Siege: Loki #1

by Kieron Gillen (writer), Jamie McKelvie (artist)

The Story: We take a break from the Siege of Asgard to discover what Loki’s been doing all this time.  Turns out the God of Mischief has grown tired of being a slave to the destinies of the Norse Gods and wants to be free of that particular yoke.  Through machinations involving Hela, Mephisto, and an ancient race of cannibalistic Valkyrie, the god of lies sets about acquiring his freedom.

What’s Good: I, like 99.9% of the human race, love to be right.  So when I saw the creative team behind the Phonogram series were behind this one-shot, I was very happy.  You see, this just meant that their work would be exposed to a much bigger audience and everyone would be able to get in on the Gillen/McKelvie love.  Thus, I’d get to look around as their fanbase grew and think to myself, “I loved them before they were big.  I was first.”  Pretension?  Yeah, probably.  But you know what?  Who cares if I’m a jerk as long this title gives some wonderful creators more publicity?!  And, man, with their spotlight on Loki, they more than show that they deserve it.

Kieron Gillen has had a few months of practice for this special as he’s been writing Thor recently.  He continues to show that he has a good handle on the Asgardians and their world here.  Not only does he expose the reader to a new group of characters with their roots in the history of our favorite Norse gods, but he leaves us salivating for more of them.  (Note:  You can actually get more of these characters in New Mutants #11, also written by Gillen, which acts a nice companion piece to this story!  Ask and ye shall receive, faithful reader!)  The scribe also shows a confident command of Marvel mainstays Mephisto and Hela.  Mephisto in particular had some great lines that felt perfect when spoken by the devilish ruler of hell.  However, it being his book and all, Loki steals the show completely.  Gillen has the rogue down cold, really emphasizing his amusement with playing games with people and causing mayhem.  One gets the sense from this tale that Loki is suffering from the most likely malady of an immortal: boredom.  He manipulates because it entertains him to see how his pawns will react and, more importantly, because he can.  That freedom to do anything is what, according to Gillen, drives the character.  It’s an interesting take and one that I feel makes him more interesting.

Not to be outshone by his scripter, Jamie McKelvie delivers wonderful artwork.  I’m going to go on the record here and say that no other artist has captured Loki quite as perfectly as McKelvie has here.  Slightly androgynous, serpentine, and eyes devoid of sympathy or love.  Just as Loki’s words enchant you  into listening to whatever he wants you to listen to, the artist’s rendition of Loki keeps your eyes on the villain at all times.  Kudos go to his portrayals of Mephisto and Hela as well.  The former is given an uninterested, almost bourgeois-like attitude to his facial expressions while Hela is equal parts sex and scare.  Great job all around.