Since its inception, we at Multiversity have done our best to promote “Journey into Mystery.” Continuing Gillen’s short but entertaining run on “Thor” and ending up upraising it’s sister title in many ways, “JiM” has developed a major and steady fanbase for the world Gillen has created.
And now he’s going to ruin everything.
As a note, this is a spoiler-free review, although some elements of the book are alluded to lightly. A few choice images are used from the issue as well.
Written by Kieron Gillen
Illustrated by Stephanie HansKieron Gillen bids farewell to the cast of JIM!
“Why Did Loki Do It? No One Knows.” Until now.
The critically acclaimed epic reaches its climax as Loki’s future and past collide and nothing will ever be the same again. No, really. We mean it this time. Stop looking at us like that.
As the first issue of “Journey into Mystery” began, it became very clear that this was more than just a comic – this was a game. The book’s supposed hero was an unreliable character, a manipulator and a liar, and it was up to the reader to decide just how much they were willing to trust him as the story unfolded. Over time it became very clear that as endearing a character as he became, all of it was just “classic Loki” of a sort; misdirection and sleight of hand, a magic trick where the stakes were as high as all of existence. And no matter how the reader justified it, it all came down to a simple truth in ‘Everything Burns:’ we were rooting for the bad guy.
Kind of, anyway. The moral ambiguity of “Journey” has always been one of it’s central focuses, and it has been obvious that that was very much the point. Loki at his core is an unreliable central character, a being of chaos whose core talent is to breed anarchy and sew chaos into the fabric of the Marvel U. He’s typically a character whose identity comes from his deeds, and his deeds pre-“Siege” were just about universally evil. While many comics like to give off the idea that they explore the nature of evil in a fashion, very few do — yet with “Journey,” that exploration became the journey (pun intended). It was in turn a tad off-putting how easy it was to actually associate yourself with Loki, to get wrapped up in his own brand of madness (or Gillen’s, I suppose) and find ways in which to put yourself in his shoes. Loki wasn’t really a bad guy anymore, was he? Sure, he did some less than great things and yes, he manipulated and lied to just about everyone he knew, including his closest BFF, but that was the challenge set upon himself by his past self. This is a story about whether or not you can rise above the setbacks life or destiny may place in front of you, and what it would cost to do so.
Which leads us to the current issue, where everything falls apart and we are in turn left as emotional wrecks.
It was a very wicked thing of Gillen to do, to make us like Loki so much. Often times you’ll find that people will root for the villain, but only in so much as we want the hero to overcome their challenge; nobody actually ever wants the Joker to kill Batman, after all. Yet here, Loki is the hero and the villain — it’s not as easy to draw that line in the sand. Considering how many times Loki “won” in arcs past by dubious means, it seems silly that we as an audience could grow so attached to the little monster. And yet, attached we did indeed become and for a variety of reasons: his relationship with Hela (every fictional element aside) was plausible and familiar, his characterization was vibrant and alive, his mannerisms familiar and impossibly endearing — and Thori. Oh, Thori! Loki may be fictional, but he ended up being as real as they come in a world full of people who regularly do the impossible and the implausible. And as he traveled along this dangerous path ever so slightly tipping one way or the other, you were able to follow alongside him and perhaps even see yourself in him at times. It’s maddening.
Continued belowSo when the confrontation between “Evil” Loki and Our Loki kicks off, as it eventually reaches it’s climax the entire story ends up being rather fatally emotional. Watching Loki’s inner turmoil expressed so vividly by the fantastically talented Stephanie Hans in the issue is actually relatively brutal and, truth be told, a tad bit frightening. There’s a certain amount of dramatic irony at play here; while it is perhaps forever impossible to truly understand what Loki’s motivations could be (it’s the very nature of his existence, and something Gillen has always portrayed well), we’ve spent so much time with this iteration of the classic character that we’d like to at least pretend we know what he wants to be; those quiet moments that are illustrated in side panels, Loki’s hidden expressions and reserved moments — all of this shows something familiar and human hidden within a being whose “true nature” defies that aspect of his existence. To us, this is the story of a profoundly villainous character — one who is narcissistic and sociopathic — actually attempting to be something different, something “good,” and to see his past take the center stage to confront who he currently is, when the final ultimatum of the book is delivered it’s truly and honestly heartbreaking.
Of course, that’s not all that the book is about. While a big part of it is the emotional attachment to the characters and how it all ends (and believe you me, it does end), an even bigger element of this entire story’s existence is to show the relevance of the story. That’s what ties it all together: this is the story of Little Loki, and now his journey is at an end. After all, we learn in this issue who has been narrating this series, which in turn leads us to the title “Journey Into Mystery: A Comedy In 30 Parts, or a Tragedy in 31.” Yet, what is an end? Something determined by fate, an unseen writer pulling all the strings? Something that exists to be manipulated and shaped in order to feed the reader? What if the impossible occurred and it was no longer the writer in charge but the character? As Loki finally confronts his rather epic inner demon, we’re given a slightly meta issue-length sermon on the importance of stories as a being unto themselves, with focus on the importance of climax and the treacherous nature of endings in general, and given the revelations from the previous arc about one of Loki’s deeds in “Fear Itself,” it’s quite interesting to see how things truly come full circle in a way the reader might not be expecting.
To this end, Gillen decides to make everything worse on the readers by using this two-fold dynamic to play with our emotions further. While elaborating any further would certainly delve into spoiler-territory, it’s important to note the following: if you have been following along with this title since the beginning and you have grown as attached to little Loki, Leah, Thori and everyone as much as I have, it’s rather impossible not to read this issue and find yourself a tad bit choked up as the final pages come along. (And listening to Takk… will only make it worse.)
Suffice it to say, Gillen and Hans have hit an absolute homerun with the issue. It’s often said that the point of any journey is how you get there more than the final destination, but let it not be said that this particular final destination is quite a beautiful/tragic place to end up. Gillen knows the audience of the book pretty well, so in some way this is written for them; yet despite all the elements of the book that give nods to Loki’s Greatest Hits, even to the extent that we are just about given everything we could possibly want, the book remains true to it’s original incarnation (or rather, the relaunched incarnation of last year). Gillen proves himself to be a Loki of a fashion, pulling a few last minute acts of misdirection on the reader, but the fact that the story was told in its entirety from start to finish without any inherent compromising of the original vision is a testament to Gillen’s talent as a writer and the strength of the story overall.
Continued belowA large part of why the book really works, however, is the work of Stephanie Hans on this issue. The book is full of haunting and memorable artwork by Hans, with the final page in easily in the running for one of the best finales of the year. Hans’ moody character work and foreboding colors sets a succinct tone to the issue, one that seemingly envelopes the story in shadow yet lets just enough light in during key moments to offer readers a sliver of hope and optimism. Her version of Loki is hardened and seemingly conniving, yet still just a boy — which is something that we tend to forget. From moments like his scene with Thor to his confrontation with his past, Hans truly encapsulates just how tragic of a character Loki has become, highlighted by the fact he is now a child. It is infinitely impressive as to how beautifully this final chapter to the saga is illustrated, but when you’re trying to hit an emotional chord as strong as the issue does then you need a talent like Stephanie Hans to take Gillen’s words and truly bring them to life.
All in all, it’s a rather audacious finale. This week sees quite a few long-standing runs wrapping up, all of which tie off their stories in their own form and fashion, but “Journey” bucks the trend that the others do. When the issue ends and the dust clears, it is clear that there was never an intent for a bright open future for Loki Laufeyson like the optimistic destinies that you’ll see in “Invincible Iron Man” or “FF.” Yes, the ending is open enough for the characters to go on in the never-ending drama that is the Marvel Universe because that is the way of things, but not in the way one might expect with the knowledge of “Young Avengers” around the corner. Gillen doesn’t pull any punches in closing off this particular chapter of Loki’s life, let alone Asgard as a whole, and he doesn’t do so in an inherently friendly way. Whether you can forgive him for this or not is an entirely personal question, but that doesn’t make the ending an less fantastic.
Mr. Laufeyson, Mr. Gillen – take your bows. You’ve earned them.
Final Verdict: 10.0 – Listening to Sigur Bloody Ros as well
