Broken Frontier

Siege: Loki is a behind the scenes look at Siege, from Loki’s point of view.  It’s an interesting read and provides Thor devotees loads of details about the inner workings of the Norse pantheon.  It’s been a while since we’ve seen a Loki-focused issue, which focuses more on his character than the plot that develops because of him.  In this one-shot, we see how Loki goes about enacting the plans that he does, and the clever ways he manipulates circumstances to suit his own goals.

Kieron Gillen was a strong choice for the writing in this issue.  I don’t know for sure, but it feels like Gillen has sort of an admiration for Loki’s character, which came through as Loki was portrayed as a fierce warrior and a charming and cunning tactician.  While he’s not written in a way that makes the reader relate or sympathize with him, he does warrant some respect for his capabilities.  As I mentioned earlier, this issue does a lot to further the reader’s understanding of the new post-Ragnarok mythology.  Gillen builds this new knowledge on existing Thor history, but also explains it in a way which makes it easy for new readers to jump on board.

While Gillen did a good job creating clever plots for Loki, the actual storytelling and writing were a bit different than expected.  Usually in stories of deception, the plot doesn’t unfold in such a linear fashion.  Usually, the reader sees the plot unfold without any explanation, and then is shown how earlier actions demonstrated foresight and cunning.  In this issue, we see each step Loki takes followed by an explanation of why he does this.  Then, we see these explanations in action in the next scene. 

The art was solid and the characters were expressive.  Artist Jamie McKelvie does a great job capturing the mischievous nature of Loki’s character.  His linework is very clean and his designs are good, which makes the story very easy to follow.  McKelvie is a good all-around artist, but I’m not sure that his style fits this story well.  For a story that deals so much with ghosts, demons, and Hell, the art seemed too light and cartoony.  The serious and twisted nature of Loki’s plots is lost.  The levity of the art could have worked as an interesting juxtaposition if the writing had been darker in tone, but as the issue stands, the writing is light and the art is light, which takes away from the magnitude of the subject matter.

If the Thor title returns to its mythological roots after Siege, then I have no doubt that this issue will be essential to your Thor reading experience.  It is, overall, a well-constructed story with good artwork.  It just could have been a little better planned.