Loki’s a trickster so it’s all been a trick! I won’t spoil it and say how or what has been a trick, but the biggest trick has to be Esquivel’s–he got me to read the whole series.

The problem with wrapping up the entire comic in a reveal–and by entire comic, I mean all four issues–is there not being anything else going on for said comic. Esquivel wasted the last couple issues; he throws in some desperate attempts at character development here, then ignores them a page or two later. All because of that amazing reveal.

As reveals go, it’s not bad. But there’s nothing else in the issue or comic. I remember the first issue being really tightly told and then the series went down hill. This final issue would be the absolute bottom, with Esquivel wasting many pages on lame action scenes.

Loki’s a disappointment.

D 

CREDITS

Writer, Eric M. Esquivel; penciller, Jerry Gaylord; inkers, Jerry Gaylord and Penelope Gaylord; colorist, Gabriel Cassata; letterer, Ryan Ferrier; editors, Chris Rosa and Ian Brill; publisher, Boom! Studios.

There’s a lot to like about this issue. There’s a fantastic twist at the end, but all of a sudden it made me wonder if Esquivel might have tried pitching this series as a Marvel movie. Not because of anything in the issue itself, but how perfectly the twist works. It overshadows everything else in the comic.

But what else is there in the comic? Gaylord’s art is good and he has a great time illustrating all the various gods in Asgard attacking Odin. He has a good time with Loki fighting Hercules or whoever. The comic is definitely a good time.

And then it ends. There’s a shouting match Loki and one of his humans and then the twist ending. Not much else. Esquivel and Gaylord get a whole bunch of mileage out of their setup for the comic and don’t really build anything. Loki’s clever instead of thoughtful.

C+ 

CREDITS

Writer, Eric M. Esquivel; penciller, Jerry Gaylord; inkers, Jerry Gaylord and Penelope Gaylord; colorist, Gabriel Cassata; letterer, Ryan Ferrier; editors, Chris Rosa and Ian Brill; publisher, Boom! Studios.

You might think the comic would be about Loki, given his name on the cover, but it’s actually more about the system of gods Esquivel has set up. At least half the issue is Thor fighting Hercules. Sadly, there aren’t a lot of Marvel references in those scenes. Esquivel actually gets rid of a lot of those.

And I’m not knocking the comic at all. It’s a rather good comic, especially Esquivel’s handle on the humor. It’s no longer dependent on winking; the few “regular” Thor and Loki references in this one aren’t the humor anymore. The situations Esquivel creates for the book do all the comedic generation now.

Still, Loki is underused. There’s some funny stuff with his band, a great interview, but once the gods get to Earth, Loki gets lost. He’s a bystander. Hopefully Esquivel has something better planned for him.

Either way, it’s a good read.

B 

CREDITS

Writer, Eric M. Esquivel; penciller, Jerry Gaylord; inkers, Jerry Gaylord and Penelope Gaylord; colorist, Gabriel Cassata; letterer, Ryan Ferrier; editors, Chris Rosa and Ian Brill; publisher, Boom! Studios.