I do my Loki reviews in the form of live reactions as I go along, paying special attention to Loki’s possible genderfluidity/bisexuality/etc… And there will be a flurry of them this week as I’m trying to catch up. Skip to the Final Thoughts to avoid spoilers!
____
We last left Loki imprisoned in Von Doom’s time box, an invisible Verity looking on. We also have Valeria, a three-year-old supergenius who I neglected to mention in the last issue because I didn’t know who she was. Apparently she’s the younger child of Reed and Sue Richards, and also Von Doom’s goddaughter. I have no idea why she’s helping Von Doom trap mischief-gods in Latveria, the Wikipedia article didn’t get that far, but she is indeed very smart.
____
Never tell me Doom doesn’t have a sense of humor.
Aaaaand…
____
I was on the verge of complimenting Doom on running a high-quality near-utopia, but I must admit his personal charisma is a bit lacking.
But wait! He realizes this sort of rage outburst isn’t like him…
____
Verity and Valeria save Loki, because they are awesome.
____
And, with a bang and a whimper that I can’t sum up in one panel, the March to Axis is over. The real Axis tie-in starts in the next issue.
____
Final Thoughts:
I just love Verity so freaking much. She knew immediately how to save everyone — or how to get other people to save everyone — and carried it off calmly. I also enjoyed the little Doom mini-storyline we got in these two issues, although I’m not entirely sure what relation it has to the Loki series. As you can see from the pictures above, Doom is in this issue more than Loki himself, although Loki does get a good moment at the end. We can file it al under “supervillain hijinks” I guess. It also had the (presumably intended) effect of making me REALLY want to read Axis. One of my favorite characters makes an appearance right at the end, and if you hang around here a lot you can probably guess who, but I’ll leave this spoiler-free. Avengers & X-Men: Axis comes out March 10, I can cope until then… probably.
Hannah Reads Books 
In the hands of a good writer, Doctor Doom can be such an amazing character. He is a charismatic genius who wishes to bring peace & prosperity to the world. He also possess an absolutely monumental ego, and is totally ruthless in his quest to achieve his goals. He can be both grand and petty in the space of an instant. Doom is a study in contradictions. If events had turned out slightly different, maybe just maybe he could have been a better man. Or perhaps not.
I recommend finding a copy of What If #22, originally published in 1980. It asks the question “What if Doctor Doom had become a hero?” It’s probably one of the best What If stories Marvel ever published because it only tweaks events slightly. The story gives us a Doctor Doom who is at once quite different and all-too-familiar.
http://www.comics.org/issue/1036543/
You can probably find a copy cheap on eBay.
Looking forward to reading your thoughts on the Axis crossover.
LikeLike
Awesome, thanks for the rec! I don’t know Doom very well but I’d like to read more stuff with him. I haven’t been into Marvel nearly as long as DC. 🙂
LikeLike