Sometimes love comes from unexpected places.
Creative Staff:
Story: Steve Orlando
Art: Lorenzo Tammetta, Sara Pichelli
Colors: Frank Williams
Letterer: VC’s Joe Sabino
What They Say:
GOD VS. WITCH! When Loki’s mountain giant cousin comes through the Last Door desperate to secure the right to rule his people, the Scarlet Witch agrees to confront the King of Jotunheim. But things are never what they seem with Loki, God of Stories, and when the truth comes out, sparks just might fly! Meanwhile, Hexfinder’s plan is revealed…and those closest to Wanda can no longer be trusted.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With a lengthy history of reading the character going back to the early 1980s, it was enjoyable to get back into the character and her world with this new series. Especially since most of my experience for a long time has just been the film and TV side of it. The series continues to come from a solid creative team as Steve Orlando does a lot of what I like in running a book. Sara Pichelli’s handling of the artwork and their projects over the years has been fantastic, making this a really solid fit with its mix of magic and obscure. This installment, however, brings Lorenzo Tammetta on to work with Pichelli and it largely works well but isn’t quite up to what we’ve seen before – but fits with the story at hand here. Frank Williams steps in on the coloring side as well so we get a few changes as even Joe Sabino on the lettering is new compared to previous issues.
While I’m not thrilled with the Joseph thing as it introduces a lot of complexity for a non-reader of the mutant side of things, what with him being a clone of Magneto, Steve Orlando does a good job of breaking it down into a way that makes it accessible and easy to understand – though it doesn’t make me want to follow it in general. Thankfully, it serves more as bookends to the main story here but that delivers some good stuff in highlighting how similar he and Wanda are in the way that she’s had to struggle with so many things because of who she is and her relationship to her father. It’s also good to see how, like Wanda, Joseph is finding that there is a path for him past everything that has gone on before and can have a good and productive life if he wants one, though that past will always rear its ugly head from time to time and cause problems.
The main thrust of the story is the arrival of a mountain giant from Jotunheim named Arkin who wants to get Wanda to help him be restored as the leader of his people. They’ve been reduced and scattered since a recent event and Loki won’t give him what he wants. The gist, of course, is that Arkin has to take it because Loki’s belief is that power cannot be given. So Wanda goes to help with Joseph in tow to distract and provide some action. What makes it an engaging read, and quite the read, is that Wanda casts a short-term hex that has Loki only able to tell the truth. Orlando plays it as the two being a lot more alike than not and Loki has fun with the truth as you’d expect, but it makes for some good reveals that gets at the heart of him knowing that he’s going to do the villain because how couldn’t live as the hero. It’s a bit more complex than that but makes Loki a lot more engaging while still allowing him to be who he has been all this time. The added nuance and connection that’s established between him and Wanda only make both more interesting.
In Summary:
While the artwork takes a minor hit at times because there aren’t a lot of backgrounds in Jotunheim, it’s at least nicely creative as Loki and Wanda spar with words as it’s presented like a dance for the two to engage in. And that leans into a good look that’s at least balanced by the other areas where we do get some action or some more traditional pages. I like the look of the book but it’s not trying to be a conventional action-oriented Marvel comic, which is in its favor. Each issue continues to be like it’s own vignette and that comes through both with the story and artwork for it all. There’s a good What If? story that can come from this in exploring what this pairing would be like but I’m glad it’s presented as it is here and kept as a one-off thing in terms of potential as part of the verbal fight.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics
Release Date: September 6th, 2023
MSRP: $3.99
