Loki: Agent of Asgard #4

This series gives no french toast about telling the story consequetively: So we begin with Sigurd (the ever glorious) climbing a mountain to see Kaluu (Master of Black Magic). And He has Gram! The hero’s blade! But Loki is supposed to have that!

In the recent past, Loki is having dinner (baked salmon with lemon) with Verity Willis. Verity is one of my favorite new characters: a human lie detector. She’s a human. She can detect lies from gods, too. Which is how she sees Sigurd who has turned himself invisible with a Lightbender Invisibility Belt stolen from AIM. Sigurd is busting in to steal Gram. Duh. Once he’s busted, Sigurd tries to talk his way out it. But it turn out that the All-Mother has assigned Loki to have Sigurd returned to Asgard. The All-Mother is still displeased that Loki let Lorelei escape and they tell him that either Sigurd is returned or Loki himself will be. 

Sigurd and Loki duel and Sigurd is victorious. Duh. 

Back on the mountain: Kajuu is impressed, and when Sigurd requests that he be put onto the wheel of incarnation, so that when he dies he can be reborn instead of being tortured by Valkyries in Valhalla (a plotline that goes back to New Mutants #43 about 4 years ago). Kajuu agrees to help Sigurd with the sacrilegious deed and he gets Sigurd to sign it in blood.

It’s not Kajuu, it’s Mephisto. And he’s set to damn Sigurd to the torture pits. Only Loki’s gotten there first (and tripled up on invisibility cloaks) and switched the contract: he sends Sigurd back to Asgard and Mephisto back to Hell. Parting words from Mephisto, “It’s what I’d expect from the young punk. Not from you.” He knows that “kid Loki” is gone, and inside is his old pal.

Loki is getting anxious, not about Mephisto finding him out, but about the All-Mother locking up Asgardians for roaming free on Midgard, “In other words, today it’s him… tomorrow it’s one of us.” He asks Verity, Lorelei and Thor to help him on his mission.

“You don’t bring a sword to a Loki fight” is the name of the next issue. I wonder if Loki will come into contact with his alternate self that’s roaming about. But it’s still early in the series yet.

For Asgardia’s finest: Y.A.L.A. (you always live again) 

Not for Sigurd this time, but it’s working for Loki… thus far.

Lee Garbett’s art is well suited, fight scenes are crisp and the look matches the feel of the writing excellently. Something I don’t often acknowledge? The Lettering. Asgardian’s get their old school fancy font, Mephisto gets an odd one, scrolls appear here and there to announce random facts or times. It’s just good. It’s just so good. I have so much love for this series.

Fantastic Female Friday: Lorelei

(Marvel comics, Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD)

From the Agents of SHIELD episode “Yes Men” it was easy to gather that Lorelei had feminine wiles that would cause “men” to go to endless war. She’s used to commanding armies, she’s used to demanding the finer things. But to her… they aren’t men, not really anyway, they are soldiers… they are ants. 

Lorelei made her first appearance in Thor #337  in 1983. The story that she falls into is one of unrequited love, she’s always getting at Sif for liking Thor (since the 80s!), Loki likes her and Lorelei can have any man she wants… well almost, she can’t seem to get Thor. There’s lots of convoluted trickery including spells, potions, dragons and fake names. Amora, her older sister, tricks Lorelei and Loki into falling for each other. In Loki:Agent of Asgard #2.. this is still somewhat the case. Although, it’s more likely that he feels a fondness for her because of their similar status in their families. Lorelei gets in over her head enough, from wreaking small havoc on the love lives of her cohorts to teaming up with Pluto and spawning Valkyries.  

She’s a little much. 

But look at the way people are all captivated by Hiddleston, there’s no reason to hate on a female version of Loki.

source

But Lorelei’s not a knock off.. she’s her own personality evolved out of a similar experience. She might be a “tramp” and a “hussie” but let’s face it: So? She knows what she wants and she knows how to get it. And that’s hardly the only weapon in her arsenal. She has sorceress powers, can turn men to stone and she’s skilled in combat.

So when she is set free in Thor: the Dark World and debuts on the small screen taking over a biker gang’s empire in the middle of the desert -did anyone recall that Odin was being impersonated by Loki at the end of that film?! So did Loki want his lady friend back? …think about it.

 

While I’m not a fan of her role in reinforcing the gender binary (her power only works on men… doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle room… also no mention of gay men or lesbian women… erasure is a dick move, this should be retconned by now.. shit.) and despite the fact that her powers aren’t limited to coercion she’s seen relying heavily on her feminine wiles.. I’m still a fan. It is tropes on tropes. But we live in a world where people do infact have “good looking” privilege. Lorelei takes that to the next level. And that’s one of these times when I want to remind everyone why “conventional gender roles” are bad for everyone: Is it really her ‘fault’ that men will all fall on their swords for her? They were taught to look out for beautiful damsels in need… she just eggs them a bit further. It’s that specific reason that I can justify that it is only ALL men influenced regardless of orientation. Male privilege. Society said that men are heroes who fight for women. And this is the result. She’s manipulated a broken system to her will. 

Nerd News-Day Tuesday

Getting in shape for spring?

Check out geeky themed customized home workouts designed by Neila Rey:

My faves include- Hunger Games Tribute Workout, Thor: Strength of Asgard, Blade Runner, Super Saiyan, and Dragonborn.

Will Lupita Nyong’o appear in Star Wars VII? Rumor has it.

Check out this video of Superman with a Go Pro!

Comic Book Resources has the scoop and some pics from the set of the upcoming Fox show Gotham.

Anime Boston is this weekend and I’ll be on the scene Saturday! Let me know if you’re around!

Short posts today. But I’m heading out to do that Thor workout, catch you for the Marvel:Assembling a Universe live tweet tonight?

Agents of SHIELD- episode 15

Yes Men AKA “The Lady Sif episode”

Lorelei, Amora’s kid sister, Loki’s friend and sometime love interest; shifts her focus from random newlywed to a gang of bikers to start her army. Similarly to Loki, Lorelei is the younger sibling that never lives up to expectations, Lorelei has recently been confined and unable to speak, so when she gets loose she really blows the doors off of things.

Back at the plane, Skye is still stuck in bed at the prodding of Agents Simmons who is desperately trying to find out more about the “wonder drug.” Ward comes in to visit Skye and makes cute smiles at her while she complains that “she must look hideous” (she’s wearing an awful lot of makeup for someone who ‘hasn’t seen a mirror’). Anyway, Coulson is trying to find Director Fury but no one will let him near him. Suspicion grows! But while Coulson is gone, Agent May holds down the fort. They get a call about incoming Asgardian activity.

They find Lady Sif in the middle of the desert via the bifrost. Lorelei entered unnoticed via one of Loki’s secret pathways. Lady Sif explains that they are up against a sorceress that can bend men’s wills. Lorelei is used to commanding armies and starting wars. She also explains that Lorelei’s power only works on men… they have an inherent weakness..

Is the weakness a Y chromosome?

The implication is, of course, that no MAN can resist her feminine wiles. But so… even men who are gay? But not women who are gay?

Because I have got to tell you. This would have been a better episode if Simmons was bi and helped Lorelei take down the team. No one would have expected that and we would have gotten some LGBT visibility over here -in the comic book genre/Marvel Universe/primetime network TV realm where there’s not much. And in this case, it wouldn’t have been “inclusion cookies” it would have actually added depth to the episode.

Because I honestly called the rest of this shit.

The Team + Lady Sif heads to the biker bar where Lorelei is setting up her empire, and I already know that 1/2 the team is men and of that team there are only 3 that really get out of the plane and 2/3 of them are men. If Lorelei is after the greatest warriors then she will head for Ward (even though that makes less sense since Coulson is actually “the leader” but we need angst here people!) and Ward will fall hard and by the time Lorelei squeezed his arm I was already like “We can pack this up here. He won’t betray Lorelei for May but Skye will bring him around.”

So, Simmons gets sidetracked (because she’s been tending to Skye instead of being in the field and having more involvement in the Lorelei situation) and says that she needs outside help to identify the Wonder Drug. I love driven academic types. Coulson shoots it down. Ward and Lorelei head for Vegas. There Ward references that he cares for a member of the team but that she’s nothing next to Lorelei…

The the two have a sexy clothes ripping hook up. After she feeds him the line “You’re a real man with the rage of a berserker inside.” Which reminds us that the fury brought on by the berserker staff is still very much alive in Ward (yeah, so in Melinda May, too)

Meanwhile Sif and May bond over weaponry and losing their men to vixens. Sif warns her that Ward, the real Ward is lost to Lorelei’s will. May says “Ward won’t kill me. He might try to kill me, but he won’t.”

And then, while they should be looking for Lorelei, she and Ward take over the plane. This leads to the inevitable May vs. Ward faceoff -where Lorelei reveals that the “beautiful warrior with the heart of ice” is not the one who had his love.

Sif, meanwhile throwing down with Lorelei is antagonized by the redhaired vixen who reminds Sif that she made the love of Sif’s life obey her every command, that Thor thinks of Sif as a man. Sif subdues her and slaps the magic collar on. Ward snaps out of it just in time to not get dead and stuff.

But here’s the fucking thing though, so none of our “strong” chicks get happiness? Ward tries to apologize to May, she waves it off with an “I told you that you didn’t have to worry about that with me.” Which she did, she was really forthcoming with the fact that it would be no strings attached and that it couldn’t get in the way of work. May also has a heart to heart with Coulson, say that he needs to open up about what he saw, even if it’s not to her, even if it’s to Skye. And he does and he tells Skye that the “wonder drug” was alien blood (btw- Sif mentioned the Kree earlier, I’m thinking my theory was right!). In the closing scenes we catch Melinda May listening in… and she calls it in, saying that “Coulson knows.”

So, damn, May knew?

I don’t want Ward and Skye together. I just don’t. And I don’t really hate Skye. I’m tired of this idea that tough and capable women aren’t worthy of love in the way that special snowflake Mary Sues are.

This episode had a lot going on in the background (Coulson divulging about the alien, the obvious cover-up, Melinda’s informing on them.). And a lot of awesome stuff in the foreground (Lorelei recently reappeared in Loki:Agent of Asgard #2, and it was awesome. And who does not love Jaimie Alexander looking all Asgardian? Nerd cookies everywhere!) But this fucking episode also ignored the existence of LGBT people entirely. And it’s even worse because of Lady Sif and Melinda’s implied fist bump over male weakness. Umm.. no. Because it’s not that. It’s that men are socialized to be protectors and unfortunately women are socialized to be damsels. Which is what happened here. Skye was kicked back all helpless, while May was fighting for everyone’s safety …but who does Ward love? Melinda’s showed him tenderness and compassion (as much as she can) but who does Ward love? Women are socialized to believe that being a true equal takes you out of the running for being a love interest. The backstory of both May and Sif in this episode fucking dead on perpetuated that. Shut up. I feel like there’s something in there about Lorelei using her sexuality for empowerment but not being better than the “strong female characters” -but even so, they don’t get the whole package, either.

Someone write me a fanfic where Gemma Simmons falls for Lorelei and she hijacks the plane while the lock Ward in the holding cell which would have been the logical thing to do anyway: WHO BRINGS SOMEONE WHO HAS ZERO CHANCE OF NOT BECOMING A HUMAN WEAPON? Where was Agent Hand and Maria Hill?! If “only men are susceptible” why would you not CALL ALL THE WOMEN?!

Someone help. Send logic.

Loki: Agent of Asgard #2

I returned home with my comic book haul today 

 

And waffled about which freaking awesome thing I should read first. All of these will be reviewed soon, so, now you all know what’s coming. Anyway, I decided on Loki: Agent of Asgard #2 first. It was funny and wonderful for issue #1 and I am genuinely pumped about this book. Pumped!

And it was perfect to pick up because Loki is searching for Lorelei, who just made her appearance on the small screen yesterday at the end of Agents of SHIELD. Loki (the young Loki) is on a mission from the All-Mother to find a goddess, Lorelei. His mission leads him to a speed dating event in front of a snarky, heavily tattooed human lie detector. Loki regales the woman… with the truth (which involves his foster mother manifesting in a punchbowl and spilling herself on the carpet. He followed Lorelei using modern era tactics and found her running small cons and grifts in preparation for a casino heist. Lorelei uses her powers of distraction and seduction to fool and dazzle the security team and Loki pulls a bait and switch of his own. 

Loki’s former flame finds she’s been double crossed, she’s not impressed with the new version of Loki. Loki, not being entirely squeaky clean still steals stacks of cash from the vault. Lorelei, being thwarted and all, will be preying on the lovelorn, those willing to hand a beautiful woman their wallet, those who want to be hypnotized. Which is what brought him to the speed dating event featuring a who’s who of Marvel’s New York elite.. 

At the end we get a glimpse of Loki’s priorities. And Loki gets a new friend. A new friend he can’t lie to. 

As for the rest of his cohorts: You can always trust a liar to lie, right? except when you can’t. 

This issue had hilarious cosplay jokes, it was funny and very lighthearted while tying in lesser known characters and creating a brand new one; Who I like a lot. I hope Loki becomes her neighbor. Al Ewing keeps the tone appealing and the pacing perfect, there’s still that time jump thing that I usually don”t like but it works here. Lee Garbett and Nolan Woodward nail the art and colors. The contrasts, reflections, lights and shadows are dynamic and do an amazing job of setting the tone. The facial expressions, too, it’s too much. Loki’s sly smirk, Verity and Lorelei responding to Loki’s antics… Well, just look:

 

What did everyone think of Verity? Will there be more Lorelei? How come Loki just gets girls?

Anyway, just pick this up. It’s so good and it’s not too late to get in at the ground floor on this one, it’s wonderful.

Loki: “I’m all about starting over.”

Agents of SHIELD- episode 14

Skye is still hanging by a thread. The team gets a negative report about the likeliness of her coming out of this intact. Everyone gets sad, May storms off- to beat the crap out of Ian Quinn -billionaire who shot Skye, lackey to the Clairvoyant- she does, Coulson calls her off and then he says he has a plan. SHIELD saved him and he was long dead, Skye is still alive. The doctors who traeted him can help her!

Only another SHIELD team shows up to collect Ian Quinn and stop them for this horribly unsanctioned mission. The agents are Agent Garrett (Bill Paxton) and Agent Triplett (BJ Britt). Bill Paxton was a cranky older agent with a vendetta against Quinn who repeatedly referred to Skye as “the girl” despite the fact that she is an adult woman. BJ Britt is fine as hell and his character got a crush on Simmons.

I will ship Trimmons. No lie. Come back soon Triplett.

Anyway, in the journey to find the facility and the doctors, Simmons finds out one compound that might save Skye: gh375. And May gets suspicious about all the unanswered questions in Coulson’s file. But they get to the facility and the security door asks them “How was the drive from Istanbul?” And no one knows so they blast their way in. Coulson gets freaked when he sees the robot thing that poked his brain. Yeah. And he finds what they need for Skye. He sends Garrett off with it, but he needs to see behind the door marked: T.A.H.I.T.I. and behind that door Coulson finds… And Coulson yelled “Don’t give that to Skye!” But Simmons already had. And Skye convulsed, but then she started breathing and her heart beat normally again.

Later, May goes to ask Coulson what he found. And he says it was nothing. Says it was all in his head and he just got freaked out. But the audience is treated to the world’s most absurd flashback… And I can’t really explain it to you…. dude, I don’t even know… someone said a Chitauri cadaver. It looked like a mummy of Dr. Manhattan… I don’t even know. The live tweet exploded with WTFs. Even Marvel didn’t know WHAT.

In the after scenes we see a cocky Asgardian woman enchanting a man away from his wife in the middle of Death Valley. I was thinking it would be Amora banished to Earth by Thor, but it’s Lorelei-

an ally and confidante to Loki. Lady Sif will be coming after the saucy vixen.

This was a great episode back, but it seemed to throw relationships up in the air. May and Ward barely spoke, May showed concern and tenderness for Coulson, Simmons got all doe eyed at Triplett… le sigh… tragedy always tests romance. I’m sure not sure what T.A.H.I.T.I. stands for or WHAT they injected into Skye. I just can’t even… Glad to have the team back though. I hope BJ Britt has A LOT MORE SCREEN TIME. That is all.

8 more episodes this season! Damn, there’s still time to get more fans on board and keep this show going strong!  Do you think Agents of SHIELD has hit it’s stride?

Edited to add @AllanAnthro threw down that the alien might be Kree. There are blue Kree and Pink Kree. it Skye is part alien (thus her 084 status) she might be part pink Kree and thats why the injection helped her, because the transfusion was suitable for her body? Maybe.

 

 

Agents of SHIELD Episode 8

The post-Thor episode.

Asgardian stuff. Simmons is ducking her fam. She hasn’t talked to them since before she almost died (After coming into contact with the Chitauri helmet). Her parents will want answers, and being a member of a covert organization… she can’t give them.

Heavily accented 20 somethings cut down a Norway spruce and remove a metal staff with Norse carvings. The female touches it with her barehands and starts to scream as the symbols transfer onto her body. Then she lets go. Approached by park rangers, she pushes one and he goes flying.

Agents of SHIELD arrive. They investigate while the streets of Oslo erupt into violence. The streets burn with the words “We Are Gods” they are leaders of a Norse Panganist hate-group. Interesting. Especially as the image of Thor’s Hammer has been adopted as a symbol by neo-nazi groups for some time because  Hitler glorified the Aryan/Norse look. Which leads me to be suspicious of anyone decorated by that particular symbol. Do they just like viking metal? believer in the Old Traditions ignorant of the symbol’s incarnation as a racist amulet? Or Nazi fuckhead?

Coulson says that Thor has been “off the grid” again. No cell phone. Probably would be some epic roaming charges if he did.

-But have you seen textsfromsuperheros.com ??

epic.

Anyway. Spectacular Spider-Man alum Peter Mac Nicol (who played Dr. Octopus in the totally unrelated Marvel TV world) guests as the Norse expert. He unveils that its part of the Berserker staff. Belonged to a Berserker Warrior. Uncontrollable rage, etc. A warrior brought it to Earth, but he fell in love. He didn’t go back to Asgard with his army, he broke the staff in three and hid the pieces.

So it’s a race to find the rest.

They search an abandoned church. Ward and Skye go in. Ward finds the professor has beaten them there and stolen the artifact. Ward grabs for it. Bare handed. But he drops. Skye rushes to find him. The professor runs for it but is stopped by the hate-group.

Coulson finds the professor but the staff is gone.

Ward is being examined by FitzSimmons while Skye looks on. Skye tries to get him to open up about what happened when he touched the staff (a memory of his brother is triggering a hyper adrenal response). But he becomes a super jerk instead. He insults Fitz, Simmons and Skye. The only person suited to deal with him is Agent May who dodges a punch as he tries to work it out.

Meanwhile, the Norse Paganist hate-group is making more super skinheads.

Ward confesses to Coulson that he’s compromised. He’s reliving the first moment that he felt hate. Coulson says that he’s admitting it means that he can be trusted. He sends Ward to get info from the professor. Ward tries to stab him, the Professor bends the knife in his hand. He’s Asgardian. Go figure. (So… how did some suped up street thugs get the drop on him?)

The Prof. is the Asgardian Warrior who stayed behind. He met a French girl in 1646 which is where he confessed and the myth began. He broke rocks in Asgard. When called to join the army, he was thrilled. But he didn’t get the thrill from the rage the way the others did.

The professor tells Ward that the effects will wear off in a couple decades. Greeeatt. 

The group is close behind as they reach the monastery for the third piece. Ward smacks down the whole room holding two pieces, his brother begging for his life in the back of his head. They’re all bloodied and not moving. Ward is beaten and collapses in the heap. As another enters, he goes to grab for the staff. But May gets there first. She says he needs to let her help. And she smacks down blondie with no issue, she reassembles that staff and sets it down.

Later, Ward asks May how she could stand it. But she “sees it every day.” Unlike Ward who locked his traumatic past away.

At the bar, Skye tries to tell Ward that she’s there for him, she knows he’s not one for talking… blah blah. But it’s not talking he wants. He retreats to his room, he sees May returning and she leaves her door open behind her. 

Great episode. It was just really great. Except we still have no inkling about May’s past after having yet another entry into Ward’s sad sad childhood. (and his brother was drowning in a well? who has a well? Did little Whedon just google “generic sad thing” or what?)

But it was interesting.

Peter MacNicol’s guest appearance and reveal as an Asgardian was rad. 

What will Ward and May’s hook up mean for team morale?