A Quick Read That Left Me Wanting
The last issue of this series was one of my favorite issues in a long time, due to the fun and light-hearted nature intermingled with some earnest and serious character exploration, while also incorporating some classic characters and wonderful art. This issue, however, reads very differently, and I can't honestly say I enjoyed it much.
The premise of this book is that Loki is recounting his venture to find a fellow Asgaridan, Lorelei, for the All-Mother. And, while this sounds fun in theory, it doesn't do very well in practice. Everyone else in the world feels rather uninteresting and somewhat lacking in comparison to our main character, so I found myself caring little about the mission itself, which is something of a flaw. That being said, this book is clever in some of what it presents, and provides a nice foil to Loki in an innocent manner that I'm sure will crop up again in a serious capacity.
A lot of this book is taken up by trying to gather/understand Lorelei and her relationship with Loki, feeling at times like a history lesson. Couple that with a few "reminders" to the reader and action that felt more lacking than not, and I still find myself trying to come up with more reasons to enjoy this issue. The ending offered some interesting story to come, bu I felt like this issue strayed far from what made the first issue so stand-out. Also, the cliff-hanger at the end of issue 1? Never even mentioned here, beyond the recap. For something that stood out to some many readers, it's surprising that Ewing just kind of chose to gloss it all over.
I have high hopes for this series, despite the lackluster feel that this book has left me. It has it's "funny" moments, but none of them really hit me or made me so much as smile. Next month, I anticipate that Loki's charms many enchant me once again, but, if you want something to hold you over until this, this will do.