Young Avengers #3

[arbre_rieur]

After they've teleported to safety, Loki says he can save the day if Billy just lends him his powers.

Comments

[xammax]

I love second to last panel where they are kind of like: **** hes right.

[leoboiko]

no, he's a half-giant, not a dwarf, so clearly Hodor.

[salinea]

Littlefinger without the Cat obsession.

[jaybee3]

Littlefinger would be my guess too. Although in this case Loki's obsession would not be to his almost-never-was girlfriend but to his brother.

[salinea]

Basically.

[icon_uk]

It's all relative IMHO, to a giant Loki WOULD be dwarf, no?

[leoboiko]

Well giants are non-human species in both Nordic (jötunn) and ASoIaF mythos. Dwarves like Tyrion in ASoIaF are just humans (like real dwarves), bur Norse dvergar are also a separate species.

So in both worlds the distinction between dwarfs and giants isn’t just a matter of size; small that he may be, Loki still has giantsblood.

[ghosty732]

I thought icon_uk's point was that Loki is like a giant (jotunn) with dwarfism, since he is of giantblood but is also small (just like Tyrion is a human with dwarfism).

[icon_uk]

That's summarising my point better than I could have done, so thank you! :)

[cainofdreaming]

He's also a shapeshifter, though. So he's whatever height, or subgroup of his race, he wants.

[icon_uk]

Presumably what we usually see is his default form though, and it appears to be of approximately human size.

[cainofdreaming]

Maybe. Or maybe that's what he wants us to think. :p

[moetushie]

Wow, I did not recognize Billy with his new haircut.

[darkknightjrk]

He reminds me of Gary Oldman's character in The Fifth Element, and not in a good way.

[theflames]

I'm enjoying it, but this current storyline feels a little pre-teen, for lack of a better term. (evil parents etc)

Hoping for something that would please the 16-19 teen demographic, this feels like it hits a little lower, which is odd.

[icon_uk]

I think they work for both, in this case less "They are evil and don't love me" (for the younger kids) as "They are evil and they want to control my life" (Which seems apt for teenagers)

[darkknightjrk]

Which is sort-of odd, since Gillen's said that the first volume was about the team as 16 year-olds and this is about them as 18-20. I wouldn't be surprised, though, if this first arc ends with Billy and Teddy getting their own apartment together (even though I think it's a horrible idea).

[urkonn]

Each issue is better than the last in my opinion.

Billy: Kate keeps on texting about Skrulls. And cute boys.
Teddy: Two of my favorite topics.
Billy: I'm saying we're in deep trouble. Also, hugs.

I like that we start getting some insight into who America is. And we actually got a pretty good explanation for why Loki asked her to kill Billy.
Hopefully next issue Kate and Noh-Var will join in the fun.

I'm even starting to like Billy's haircut.

[bookish_dragon]

I'm waiting for Kate and Noh-Var to show up again too.

[darkknightjrk]

Honestly, I liked the Kate and Noh-Var stuff in the first issue FAR more than Billy and Teddy's relationship/mommy issues.

[flash_fan]

Great story I don't really enjoy the pacing though. Book seems over a little to quick I feel like each issue could pack a little more story progression in it.

[silverhammerman]

That's my only problem with this series so far, each issue just doesn't feel substantial and that's very annoying for me.

[ghosty732]

I feel like the pacing of this issue was a lot better than the last two, though. The previous two issues had moments where it seemed they skipped a beat. This one had a much better flow.

[flash_fan]

I did notice that. Maybe they're just getting into the flow of things. Sometimes it takes writers awhile to do that with a new book. Overall this series is great but like silverhammerman said the pacing is off-putting and near uncomfortable so far.

[ablackraptor]

Damn, they must ave ran out by the time I got o my comic book store yesterday, I had no idea this came out.

[mortimerwclankitybritches]

Uhhh... why is Volstagg wearing a miniskirt?

[icon_uk]

Not that Volstagg couldn't or wouldn't wear a miniskirt if he wanted to, and look FABULOUS in it, that's a belted tunic.

[majingojira]

Miss America is apparently the alternate reality version of Vivio Takamachi.

They both have two mommies and all three of them are OMGWTF powerful.

[mrosa]

Who's Tyrion?

[salinea]

Character from Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire (duh) played by Peter Dinklage. He's a crafty and witty young man with pretty huge daddy issues (on account of his father looking down on him for being a dwarf) but a soft spot for "whores, bastards and broken things". He belongs to one of the most powerful and especially wealthier noble house of the medieval fantasy realm who seem to have being sassy & charismatic assholes as a family trait. Actually loves his older and shinier brother.

[darkknightjrk]

And I would say that is definitely a good comparison...for Kid Loki. The current Loki in the kid's body, though? That remains to be seen...

[batman]

As described above, Tyrion is a character with dwarfism whose father hates him and considers him to be ill-omened because his birth resulted in the death of his mother. Because he lives in a sort of medieval period era world he has to supplement his rather meagre fighting ability with an axe with making damned sure he's never in a fight to begin with and using his wits to manipulate the situations he's in. He's one of the fan favourites of Game of Thrones.

The joke is that Loki doesn't fit for Tyrion at all because underneath a lot of issues, Tyrion is probably one of the more "good" characters in the series who does things because it's the right thing to do to stabilise a very shaky realm on the brink of (and later during) a civil war. Instead, Loki is closer to Littlefinger who is a bitter, angry man who is determined to climb to the top and claim what he considers to be his: money, nobility, and marriage to his not-girlfriend Catelyn Tully. The mere facts that Catelyn was married to someone else and that his actions destabilise the realm are not as important to Littlefinger as getting what he wants.

So basically Billy and Teddy are giving him a deadpan "what." look because he wants them to think he's genuinely heroic whereas his actions are merely furthering his own goals to their minds.

[adam_sherman]

Or he probably would be more like Tyrion if that were purely Kid!Loki, and not evil!Loki in Kid!Loki's body.

Or am I off on my Kid!Loki knowledge?

[darkknightjrk]

You're right--basically in order to save everything, Kid Loki had to sacrifice his "life" to let the original Loki live in his body.

[batman]

Oh yeah, Kid Loki would definitely be Tyrion. But they don't know about Kid Loki, it seems.

[donnblake]

Well, the comparison Loki is making here seems to be "Tyrion's awesome, but everyone in-universe assumes he's evil because he's a dwarf (and in the books, IIRC, hunchbacked and later horribly scarred in battle), likewise, everyone assumes I'm evil because I'm Loki, but this assumption is equally unfounded. I'm awesome." Which would be a more or less valid argument for Kid!Loki to make, but a spurious one for the Loki who stole kid!Loki's body. I guess the question is, are Billy and Teddy aware of Loki's current status quo?

[batman]

No idea! They're suspicious as hell of Loki pretty much from the beginning and the latest two issues have done nothing to dissuade that suspicion. In the pages preceding this one they've just been told by America that Loki wanted her to kill Billy (which they're unimpressed about) and then afterward Loki pretty much tries to get Billy to lend him his reality warping powers to get rid of the parasite. These panels are immediately after Billy basically going "hell no am I doing that".

There's little reason for them to trust that Loki does not have a plan for Billy's powers that isn't going to bite him in the arse, so saying "I'm just like your favourite character!" doesn't do much to convince them.

[silverzeo]

.... I am sick and tried of references to shows/books/movies that came out 5 years in... everything... especially in comics: Avengers Arena an odd fusion of Hunger Games and LOST is a good start...

[magus_69]

In fairness, the first book came out in 1996.

... which, I have just realized, makes it almost as old as the main human characters if they're supposed to be eighteen. I was in junior high at the time :(

[batman]

Sob yeah, I started reading the series in primary school.

[r0b666]

I really like this comic so far, but I am not a fan of the artist. All of his faces look weird.

Also while I like 5/6 of the character choices, I am not sure about Miss America Sanchez or whatever the fuck her name is. And Marvel Boy as a quirky fan of 50's rock is just too much of a departure from his previous appearances for me. I want the Marvel Boy from the old Runaways/Young Avengers Mini, Avengers and Dark Avengers