Loki Agent of Asgard

[shapinglight]

Of interest only to me, probably.

Going to see Thor: Ragnarok reminded me that I'd never finished reading Loki Agent of Asgard, the comics series by Al Ewing and Lee Garbett, which I have in graphic novel form.

More behind cut, with spoilers for it.



Bought them long before I made my decision to stop reading the X-Men comics and try to stay away from Marvel comics altogether. Never finished reading them partly because of why I made that decision, which is that I was sick to death of Marvel playing fast and loose with its own characters (their right, since they own them, but I can opt out if I want), and of the constant 'explosive event that will change the Marvel universe as we know it' re-boot crap. One of those happens at least once a year, and I believe they're about to do another (and if they're not, I'm sure they will be soon).

A-anyway, Loki Agent of Asgard is a really good book, though IMO doesn't quite fulfil its potential, due to having to constantly fall in line with these Marvel Universe-wide events, three of which happened during the short(ish) run of the book.

Personally, I would have liked more of Loki's (doomed) attempts to wipe his very smudged slate clean by doing Asgard's dirty work before the big reveal that his quest was doomed and he was fated to turn into evil King Loki in the end. Those adventures were fun. I'm sure there would have been more, actually, if it weren't for the constant interruptions of these larger franchise-wide storylines.

I would also have liked more Thor/Loki brotherly interaction before Teen!Loki revealed to Thor that he was not actually Kid!Loki more grown up but had killed Kid!Loki so that he (ie. Original!Loki) could have a second chance at life in Kid!Loki's body, thus killing Thor's affection for him stone-dead.

On the other hand, given all the interruptions, I thought the end - with Teen!Loki morphing into Wild!Loki, declaring himself the god of stories, rather than the god of lies and taking ownership of his own future - was pretty good. I'm glad he escaped his horrible fate.

I've no idea if Loki even exists as a character in the Marvel Comics Universe these days, but if he doesn't, there are worse ways to go.

Comments

[yourlibrarian]

A comic run I actually read! I can understand your desire to quit reading Marvel though. Even though the bulk of the story was compiled for me I was annoyed by the constant events and incidents that happened in other stories that had to be explained in footnotes.

I particularly agree with you that seeing more of his missions would have been interesting especially since, as a newbie to the verse, I had little reference to the significance (or even existence) of the multiple Lokis, and frankly the end was the deus-ex-machina of all deus-ex-machinas given that Loki himself is a god and just decided to essentially break the fourth wall of his story by taking control of it. It really broke me right out of the story because it seemed so clearly a ghost insert of the author's own experience as not only a writer, but a comics writer, who unlike many other types of writer is always bound by outside expectations and a canon they didn't create. So Loki defying his own prophecy, well, I couldn't help reading it that way.

[shapinglight]

So Loki defying his own prophecy, well, I couldn't help reading it that way.

I think you've hit the nail on the head there. Quite possibly, Al Ewing was pretty sick of all these 'events' too, the last of which - the destruction of the entire Marvel Universe in Secret Wars 2 - narrowed down his storytelling choices considerably and meant that his comic got cancelled anyway.

I'm also glad that Teen!Loki had one friend who stood by him in Verity even if she did end up a ghost. I was pretty upset for him when Thor and Asgard rejected him and have never liked Odin so much as when he told Loki he was still his son and he loved him (didn't know the old grouchbag had it in him).

If you've never read the Kid!Loki stories, btw, they're really, really good, and you can see why learning that Teen!Loki had killed him made Thor so very, very angry.

[yourlibrarian]

Well, plus comics writers in verses like Marvel or DC always have it tough because their version of whoever is always going up against memories of someone else's run or characterization -- not to mention they can get jossed from within their companies or because of something entirely outside of them. I'm sure the comics have been affected by MCU storylines, for example.

Yes, I liked Verity too. I thought she was a well chosen companion in the stories due to both her special skill and the fact that they didn't try to create anything but a friendship between them.

No, I've never read them. Is it a single run like Loki AoA?

[shapinglight]

Well, plus comics writers in verses like Marvel or DC always have it tough because their version of whoever is always going up against memories of someone else's run or characterization -- not to mention they can get jossed from within their companies or because of something entirely outside of them.

True, and when you're following a character rather than a writer that can be very disorienting, even upsetting. Certainly one of the reasons why I decided to give them up. I was fed up to the back teeth of my favourite character having a different personality every time the series changed writers.

I'm sure the comics have been affected by MCU storylines, for example.

Yes, they have, though the comics editor in chief keeps denying that they have, which is a blatant lie. The fact that the comics retconned the origins of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch to be more in line with the movies was another nail in the coffin of my X-Men love.

No, I've never read them. Is it a single run like Loki AoA?

In a manner of speaking. The Kid!Loki stories appear in a comic called Journey Into Mystery (which was the name of the title first featuring Thor back in the 60s). There are five (I think) large trade paperbacks. The writer of all of them is Kieron Gillen. He's very good indeed.

[yourlibrarian]

Thanks for the tip, I'll see if I can get that through the library.

[shapinglight]

My pleasure. Hope you enjoy them.

[yourlibrarian]

I had to wait a while as the book was overdue but I picked it up yesterday and read a bit yesterday night. Fortunately there were some essays at the end of the book that spelled out some of the extensive (and so complicated!) backstory or accompanying developments. I only just finished the Mephisto issue.

[shapinglight]

It's a little while since I read the stories myself, but yes, there is a lot of confusing back story, that I do remember.

[orangerful]

They really need to let it go when it comes to making ALL the comics fall in line with their over-the-top promotional stunts. Sounds like this might have been a really solid book otherwise. :|

[shapinglight]

It would have. It still manages to be enjoyable and have a good ending despite that.