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Review: Journey Into Mystery #622

By | April 15th, 2011
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

Written by Kieron Gillen
Illustrated by Doug Braithwaite

Prepare for Fear Itself when the acclaimed Thor series becomes Journey Into Mystery! Loki is back and the mystery surrounding his death is about to be revealed! What can the Trickster God be up to this time? How will this affect Thor? Acclaimed creators Kieron Gillen and Doug Braithwaite bring Thor’s dark, little brother back into the fray. It’s time for the Odinson and the Trickster to reunite!

And so yet another major character relaunch meant to capitalize on a film debut arrives from Marvel. However, not content to throw away the extensive history cred brought on my having a book reach 621 issues, Marvel decided to shift this book back to its original title (not seen since it became “The Mighty Thor” in 1966)and bring back two all-stars of the interim issues between the Straczynski and Fraction runs on Thor to pilot the book in a new, Loki-centric, direction. Click on down to find out how this fresh start reads!

Firstly, I have a few things to admit, most importantly that I was head and hands WAY more excited for this book than I am for its sister book, The Mighty Thor #1, for a myriad of reasons. Firstly, despite my love of Matt Fraction, his take on Thor just failed to resonate with me in any real way, and a relaunch will very likely not change that fact. Secondly, I love Kieron Gillen and Doug Braithwaite generally and in particular their work together on Thor before, during and after Siege and finally, Gillen described his run on he book as “Sandman meets Secret Avengers”, so how the hell can one NOT get excited by that mere idea? One can’t, thats how!

The issue opens with an impeccably told fable starring seven magpies that begin on a journey through the nine realms during the Siege. As much as I loved this issue, these first few pages may honestly be my favorite part. The complete richness of the imagery, the pure fantasy goodness and Braithwaite firing on all cylinders was operating as such a high level that I totally forgot the few times I had no real clue what was happening or what it was building to. Regardless! One sole bird manages to return from this journey in search of Loki, who is not at all where he was supposed to be.

As it happens, Loki happened to be engaging in a tradition that I am sure is familiar many of you readers and failing to prove his godliness while doing so. I won’t give further details as the scene is just so great that you need to read it yourself, however to say that Gillen has a handle on the cultures he writes within would be the understatement of the century. Following this we learn that ensuring Loki’s safety and stability has been tasked to none other than the Warriors Three while Thor deals with his returned father and the rebuilding of Asgard. This of course is the last thing all the nine realms that the Three would like to be doing, especially since they don’t particularly disagree with those that wish the young trickster god harm, but a promise is a promise after all.

Following this, Loki sets off on an accelerated journey which leads him to…himself. Yes, despite this Loki being set completely apart from the Loki we know and love, it seems THAT Loki’s spirit lingered in some form with a message for his younger counterpart. That message being, essentially, “enjoy your clean slate!” Yes, it appears as if his death and eventual rebirth was indeed part of Loki’s plan the entire time (and really, is anyone surprised about that?) After setting his younger self down his path, nu-Loki pulls a hail mary pass and combines the lets go with remnant of his former self with the body of yet another Magpie in order to use as an advisor and confidant. Following this, we’re given a repeat performance of the end of Fear Itself #1 before the issue’s ominous but exciting ending.

Continued below

There are a few indicators of “instant classic” status for a comic that really stand out, but the biggest is my discussing the possibilities with myself as soon as I finish reading. This did indeed happen this time around as my mind was overwhelmed and sent into a tizzy as I processed this book. What will Loki do with his clean slate? How much fantastic fantasy nuance can Gillen shove into 24 pages? How long until SOMEONE punches Loki in the face? All of these and more popped into and out of my mind in the hours since I put the book down and it wasn’t until I sat down to write this review that I realized just how hooked I was on this book.

However, before I gush about the story some more, I have to give credit to the art. The subtlety of the script would be largely ineffective without Braithwaite setting the stage for a mystery adventure starring a young god perfectly. Through a mix of traditional fantasy framing and modern use of perspective and character design, Braithwaite gives the book an entirely effective visual personality while still making it seem just slightly dated (which should be the point of all books starring characters over 300 years old and counting).

See, this is the point where I have to pause and wonder if maybe I’m coming across as a bit too strong of a Gillen fanboy. I mean, I’ve been singing his praises on this site as much as and occasionally more than most of the other writers, to the point that I almost gave his Batroc one-shot a nearly perfect score (and, to be frank, if I could go back I probably WOULD bump that book up to a 10 now), but at the end of the day he has EARNED all of the praise he receives and books like this are living proof of that. I’ve seen plenty of writers become content to rest on the laurels and phone in their material once they reach the big leagues, however this time around Gillen’s work is just getting better and better as his status in the industry grows, and that makes me very VERY excited.

Final Verdict: 9.5 – Buy


Joshua Mocle

Joshua Mocle is an educator, writer, audio spelunker and general enthusiast of things loud and fast. He is also a devout Canadian. He can often be found thinking about comics too much, pretending to know things about baseball and trying to convince the masses that pop-punk is still a legitimate genre. Stalk him out on twitter and thought grenade.

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