Loki
by Rob Rodi and Esad Ribic
With the baby coming in a few weeks, I’ve been trying to rework the comics room so that it accommodates both mine and my wife’s things. However, progress has been a little slow because I keep stumbling onto boxes of old comics and graphic novels which inevitably catch my attention. I’ll have been doing great, next thing I know, three hours are gone because I just reread most of Byrne’s Fantastic Four. But hey, it’s just the way it is, folks. Am I wrong?
My most recent time-stealer was Marvel’s Loki, by Rob Rodi and Esad Ribic. I picked this trade paperback up at Heroescon this past Summer, and never actually read it until this weekend. And seriously, it was pretty great, and I feel kind of dumb for not reading it before. This is going to sound way worse than I mean it to, but I totally wasn’t expecting this kind of story from Rob “Codename: Knockout” Rodi. Just haven’t ever read anything by the guy that clicked with me. Although, looking back, Knockout is a comic that got advertised with the tagline “get a little IQ with your T&A”, or something to that effect, so really, I’ve probably been selling the guy a little short all these years.
First of all, Ribic’s art in Loki is gorgeous. Like John Buscema, this kind of castles, capes, swords, and horses story seems to play to his strengths. He totally brings his A+ game here, and it shows on every page. My only complaint, and this is more a pet peeve than anything, but I would’ve preferred he not put his signature (his initials) on almost every page. Knowing he’s marking them to sale at cons or wherever later on sort of yanks you out of the story. But hey… like I said, pet peeve, and it wasn’t so obnoxious that it ruined the thing.
Storywise, if I absolutely had to compare it to something, it would probably be Matt Fraction’s series of Thor one-shots – God-Sized, Age of Thunder, and Reign of Blood. I say this mainly because Loki is set in an indefinable time period (though Loki mentions the heroes of Midgard, so I assume it’s after Journey Into Mystery # 83) and for how it sort of works actual Norse mythology into the piece, filling in these bits of back story like little post-modern Tales of Asgard.
Rodi’s pitch, which is presented in a nice bonus section of this collection, is his mission statement: tell Loki’s story through Loki’s eyes, no matter how tilted its author’s perspective. And I’ll admit, it’s damn cool watching Rodi and Ribic do their thing, but it is not comfortable. With Loki in the driver’s seat, we don’t get the beautiful polish of Kirby’s Asgard, or even the bold, supremely confident Thor we’re all used to – that guy’s nowhere to be found. This is a story that opens with a wrecked and smoldering cityscape and the brutalized Odinson forced to kneel to his step-brother Loki, new ruler of the greatly ravaged Asgard. After that, it’s downhill for the big guy as he spends the rest of the story chained beneath the castle (well, until the end, but I won’t spoil it for you), so don’t come to this looking for a story about Thor. This is Loki’s show.
So who is Loki? Well, he’s a lot of different guys, actually. Figuratively, and literally. Rodi uses flashbacks and testimonials and all sorts of tricks that he weaves into the main narrative to present Loki in many different lights — a dispossessed child, a manipulative bastard prince, a sympathetic outcast, a wanton lover, and most hauntingly, a man destined for defeat. Having won Asgard, Loki’s not really interested in ruling it or anybody. Mostly, he just wants to humiliate Thor and his crew for the rest of eternity. That is until Hela convinces him that Thor is bount to eventually break free, depose him, and return everything to status quo… unless, of course, Loki finally mans up and executes him. What’s great here is that it’s clear that Loki’s never even considered Killing Thor. Not really. But Hela, being Hela, pushes just the right buttons and sets Loki down a path that we all know will come to no good end.
But where I think this story really shines, is when Loki decides to visit three of Thor’s nearest and dearest – Sif, Balder, and finally, Odin – as he tries to convince himself that killing Thor is the right thing to do. All three of these encounters have decidedly different endings, but none of them disappoint, and one of them very nearly convinces you that maybe Loki’s not completely wrong.
The build up to and the eventual ending, while effective, does seem a little rushed. I like what Rodi wanted to do, but I think the big turn gets lost in there somewhere, and probably would’ve not figured it out on my own if it hadn’t been spelled out in the pitch in the back. Also, it all seems to happen over the period of several days… maybe a week at the most. Sure time moves differently in Asgard, but it comes of like Loki’s in charge for just a few days and then BAM! — everything changes. And it’s made all the more noticeable since the whole thing immediately follows a war that is implied to have lasted a while.
I’m not sure if it’s still available at Marvel, but if not, I’m sure you can track one down on eBay or Amazon or somewhere online or at a con. And yeah, I realize it’s not technically an in-continuity Thor story, but if you’re a fan of ol’ Goldilocks, you should check it out. It’s not essential, but it’s damn enjoyable.
Yes, Hawkeye deserves to be upset about Bullseye wearing his costume and taking his name, no doubt. That one I’ll give you, Mr. Bendis. But look at what Osborn’s done to the THUNDERBOLTS, man – a team Hawkeye himself used to lead. Heck, for that matter, look at what’s happened to Moonstone — a woman he used to be (almost) in love with.
