It’s a great time to be a Loki fan, with a new season of the hit show and Dan Watters and Germán Peralta launching a brand new solo series this week. The character has had many faces and even changed his godly moniker from the God of Lies to the God of Stories. Now on good terms with Thor, Loki #1 sets out to give Loki a little of his own medicine and create a little chaos for the god.
What an excellent opening issue that’s extra-sized and maximizes every page. Contrary to what you might believe, Watters introduces readers to the main character early on, who narrates via captions from cover to cover. That character, or characters, are the spirits that make up the warship Loki built to sail against the gods of Asgard. It’s also the ship that has been and will spur on the end of everything. Watters uses these dark voices to create an uneasy feeling of gloom and doom, just waiting for the best time to strike.
Along the way, we are reintroduced to Loki, who is holding out in Florida of all places. Watters links this location to a funny meme you might be familiar with. If you enjoyed how Daniel Kibblesmith wrote Loki, you’d love what Watters does with the character. He’s a bit similar, sporting t-shirts and a big grin most times. That includes when he finds out the great warship is missing and parts of it are in the wind.
Loki was the Florida man all along.
Credit: Marve
I was surprised by how much plot takes place in this issue, especially with stories within stories taking place here and there. Even as an extra-sized issue, more than once I expected the story to wrap up, only for it to continue. One can tell this comic was made out of love and craft and not in a way to maximize the number of issues or “write for the trade,” as we’ve seen in the past.
The only thing missing is action, which this issue is light on. This is more of a mythical sort of story–one which you’d read around a fire–but even with Thor around for a few pages, it’s surprising there isn’t any fighting. Maybe that’s not Loki’s way, though.
The art by Peralta is very good, reminiscent of the quality and detail by Russell Dauterman when he took his turn with Asgard in The War of the Realms. That goes for the frost giants, who Peralta nails regarding size and scale. They’re huge and much taller than Loki. Loki’s costuming is great, with plenty of emotion read loud and clear on his face. Mike Spicer supplies the color and shows nuance in the colorful space scenes or even the millions of fingernails used to make the warship. The dwarves may take the cake, though, with their scene feeling ominous and the dwarves well rendered. I sometimes don’t take dwarves seriously, but Peralta and Spicer make you believe these short fantasy creatures are not to be reckoned with.
Loki #1 captures the modern essence of the title character while supplying an intriguing adventure for him to fix. Or is it to escape from? Watters clearly understands the character and his place in Marvel Comics today, and we’re all the better for it.
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