Loki Appreciation 2018

[Raye]

ANOTHER interview with Donny Cates: https://news.marvel.com/comics/80397...e-god-complex/

And I think that illustrates nicely what I was talking about in the previous post about the interviewers focusing all their attention on Loki rather than Strange. That interview is like 90% focused on Loki, I think that shows there is some real interest in seeing Loki in that role (much to the charign of Strange fans, I am sure) that I hope Marvel taps into.

[dr4conianlaw]

Ooh, neat! Everything continues to seem very encouraging, and I love the karate metaphor. Although, and I might be reading into it too much, but there's one line that has caught my attention:

"Honestly, that scene was more or less a trailer for this entire run."

...The entire run? Not arc? If that's the wording he means, that seems the clearest indicator to me so far that Loki is gonna keep the title beyond just the start...

...Who knows, though. :P

[Rosebunse]

Do I think a Loki book would really sell? No, not really. As Riimi said, Loki's popularity is rather more niche. Many of his fans are also not the ones actually buying the comics. They focus mostly on the movie version...and the horse thing...

Seriously, all the porn makes it hard to look for Dragon Age 2 fanfics sometimes.

But we're definitely seeing a resurgence in Loki. People want him, writers are happy to use him. And with the departure of Bendis from Marvel, it does appear that Aaron is being propped up to be their next big writer. And Ewing with him. Oh, this shall be fun for us!

EDIT: And wait...in the movie...Hmm...that doesn't actually bode well for Loki, does it? If the run is like that scene from the movie?

[Raye]

Oh, good catch, dr4conianlaw, I missed that. That DOES seem to point to a longer status quo, since I presume Cates intends to stay on the book for more than one arc.


I don't think it's fair to say that a Loki book (or any character, for that matter. well, ok, almost any) won't sell. All it takes is the right approach, the right hook. Which the Sorcerer Supreme thing could give him. I mean, no, he's likely not not going to ever sell Batman numbers, but enough to sustain an ongoing? I don't think there's any reason to think he couldn't. If Squirrel Girl can do it, why NOT Loki? Yeah, I get that Squirrel Girl doesn't exactly set the direct market charts on fire, but she's sold well enough in trades etc. to sustain nearly 40 issues so far. Squirrel Girl.

[Riimi]

ANOTHER interview with Donny Cates: https://news.marvel.com/comics/80397...e-god-complex/

And I think that illustrates nicely what I was talking about in the previous post about the interviewers focusing all their attention on Loki rather than Strange. That interview is like 90% focused on Loki, I think that shows there is some real interest in seeing Loki in that role (much to the charign of Strange fans, I am sure) that I hope Marvel taps into.

So many interviews! You are right that they mostly seem to be focusing (a looooot) on Loki. I think part of that could be explained because it's such a large change to the status quo, but if that were the only thing, I'd expect as many questions about what Strange will be up to--and there haven't been as many. I agree that he doesn't need something like being Sorcerer Supreme to have his own book; sales of AoA were, iirc, a bit in the danger zone, but I also recall that it sold fairly well digitally. Additionally, they were going to try to do the Vote Loki series with King (but then he left, leaving Hastings to fill in kind of last minute), and it seems like they're continuing to push the character.

Also, maybe I was projecting, but Hastings seemed almost gleeful. I agree that it continues to sound like he really gets the character. It also seems like he's having a blast.

Do I think a Loki book would really sell? No, not really. As Riimi said, Loki's popularity is rather more niche. Many of his fans are also not the ones actually buying the comics. They focus mostly on the movie version...and the horse thing...

Seriously, all the porn makes it hard to look for Dragon Age 2 fanfics sometimes.

But we're definitely seeing a resurgence in Loki. People want him, writers are happy to use him. And with the departure of Bendis from Marvel, it does appear that Aaron is being propped up to be their next big writer. And Ewing with him. Oh, this shall be fun for us!

EDIT: And wait...in the movie...Hmm...that doesn't actually bode well for Loki, does it? If the run is like that scene from the movie?

Lol, I was actually going to post when I saw this. Although I do think that the comic version is less popular than the movie version (the comics in general have a smaller audience than the movies), I think there's enough of an audience for a book. Maybe not a top-selling book, but I think there's enough of a fan-base currently to be okay, and he seems popular with the critics and writers, too.

[Rosebunse]

Oh, good catch, dr4conianlaw, I missed that. That DOES seem to point to a longer status quo, since I presume Cates intends to stay on the book for more than one arc.


I don't think it's fair to say that a Loki book (or any character, for that matter. well, ok, almost any) won't sell. All it takes is the right approach, the right hook. Which the Sorcerer Supreme thing could give him. I mean, no, he's likely not not going to ever sell Batman numbers, but enough to sustain an ongoing? I don't think there's any reason to think he couldn't. If Squirrel Girl can do it, why NOT Loki? Yeah, I get that Squirrel Girl doesn't exactly set the direct market charts on fire, but she's sold well enough in trades etc. to sustain nearly 40 issues so far. Squirrel Girl.

True, somehow that book has survived way longer than I thought it would. Good for you, Squirrel Girl team!

Loki's last few series were critically acclaimed, with JiM especially being considered by many a modern masterpiece. But they also had an end date attached to them. I guess I am just not sure I want a Loki story that doesn't come assured with an end date. An ongoing that just goes on and on doesn't really suit him.

[Raye]

i think that is more to do with the story than the character. It's true that so far, Loki's books have had a definitive end to them, but I think that's mostly just because he was going through a period of transition, and that necessitated a bit more structured approach, as each writer worked towards the revelation or change they were building towards. But both JIM and Agent of Asgard also featured shorter arcs within the larger narrative that could stand on their own and didn't tie into the larger narrative much at all, and there's no reason that can't be done without an end goal that necessitated the end of the series in sight. I mean, think back to JIM. It was structured just like an ongoing, yeah there was a thread running through them tying things together, but that's generally the case with all ongoings. Overall it was just a string of separate adventures until the very end, when we were blindsided with the very final ending. It worked just fine before the final story, though, it wasn't like that was the final missing piece that suddenly made the previous issues work when they hadn't before.

Loki is a versatile character, and can suit many types of stories. He can be do funny, adventure, meta, sad, etc. with no real problem. I don't think there is a particular limitation of the character, in terms of what sorts of stories he is suitable for. They can't keep doing the whole redefining story with him forever, at some point he's got to just stop and let people see what they can do with him. Let him just go off and have some adventures. (i actually think that IS what they are doing with him right now, it's just that most of the adventures are sadly off panel until well, this month, pretty much) It may not end up being particularly deep, but that' not to say it can't be entertaining.

[rpmaluki]

Loki may be more popular in the movies but I feel he's not long for this world.

[Raye]

Loki's story in Squirrel Girl was appropriately tricky and clever, i approve

(even though it cleared up absolutely nothing about where he stands right now, the tricky bastard)

[Riimi]

Loki's story in Squirrel Girl was appropriately tricky and clever, i approve

(even though it cleared up absolutely nothing about where he stands right now, the tricky bastard)

OMG, I completely forgot about this until you posted.

spoilers:

From an artistic/story standpoint...Wow! I was kind of lost at first, before I got to the end and read it backwards, because it didn't seem that extraordinary. Even the pictures work both ways! Then, there's the question of which one is true,or if that's even a valid question to ask. As well as the meta-question of whether this is how Loki seems himself, how he thinks other people see him, or how he wants to be seen. I think it's ultimately saying that the truth is more complex than a simplistic view of good and evil. I also think that Loki likes to be clever and likes to make people ponder such questions (as well as go, "omg, so clever"). I agree that I would have liked some insight into his mind (like I've said, I hope he leans more to the good side than the bad right now, and I think we all have bad parts of us that we struggle to overcome), but "tricky bastard" is an appropriate look for him.

end of spoilers

[Rosebunse]

Oh, that was a really cute book! And the Loki part was both funny and sort of sad.

[Raye]

Yeah, it was a little disappointing that we didn't get more of a look in his head, but it fit him well enough, it was just so good at summing up Loki's ambiguous position right now, and in such a clever way that I don't care that much, and I guess North isn't one of his main writers, anyway. But I think the Loki comic and the Wolverine comic together showed that he could be. the Loki comic showed he gets him, the Wolverine comic showed he can do a more serious tone than he typically shows in Squirrel Girl, that would fit a Loki book well. I'm not saying he is my only pick, just that he's definitely made the short list of people i'd consider a good fit for a hypothetical new Loki book. But if nothing else, I'm looking forward to Loki's guest appearance in the next arc.

Now just one more week until Doctor Strange! it's a good time to be a Loki fan!

In other news. I have decided to re-install the Sims 3 (4 does not yet have magic yet, and it too damn expensive, anyway.) and I will download this: http://modthesims.info/d/582783 I will start off Strange in there, probably on Saturday, kinda busy until then, and I want to finish Wolfenstein too, get him and Zelma going and then when issue 381 hit, boot him out into one of the crappy pre-made houses and throw in Loki. Where I go from there will somewhat depend on what happens in the comic. Will he redecorate? will he romance Zelma? Will Strange become a medical doctor again? Will Wong come back at some point? that will depend on what i see in the comic. I will keep people here posted.

[dr4conianlaw]

Ooh, we got a preview of a shiny new few pages! https://www.cbr.com/doctor-strange-381/

Looks like we're actually starting a good bit into Loki's time as Sorcerer Supreme, Zelma hasn't spoken to Stephen in a while, and news of the shift in management has gotten around to the general public.

...Oh, and I love how he's clearly taking no guff from those snakes. :P

[Rosebunse]

Well, we see that something weird is happening with Steven. He's alienated Zelma and whatever happened was a big blow up. And Loki seems to be trying to charm Zelma by complimenting her library. Is this because he's happy to have a friend? Or because he's trying to get to her?

[Raye]

I saw Ragnarok! finally. am I the last? can we ditch the spoiler tags now, or not? I will read through the spoiler comments in a bit and discuss. I did enjoy it though. Didn't QUITE live up to the hype, but i did like it a lot.

and yay, new preview!

and yeah, it seems some time has passed, enough for the public to become aware of Loki as the Sorcerer Supreme, and apparently to actually accept him in the role, right off the bat.

Also, the Sanctum Sanctorum was extremely hazardous in the previous run, it was filled with swamps, dangerous beings, etc. and basically you couldn't touch anything for fear it may devour you or worse. So it looks like Loki has actually redecorated some, and made it safer. But it still definitely looks pretty weird.

so. I get the impression I was the only one here who read the previous Strange run, so just a fyi, the snakes (hell, the whole house tour) are actually an in-joke/reference to the previous run:
So it seems Loki and Zelma have gotten the snakes under control.

and now that I mention it, so is the snake demon lady from that double page spread from earlier:



and, you know, something really bugged me about her. She appeared two times during Aaron's run. Strange kissed her BOTH times. yet we never learned her name. We learned some of her history, sure, but never her name. that just really bugged me, I hope she gets a name this time if she appears for more than the one page.