Deamentia
pozzyfreak
Ray Hilario
tonyrak
rsg8101
paladinking
DS Arsenault
joelopez101
SoldierHawk
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jtmazz
Roman ColomboBy J.Michael Straczynski (writer), Olivier Coipel (artist), Mark Morales (inker)
The Story: In this thematic prequel to “Dark Reign,” Loki hijiacks the title for an issue and meets with Hela in Las Vegas. There, he asks for her help in sending him back in time in order to confront the demons of his past, and maybe even create them.
The Good: Thor continues to be one of the most well-produced comics out there. Straczynski’s characterizations of the Asgardians are dead on, epic and otherworldly. He captures the stoic detachment of gods forced to walk the Earth and interact with humans. Likewise, Coipel’s art is absolutely stunning to look at. Thor has never been more regal, more powerful, and more intimidating than Coipel’s rendition of him. The same goes for Loki in this issue as well. In the hands of such a stellar creative team, Loki is a truly malicious villain, moving with ease from moments of great cunning to horrible brutality in pursuit of his goals. When he insists to Hela that he is close to bringing down Thor once and for all, I actually believe it.
The Not So Good: Thor is not meant to read like a traditional superhero comic. Straczynski’s scripts are tightly structured and methodically paced, and a new reader may grow frustrated with the lack of action and speed they’ve come to expect from other comics. Also, longtime readers of the title may even consider this issue something of an oddity, a sub-plot at best that was allowed to be stretched out for the sake of filling pages.
Conclusion: This issue was a dark look at the thoughts and actions of one of Marvel’s most notorious villains, and longtime readers of the series will probably enjoy the experience. To be fair though, it’s not for everyone, and new readers may want to wait for the next collection to hit the stands before reading it.
Grade: C+
-Tony Rakittke
Filed under: Marvel Comics, Reviews | Tagged: Hela, J.Michael Straczynski, Laura Martin, Loki, Mark Morales, Marvel Comics, Olvier Coipel, Thor #12
Tony–Nice review.
—SPOILER ALERT–
My problem with this issue was that the whole thing seemed to be flawed logically. If Loki exists in the present with his powers and as a relative of Thor, etc, then why does he need to go back in time and do all that stuff? Obviously, everything went down as it had if he exists as he does. If that’s true, then this whole issue was pointless.
What do you think? Am I missing something here?
Thank you, sir!
Yeah, I shared your problem with this issue all weekend, and was even sitting there on Christmas Day trying to work out in my head why Straczynski would do this. I mean, he’s not an a dumb guy, he obviously understands how to pen a good tale.
I *THINK* it all came down to his daddy issue, because as you pointed out we already know that everything turned out the way it did, and even Loki comments that he’ll never know if his manipulations have any effect on him becoming who he is, and doesn’t really care.
But at one point in the story Loki also says something about how when he says he’s going to destroy someone it’s not an idle threat, it’s a statement of fact. The way I read this issue, he went so far as to strike a deal with Hela simply so that he could go back in time and kill his true father for beating him.
Extreme? Yes, but that’s Loki for you.
Thoughts?
Yeah, Tony, I think your right. Loki just wanted to kill his father and did all he did (retrace the events with Odin, etc) so that he could retain the present reality, but also kill his father. He also says as much when he talks about saving millions of dollars if those in today’s world could do what he did.
This reading suports JMS’s disclaimer about Loki not sure if he’ll never be sure whether his manipulations were the “chicken” or the “egg”.
Well done, maestro.