By: Kathryn Immonen (Writer), Valerio Schiti (Artist), Jordie Bellaire (Colorist)
The Story: The still-berserk crazed Sif has to confront a giant robot and her desire for violence in the unknown realm her brother Heimdall has banished her to.
The Review: I was a fool. Absolutely unconvinced about the change of writer and lead character on this title, I could not even perceive the potential here. How could Kathryn Immonen make as good a title as Kierron Gillen did with Kid Loki by using Sif the warrior lady? It seems that in my foolhardiness, I could have missed out on a great title. Thankfully, I have been convinced by people in my LCS to try it out.
Thank god I did.
This may seem like some kind of hollow praise, but this title is really something out of the ordinary. It mixes funny moments, violence, badass quotes, mythology and plain silliness in such a way that it creates something unique, a title that is both funny, yet utterly full of awesome action. The script itself lends itself to it, as the fight between Sif and the berserker’s warriors is intense, well laid-out and just plain exciting. The next moment, we get some explanations and great dialogue between the three warriors and Sif that cements the fun and adventurous tone of the series and the issue. Kathryn Immone is having fun here and it shows with the tone she is setting here.
Even though the tone lends itself to violent silliness, it does not mean that the plot is non-present and secondary. Quite the contrary, Sif’s battle-hungry state of mind is the focus here, as she tries to sate her hunger, while her brother is trying to remedy to this situation. While the story goes on, Kathryn Immonen manage to give some of her personal additions to the Asgardian mythology with the berserker warriors and their quest to continually fight monsters that would infect Asgard if they weren’t battled and destroyed or with Lady Aerndis in Niffleheim.
Even though she had added some of her personal touches here and there, it is nothing compared to what she has done with Sif herself. I always found Sif to be kind of boring, but now that she is under the berserker influence, she had quickly become a much more interesting character. Full of boldness, bravery and desire to do battle to become better, Sif is what makes this all work. Her arrogance here could be annoying, yet it just adds to the adventure as she take the initiative most of the time. There’s a giant robot named ‘’The Ruler Of The Earth’’ that is trying to fight her, she’ll bash his skull in. There’s a monster that even a hundred warriors could not take in the lake? Let’s go fight it! This boldness makes for a really interesting twist in the usually cool and wise Sif and it only add to the whole experience. It may be temporary for this arc, but part of me wish this could go on for more than five issues.
Another thing that I hope will continue in the same vein would be the quality of the art. Valerio Schiti does an amazing job here, creating some vivid and lively art with close to every panel, especially in those action scenes. The giant robot fight and the battle with the berserkers are especially well done thanks to his dynamic poses and his attention to details. There are so many small tidbits in the art, it is uncanny. Be it Sif hair, the way the panels are paced or the great facial expressions, the art does not disappoint in any way. Jordie Bellaire is also of great help here, adding to the action and the art with some smart contrasts of color. Gushes of blue blood everywhere in a brown background, making for a cold color against a warm background? Yes please.
The Conclusion: This issue is fantastic thanks to a great lead character, a terrific direction, awesome action and some stupendous art. If you crave for a good title with a female lead written by a female author, I urge you to give this title a try.
Grade: A-
Hugo Robberts Larivière
Some Musing: -So, it seems like Sif and the three berserk warriors shall do battle with Spider-Ock next issue. Am I the only one who cannot wait to see how this goes?
Filed under: Marvel Comics, Reviews Tagged: | Asgard, Berserker, Heimdall, Jordie Bellaire, Journey Into Mystery, Journey Into Mystery #648, Journey Into Mystery #648 review, Kathryn Immonen, Sif, Valerio Schiti
[...] of the week: Journey Into Mystery #648 – This is close to everything I am looking for in comics: good action, good clean fun and some [...]
I am glad to see you guys finally giving this one some love. Sure, it’s not the Kid Loki run – few things are. Better to treat this as a completely different comic, which it is in every respect other than the title and Asgardian locale.
That said, I think Immonen is doing a very nice job, but the real draw here is Valerio Schiti. I don’t know where this guy has been, but he should be a superstar. His ever-so-slightly cartoony style is a real treat and he draws a perfect Sif – badass and gorgeous, but never objectified (and he really makes that costume work). It reminds me of a less stylized version of the other Immonen’s art on Nextwave. Immonen should also get credit for playing to his strengths – give the man more monsters to draw. Schiti’s dragons and snow beasts in the first issue are poster worthy. As you noted Bellaire is also knocking it out of the park on colors, with a bright, clean style.
I’m a little apprehensive about two things – I’d rather stay in the realm of mythology than visit NY, and I understand from the promos that Matteo Scalera is relieving Schiti on art for the next arc. I quite like Scalera, so that’s not the end of the world, but unless the plot grabs me a bit more I’m not sure I will hang around if Schiti is not coming back.
For now, though, digging this a lot. I hope it gets enough of an audience to survive. Guys like Allred and Aja are getting a lot of props for their current Marvel work, and rightly so, but some of the lesser-known artists like Kev Walker and Valerio Schiti deserve to be mentioned in the same breath, or at least the same paragraph.
I agree wholeheartedly about Kev Walker and Valerio Schiti deserving more praise than what they are getting. Valerio Schiti is absolutely fantastic on this title so far and it does pain me a little to know the he’ll be replaced by Scalera on the next arc. I don’t hate the guy as I know he can do great works, but I largely prefer Schiti as just like you, he does remind me of the talented Stuart Immonen.
As for the NY part, I’m actually curious to see where it will lead. I’m pretty sure Kathryn Immonen will not drop the whole mythology aspect of the book, but I am intrigued in how Sif and the three berserker warriors shall react to Spider-Ock and his temperament.