While the Avengers and the X-Men fight amongst themselves for only God knows what at this point, the God of mischief is only trying to save Britain. Who’s the REAL hero here? That’s right, Everyone’s favorite child god, Loki Laufeyson-Odinson, if you guessed “The Avengers” or the X-Men” or “Cywing and the Phoenix Force Five” you were wrong.
Written by Kieron Gillen
Illustrated by Richard Elson
- Otherworld Aflame!
- Can the Knights of the Round Table, Merlyn, Arthur, and even Captain Britain himself resist the power of the infernal, industrial North!?!
- Meanwhile Loki’s mission deep inside the Manchester God itself discovers something that changes everything…
Kieron Gillen is a funny guy. If you’ve ever read his books, he knows how to balance the action that comes standard with a superhero book with healthy doses of comedy sprinkled into the pages of the book. It works especially well with a book like “Journey into Mystery,” whose lead, the half-brother of Thor and all-around mischievous scamp Kid Loki, is one of the most unexpectedly likable characters currently being published under the “Marvel” banner. Loki, while being the former thorn in Thor’s side (and vice versa), has a genuine childlike quality to him, albeit a child with god-like tendencies (but if we’re being real, gods tend to act like children anyway). Loki’s ability to alternate between adorable and funny along with his cunning gives a unique role in the Marvel Universe, one role in which the well (so to speak) seems mostly untapped.
This issue is a good example of that. After the brilliant “Exiled” crossover ended last month, Gillen had a new sandbox to work in with the same toys. Sure, he kept the supporting characters like Leah, but since the disir were no longer a threat, the build-up of them as villains was over, and Gillen could go play with Loki somewhere else. In his first arc since that crossover, he took the opportunity to play with the idea of gods and religion in a very real and thoughtful way. Are our gods being slain by newer gods of industry and technology?
In many ways, this books takes themes from Neil Gaiman’s modern classic “American Gods” when discussing how they live and die in relation to one another. However, instead of a god of the Internet or a god of celebrity, the god we meet is a personification of the Industrial Revolution, The god Manchester. Here, Gillen can use his sharp British wit (is there any other kind?) to write unmistakably British characters (which he does so well, but I could go on about his fantastic Psylocke) and still execute such the concepts and themes of his book nearly perfectly. Manchester himself is a fascinating new character who could be a great addition to the line-up, either as a supporting character or in Loki’s own growing rogue’s gallery (can a former rogue have a gallery?). Furthermore, the twist at the end of the book, which is less of a “twist” and more of a realization you come to along with Loki himself, is one of the best endings I’ve read in a while, and positions himself in a precarious position between the two warring pantheons of Camelot along with the Captain Britain Corps and Manchester and his gang of gods.
The art, provided by Richard Elson, an illustrator who worked with Gillen before in the Asgardian realm during his run on “Thor” a couple years back, is a perfect fit for the book. He and Gillen seem to work well with one another and know what the other is capable of and work accordingly. Not only that, but his art is the best I’ve seen on this title in a while. Of course, this is not a knock on anyone’s art, but this art is more suited to my tastes than the others that have worked with Little Loki in the past. The lines are very clean and the designs are the perfect balance between stylized art and photo-realism. While there isn’t much in the way of action in this book, he captures the mood and sense of atmosphere which is essential to a high fantasy book such as this one.
If you’re not reading “Journey into Mystery,” you should be. It’s one of the most purely fun books out there. Furthermore, if you’re one of the new Loki fans that came from the “Avengers” movie, this book is certainly the one for you. You should be picking this up for sure.
Final Verdict: 8.5/10 – Buy
