That's the sound of your heart breaking

[propagandor]

Journey into Mystery #645


The remnant of the previous Loki appears before kid Loki, telling him Mephisto has seized the Crown of Fear. With it he will unite hell and plunge the universe into an age of darkness. There is only one way to stop him.


If kid Loki sacrifices himself the crown will vanish and the adult Loki will take his place. Journey into Mystery was all a scheme. Loki felt the world wouldn't let him change so he set up the kid to earn everyones trust so Loki can eventually replace the child and live a life free from his past. Old loki gives the kid three conversations before it happens they are touching but page limits.

At last kid Loki stands again before his past self






Beautiful, touching and sad.

I'm cancelling my preorder of Young Avengers though, I can't read old Loki run around in young Loki's skin

Comments

[darth_cloudo]

I just read the issue. I am so, so sad.

I was expecting a sad ending but...not like this.

Tragedy in thirty one parts indeed.
Ugh. :(

Although is that foreshadowing with the "it's beyond any of OUR power"? Maybe? Hopefully? No?

Okay. :[

[shadowpsykie]

I'm cancelling my preorder of Young Avengers though, I can't read old Loki run around in young Loki's skin

it might not be that.... Adult Loki might try to be Kid Loki... or there might actually be a part of Kid Loki still alive in him....

though one thing i did notice though, did the crows change places? meaning instead of being a representation of the part of Adult loki in kid loki's mind did he become kid loki's portion in adult loki's mind?

because if he killed the bird, then shouldn't that mean the part of Adult Loki is gone?

[majingojira]

True, but he ate part of it, to me that means he took part of it into himself. That can be read in multiple ways, but I don't think Adult Loki took over Kid Loki entirely. Perhaps, not even at all.

[da_reap]

The magpie's gone. Kid Loki ate it, thus overwriting himself with Adult Loki. Kid Loki is vanished entirely, and there's no thread of him able to come back; the setup was deliberately made to keep from having anything to hold out hope for.

He's gone, and he'll remain gone. And I can only wish that wasn't so.

[majingojira]

Yeah, you I think you're jumping to conclusions there, since kid Loki defies Loki's plans off hostile take over, it's still Kid Loki, but it's now got some more old Loki flavorings. Notice that he did not put on the crown and cackle evilly. There's a lot of ways to read it, but I really don't think "Old Loki is now using Kid Loki as a meat puppet" fits.

Ya know, I wouldn't be surprised if Young Avengers first 12 issues weren't Kid Loki's suicide attempt to make sure the old him doesn't corrupt him completely.

[salinea]

Oh, honey; it's worst than that. Kid Loki doesn't say that he wins because he survives in old Loki. He says he wins because just by doing what he's doing Old Loki does doom himself to being what he has always been. That's why Old Loki loses. That's the bitterest of victory for Kid Loki.


(Though I wouldn't be surprised if Young Avengers did indeed bring about some subtlety to it).

[propagandor]

I'm not saying I'll never buy Young Avengers, just that its no longer a "must buy". It's dropped down to "buy if the reviews are good"

[mesmiranda]

My wallet thanks you, Marvel! Great decision!

[long_silence]

I thought this was a great ending to Gillen's Journey into Mystery

The other Leah growing up to become Hela was really cool

[espanolbot]

So Mini!Loki's love interest grew up to be his daughter? How Olympian.

[leoboiko]

I really love the art here. Old Loki feels very numinous.

[trobadora]

Wow, this has just made Young Avengers a million times more interesting.

[jmacq1]

If Kid Loki survived, Mephisto's crown wouldn't have disappeared. I'm thinking the more hopeful interpretations are in the "denial" stage of mourning.

Kid Loki's dead. I have no interest in reading Adult Loki in a Kid Loki skinsuit, and given that Kid Loki was potentially my only real reason for looking at Young Avengers, Marvel's lost that potential sale.

It's not really Gillen's fault though. He told an excellent story, but ultimately status quo is a stronger god than anything in the Marvel Universe. Loki will probably be back to his usual adult self in appearance as well as deed right around the time Thor 2 hits theaters, at the very latest.

[silverhammerman]

This might actually be the first instance I can remember of Old Loki not looking malevolent. He looks downright sincere here, usually I'd expect him to be sporting a villainous smirk or something.
I get the feeling this is going to go down as a classic run.

[propagandor]

Does Loki bring together the new Young Avengers because Mephisto is out for revenge?

[salinea]

Don't forget Wiccan has a connection to Mephisto.

[seisachtheia]

I cannot even process this. Though the art was very pretty.

[yvonmukluk.livejournal.com]

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

NOT L'IL LOKI!

He'll...he'll be back, right? They wouldn't create him to throw him to oblivion and never use him again...right?

[da_reap]

HA, hahahahahahahahahaha, ha.

No, he's gone for keeps. Because that's what the Status Quo demands, and Adult Loki is what moviegoers will expect to see when they come into a shop wanting more of 'that one guy Tom Hiddleston plays.'

[turtlefu]

Isn't Gillen writing Young Avengers? So can't that be seen as a logical extension of this story. The story is not done yet, folks. No need to cry!

[silverhammerman]

That is a very good point, I imagine Loki's identity could be a big part of Young Avengers.

[propagandor]

A thought occurs:

Kid-Loki wrote Leah into existence and wanting to prevent another version of himself from ever interfering with or hurting her he put her completly beyond reach even though it hurt him to do it.

Kieron Gillen wrote Kid Loki into existence and when the series was done he ended the character so thoroughly that other writers won't be able to interfere or ruin it even though it was a really sad ending.

[zabilac]

You forget that this is a universe where people can sell their marriage to the Devil to save their dying aunt.

[crabby_lioness]

I've said it from the first:

Chaos-born Mage meets Chaos God. Anything can happen.

Now please, let that be enough!

[md84]

So even gods can't escape their past.

[thanekos]

Let's hope no one finds him out like Clint did.

[thosefew]

Loki you are a terrible father to yourself.

[needagasmask]

This story....all of my feels.

I've always loved Thor and JiM in general, but I was wary when I heard Loki was going to be the headliner. I've never been a fan of Loki, so I felt awful when I picked up this series. I've never been more glad to get past my reservations about this series. Every character was engaging, the storyline was something fresh, and every twist had me surprised. Even when I heard this was the likely outcome, I refused to believe it, because this incarnation is by far the best incarnation of JiM I've read in quite a long time.

Reading this issue, then going back to the beginning, the clues were always there. This has always been the endgame plan as far as Gillen was concerned. And while I'm mad Kid Loki died, I think I'd rather have it like this than let some other writer come in and mess up the masterful writing Gillen has done. This death story is on par, and maybe even overtakes the Death of Captain Marvel in my opinion, and that story has been one of my favorites for a very long time.

Good job, Gillen. I'd rather his story not end, but I can't think of a better way to do it.

And now, with this knowledge, whatever Loki's planning in Young Avengers seems that much more pertinent.

[darth_cloudo]

I agree with all of this ^. To be honest, I expected a nice, low-key (forgive the pun) resolution. I was pretty sure that any stories about Loki after the end of Everything Burns might be enjoyable, but would still be dull compared to the JiM run. The ending was really painful well done and has a greater impact that if it had been done another way.

And who knows, maybe things aren't as clear as we think. Maybe it's not really the end. Maybe good things will happen in Young Avengers. Maybe?

[md84]

Reminds me of the Doctor Who episodes "Human Nature" and "Family of Blood". "John Smith" so desperately wants to stay human, and is horrified by the prospect of dying and becoming the kind of man who didn't think he could ever fall in love.

Kid!Loki has it even worse. At least the Doctor could pin some of the blame on the Family of Blood for forcing his hand. Here, Kid!Loki has no one to blame but his own past self.

I just hope Loki remembers what it was like being a hero. Maybe that will be enough to change him for real.

[shadowpsykie]

I just hope Loki remembers what it was like being a hero. Maybe that will be enough to change him for real.

this is what i am thinking... imean the notes in "young Avengers" make me think there is still a part of him inside him.

[blackruzsa]

I think I might cry
but this is amazing. Perfect. Less of a hyperbole than usual, this is really way too perfect. Terrible, wonderful, sad.

[shadowpsykie]

here is a thought.... since Adult Loki essentially reclaimed kid Loki, then what changed, or what good was in Kid Loki is now in Loki and now HE has the potential to change.... right? RIGHT!?!?!

[md84]

Loki has always had that potential. But given the way he switched from "Damn me" to "Damn YOU all", he's already finding people to blame other than himself. Which was always one of old Loki's greatest flaws.

[sslrranma]

I think its best we don't rule out that Kid Loki might have found a way to cheat fate. Remember, Kid Loki is still Loki.

[da_reap]

As grand as it would be to see Young Loki pull one on his older self, we can rule it out this time. Gillon made a point of showing how the kid just didn't have time or knowledge to do something about it- and really, the one person who can utterly blindside him is his older, more knowledgeable, more experienced self.