Seige: Loki Preview

[sherkahn]

The God of Mischief lives up to his name. IGN has the preview. So far it looks like a well written take on the character. Two separate pages from the preview behind the cut.



Loki has just finished his mystic chat with Loki, and said that "Loki remains Loki."
And it bugs the heck out of the God of Mischief.


Emo Loki has a point, and that scene shows subtle depth that we've had hinted at in Loki during the Planet X alternative Earth saga.

But he's trying to go about it the wrong way, as he will have nothing to rebuild from. Then again...

*From The Mighty Thor #586, 2004


Looks like Loki has learned, but is applying the lessons incorrectly.


*****
Another preview cut.


Now there is the scoundrel we know and love, true to form.

Remind me, who or what are the ones who seek dead gods?

suggested tags:

character: Loki God of Lies
character: Thor/Donald Blake

writer: Kieron Gillen
artist: Jamie McKelvie

Comments

[catbird]

I really, really love what Marvel does with Norse Mythology. Thor's "I walked the same path as Odin" just GETS how it works, and self-aware yet unable-to-break-the-pattern Loki is just right for a being as smart and flawed as he should be.

[arilou_skiff]

I don't.

It might be because I grew up with norse mythology (I literally learned how to read from the old big illustrated "Gods and Heroes of Nordic Mythology") The Marvel/Kirby version has always felt very "off" to me.

[catbird]

Sorry if this is tl;dr, but I feel misunderstood on the internet and it's horrible ;P

That's why I said "what Marvel does with" Norse Mythology. It's an adaptation, not an accurate representation of the real Norse religion (whatever that would be, considering that our only real sources are a couple of rune stones, archeological evidence and texts written in an era that was already Christianised, by Christians. Every version of Norse Mythology we have is already subject to interpretation and, very often, ideology.)

That said, I find Marvel's version to be a vibrant and internally fairly consistent adaptation (considering that this is comics). Sure, they take liberties, like making Loki, Baldr and Thor brothers, not to mention Sif, who never seemed much like a warrior to me in the stories, and they averted Ragnarok, but I still find it surprisingly good (Americans sure have given us worse representations of other cultures). The whole story of Loki stealing Sif's body, for example: it's not in the mythology, and yet it's perfectly in character for Loki, who has a history of stealing parts of Sif and changing his gender when it suits him.

Note also that I'm not very familiar with the older stuff that was actually done by Kirby and doesn't just build on his work. If it's more like DC's Fourth World then I probably wouldn't like it, either...

[shadowpsykie]

are you talking about Sif not being a warrior in Marvel or traditional myth?

[catbird]

I'm talking about traditional myth - or the Edda, at least. Sif doesn't appear much, and she does, she's just Thor's wife. The only longer part in which she appears is where Loki cuts off her golden hair, and later when Loki insults all the gods. Afaik, scholars think she might have been a harvest godess - nothing warlike at all. Norse myth has female fighters like Brynhild, but Sif is not one of them. Marvel's Sif on the other hand has been modernized as an action girl, and I find nothing wrong with that.

[arilou_skiff]

It's less changing the details though than the... Tone. It's hard to explain precisely, but there is a certain tone to the norse myths, grim, yet humorous and very funny. Marvel's version has a... Different tone? Very much more standard superhero/fantasy.

It's not *really* making Sif a warrior, as much as changing the underlying tone/language. (especially, and I'm glad they've tried to distance themselves a bit, making the gods speak shakespearean english. The connotations of shakespearean english and the prose of the Eddas can't really be farther apart)