tastes and personality also change? Does he still like Midgardian stuff like food and the internet and phones? Or did that all fade way into a completely new person?

Even if that’s the case, I’m obviously going to give New Loki a chance, specially since I’ve come this far.

[Raye]

Right, right. It's more like an internal, fundamental change in his outlook, both on life and himself. He's truly changed here, not in that he isn't the same person, physically and spiritually, but he's changed in how he looks at everything, and most importantly, how he looks at himself. Loki's accepting who he is, the god of lies or, the god of stories, because lies are just stories, and they aren't inherently bad, thus, Loki isn't inherently bad. People try to put negative connotations on lies or the concept of lies, but lies are a part of survival and a part of living. They're important and help us to have better lives. Loki knows he has a friend who believes in him, he knows he has a brother he loves (and him saying he loves Thor is such an amazing thing here, because it's absolutely 100% true), and he's holding fast to these parts of him, and to the part of him that doesn't have to be what anyone tells him he has to be. This is Loki accepting all, true aspects of himself, and being alright with them, and acknowledging that they don't make him evil, don't make him irredeemable, don't make him worthless. Honestly, I don't see how anyone could look at this as anything other than a triumph for Loki, and to feel proud of him. He overcame it all, the rejection from his mother, from Thor, the schemes of his supposed future self. And he completely cast off becoming that evil future self to become his own person. That's what we all wanted for Loki, and he's accomplished it here. He's his own god, who defines his own destiny. I love it man.

Are people thinking this new Loki is evil? cus I really never got that vibe at all. Mischevious, non-conformist, mercurial, and maybe not necessarily adhering to regular morality, but not 'evil'

'm ok with most of the redesign but the missing tooth? Now he doesn't look like a good punk ( like what storm did) but one of those basically neo-nazi fuckboys who used to catcall me. Cmon Lee you can do so much better than this.

At least use your own words, Rosa. copy and pasting the words of others as if they were your own is not cool. (and this is far from the first time you've done it)
http://apocalypse-emu.tumblr.com/pos...ut-the-missing

And seems to me like this is looking for an excuse to hate on it. Why wasn't the missing tooth a problem until this issue?

Unfortunately, I also think this new Loki is not AoA Loki anymore. Not only did he say he would return changed, but he also doesn’t seem to remember Verity, just that he’s supposed to her friend, which leads me to believe that AoA Loki left a few important details in his future reincarnation before pressing the reset bottom.

I’ve asked Al Ewing if Loki did lose his memories, and his answer was “We’ll get more about that next issue!”

I know this is a good thing for Loki, to finally accept himself and move on, but I would prefer if we had a confirmation that this is still the Loki we’ve been following for 2 years, not a new one who is brand new with no memories of his past.

Which also begs the questions: did new Loki’s tastes and personality also change? Does he still like Midgardian stuff like food and the internet and phones? Or did that all fade way into a completely new person?

Even if that’s the case, I’m obviously going to give New Loki a chance, specially since I’ve come this far.

This new Loki has been around for ONE PAGE. It's a bit early yet to say exactly what's up with him, and how much of his old self does or does not remain. I really don't think he's been completely obliterated. He will no doubt be changed long term by this experience, but I do think something of what we came to know during Agent of Asgard so far will return.

One thing to consider with Verity is that she may be a construct of Loki, she may be like, his backup memory. I mean, she has been fairly convenient to Loki's story so far, and this issue she called him *in metaphorical space* Loki's physical body, along with his phone, was in his apartment, burning. But her call goes through to metaphor Loki? magic cell phone reception or not, that's an impressive trick, unless she is an aspect of him taken form.

[cosmicjoke21]

Are people thinking this new Loki is evil? cus I really never got that vibe at all. Mischevious, non-conformist, mercurial, and maybe not necessarily adhering to regular morality, but not 'evil'

Some people seem to be worried about that, for some reason. I don't get why, when there's absolutely nothing to indicate he's evil at all, and a whole ton to indicate the exact opposite. Seriously, this is a great thing. I'm really, truly happy for Loki. He didn't let himself be dragged down, and that shows so much strength. Not to mention the potential for his power as a character, being the god of stories, that's got to make him as powerful as just about any god. I loved this issue so much.

[rpmaluki]

Speaking of that missing tooth, I'm been upset over it since Thor knocked it out. I don't get it's relevance. @Raye, I wouldn't be surprised if your newish theory about Verity is true. Everything including that phonecall has been mighty convenient for our Loki. What would he have done, had she not called him at that exact moment. She literally yelled at him not to give up and that's exactly what he did.

I really loved this issue as well. I got what I wanted for Loki, even if it went about differently than what I expected.

[markstony]

Speaking of that missing tooth, I'm been upset over it since Thor knocked it out. I don't get it's relevance.

he or can go to the dentist ?

[Raye]

Some people seem to be worried about that, for some reason. I don't get why, when there's absolutely nothing to indicate he's evil at all, and a whole ton to indicate the exact opposite. Seriously, this is a great thing. I'm really, truly happy for Loki. He didn't let himself be dragged down, and that shows so much strength. Not to mention the potential for his power as a character, being the god of stories, that's got to make him as powerful as just about any god. I loved this issue so much.

Yeah, I don't understand how you could think this new form was evil, when in the scene leading up to it where he took up his new crown, he was about to do what Loki-classic wanted and accept his role as a villain, until Verity talked him out of it, and he ended up taking the third option. I feel like what we have here is much more the archetypical trickster, which is neither good nor evil, but always an agent of change and progress.

Speaking of that missing tooth, I'm been upset over it since Thor knocked it out. I don't get it's relevance. @Raye, I wouldn't be surprised if your newish theory about Verity is true. Everything including that phonecall has been mighty convenient for our Loki. What would he have done, had she not called him at that exact moment. She literally yelled at him not to give up and that's exactly what he did.

I really loved this issue as well. I got what I wanted for Loki, even if it went about differently than what I expected.

I think the missing tooth is just meant to be a physical indicator of his 'trials' and a means by which we can identify him even when he is in disguise. Previously this was just green eyes, but a little something extra can't hurt.

[rpmaluki]

I agree, wasn't the mythological Loki more like this and not straight up evil, like Marvel made him?

[kaimaciel]

Since New Loki is out of the bag (forgive the horrible pun ) Can we please see something related to him during Secret Wars?

[Riimi]

I started trying to quote everything relevant and it resulted in a quote-splosion.

Now, how to delineate my reactions, after they've died down a bit, and I've taken the other replies into consideration...

First, I am proud that Loki managed to change. I think this represents huge growth for him and was the initial reason I was so happy after reading the issue (I mentioned this but dwelt more on my worry because I'm a nit picker). If this is the natural continuation of the original identity, then that's great. If, because of metaphor and such, changing himself actually required a more drastic change in personality than what may typically be required of a human, I can accept that. Hopefully, next issue will clear things up. I feel that they (meaning Al and Lee) are viewing this Loki as more of a continuation of the current one, another step on his journey, rather than as a separate character. My logics are just tangled up over it! They're on a completely separate page from my intuition, which always makes my wheels spin in circles. Maybe it just represents him becoming who he's always supposed to be. Perhaps so fundamental a change requires a, well, change.

As far as his character now, I definitely don't think he's evil. I would bet monies on this, at least under the current writer. Chaotic as anything, yes. But look at what he choose to keep: Personal ties and the recognition of his freedom to write his own destiny. Pretty much the opposite of heroic!Loki during Axis, who was lawful without regard for the people those laws protected-- I think this one will empathize with others without regard for legality. So yes, I'm predicting that he'll be Chaotic Good--but how could a master of stories be otherwise? Because everyone has a story, and their right to write their own ending.

[rpmaluki]

Under normal circumstances, I'd be worried about Loki having control over other people's stories, who am I kidding, I am a little bit worried. I don't think he'll abuse his power, not in the same way Siege would have. I think for the most part he'll let things be unless the situation calls for him to intervene and he will play around a bit for his own amusement. Unfortunately, I think it's still a little irksome to think how he fought so hard for the ownership of his own story only to sort of have power over the WHOLE story (that of the gods, to man, to aliens, to whatever). Even with all my misgivings, I don't believe he's evil one bit. He's finally free and for Loki that could mean anything really.