Kid Loki Delights in Kieron Gillen’s Witty and Heartbreaking Journey Into Mystery

You should check out this comic if: 

• You want to laugh at a story as much as you will cry at it. 
• You love the fantastical side of Marvel. 
• You’re a big fan of sibling relationships
• You love the shit out of meta-narratives and 4th wall breaks
• You love guile heroes and those that work with their wits

You should avoid this comic if: 

• You believe that child characters are irritating, no matter how grown up. 
• You don’t want to have to understand a shit-ton of continuity to get into a story. 
• You want a nice grounded comic without too much weird magic and fairy-tale logic
• You want a light, easy text to read
• You want less talking, more action

Kieron Gillen’s Journey into Mystery (2011-12) is as funny as it is emotional, heart-wrenching as it is harrowing. Full of wit and bursting with schemes, Gillen writes an iconic and era-defining version of Loki as the fan-named Kid Loki. If you’re hankering for more Loki after the Disney+ version, or you just want to know who the hell Kid Loki is, Journey into Mystery is a must.

Loki — God of Mischief and Lies, adopted brother of Thor and son of Odin, villain of Asgard and Midgard — is dead. He died saving Asgard.

Loki — God of Mischief and Lies, adopted brother of Thor and son of Odin — was returned to life. Except, not exactly. The Loki who died remains dead. This new Loki is a child with memories of his child self, and not the adult and villain he once became. 

See, the previous Loki — Classic Loki — did not die to save Asgard, but himself and his future. Classic Loki died to escape his predictability, his stagnation, his lot in life as a villain (a theme which became one of the bases for Loki Disney+).

But while Kid Loki has been given a fresh, new start, the rest of Asgard isn’t so quick to forget…or forgive. Sorely lacking in the powers of his older self, Loki also must contend with the hatred Asgard still bears towards the Loki who died. Ostracized and untrustworthy, Loki has few allies in his new life, and most of those aren’t all that approving of Loki in general.

Thor  — the brother whom Loki hero-worships, the brother who brought Loki back simply because he missed him — still abides by his big brother duties and protects Loki where he can. Their relationship is the beating heart of the series, though it takes the focus only during the first and last arcs. But as much as Thor loves his brother, even he doesn’t trust the trickster.

Volstagg the Voluminous takes a liking to Kid Loki despite his reservations, and takes care of him when Thor is otherwise absent. Later, Loki is joined by Leah of Hel, a dour, powerful young girl who shares Loki’s green and black colour scheme, though not his sense of humour.

The Loki-that-was protects his younger self in the form of the magpie Ikol: a remnant of the previous Loki’s memories and self. To join his animal menagerie, Loki even gets a puppy! Or rather, a talking, rude, fire-breathing, recalcitrant Hel-Hound/Hound of Hel mix (yes they are different animals), whom Loki names “Thori.”

With his story narrated much like a dark fairy tale, Loki relies on schemes, wits, and lies to help Asgard. First he avoids his overbearing father, Odin, as he pulls off his plans. Later, he runs errands for the All-Mothers who Odin’s his place — Freyja, Idunn, and Gaea — to earn his keep and protect Asgard and Midgard as much as a clever, lying, scheming child can.

But the problem with lies is that people don’t much like being lied to. And schemes, when they have a loose thread or two still dangling, have a way of coming back to bite the schemer in the ass. Not only does Loki have to deal with problems like Odin’s powerful older brother returning to earth to wreak havoc, or the entity Nightmare trying to create a literal nightmarish hell on earth, Loki also has to deal with the outcome of his schemes that are never tied up quite as neatly as he wishes.

Seeing as the comics come from the Norse Myths, they are grounded in the fantastical and fairy tale logic. That means you have to be perfectly willing to accept that Hell is a physical space, and that Mesphisto, a devil, leased land in Hell to Hela, Goddess of the Dead. Or that the literal shadow of Surtur’s sword can be separated from the physical sword to become an almighty pen (it’s mightier than the sword, after all!).

If you’re a cryer, you’ll want to keep tissues around because this comic book does not pull its punches. This also isn’t the best comic if you’re looking for a light read. Since Loki is a guile hero, there’s a lot of dense narration and complicated schemes afoot that you need to pay attention to.

However, to add to the confusion is the continuity. Journey into Mystery is embroiled in three crossover events: Fear Itself, Exiled, and Everything Burns. While Everything Burns (a Thor crossover) and Exiled (a New Mutants crossover) are included with the volume, Fear Itself is not. 

Since Journey into Mystery is, well, a brother series to Matt Fraction’s The Mighty Thor series, it bears the burden of having to explain what happens in that series as it affects Loki, without bogging down Loki’s story or repeating too much for readers who consume both series. Despite the heavy burden, the Fear Itself arc manages to be character-driven, show off Loki’s guile, and set the wheels in motion for machinations, scheme, and utter doom down the road. However, new Marvel readers might feel too lost to follow the story.

There are several artists for the series, but the main standouts are  Doug Braithwaite, Richard Elson, and Stephanie Hans. Braithwaite’s art fits the dark fairy tale energy quite well, with a more painted and darker style. Elson has a more classic comic book look, with bright, popping colours and a more cartoonish look.

Hans only does the cover art and the final issue, but that final issue packs a memorable punch. Her gorgeous paints, flowing lines, and intricate art culminates in a beautiful, heartbreaking send-off for the series.

The final issues gives the series a better tagline than I could ever come up with: “A Comedy In 30 Parts, or a Tragedy in 31.” Funny, emotional, and gripping, the series is also a commentary on the nature of comic books and the nature of Loki himself. While the continuity might trip up new readers, if you want to know more about Loki, this place to start.

Continuity Corner: Journey Into Mystery’s Continuity is as Complicated as One of Loki’s Schemes

While Journey into Mystery technically follows a brand new Loki entirely, it also springboards off some important continuity. In addition to being heavily intertwined with The Mighty Thor series, Journey into Mystery also heavily relies on Loki’s past deeds in prior comic story-lines: Dark Avengers and Siege.

This makes it a bit of continuity snarl, and it doesn’t go out of its way to fully explain certain characters like Mephisto or Tyr as Captain America: Sam Wilson did; however, it does fully explain Loki’s past schemes and how they are relevant to the present (which to be fair, were probably also confusing to readers who were reading about those schemes in real time).

A quick guide to Classic Loki’s comic book journey:

Asgard and all Asgardians were destroyed in Ragnarok. Then, Thor was brought back. He proceeded to bring back Asgard and the rest of the gods…in the middle of Ohio, rather than among the stars.

However, Asgard was eventually threatened by a superhero gone insane, the Sentry, who Loki actually sent to destroy Asgard….and then Loki went and sacrificed himself to save Asgard from Sentry. Which was of course all part of his scheme to be reborn.

As mentioned above, Journey into Mystery has the thankless task of being involved in a major crossover event very early on into its run, Fear Itself, an event that focuses on Asgard, Thor, and Odin. Loki must be heavily involved in the crossover — since it involved his home and family — yet without actually being heavily involved in it — because it is up to Thor and the Avengers to win the day in the main storyline, not the little God of Mischief.

The biggest downfall of Journey into Mystery is that new comic readers or even those who haven’t kept up with the Thor comics might find themselves a bit lost. But if you are a fan of Loki, I cannot keep you from this series if I tried.

My Two Cents: Light of My Life

I love Journey into Mystery with my heart and soul. I remember waiting for new issues to come to my library, and eventually breaking down and buying them from the comic book store, making special trips out from my university campus, no matter the weather. Now I may be biased because I have teensy bit of a Loki obsession, but I do believe this comic book series to be exceptional. For any fan of Loki, it’s a must (even if it does require a couple years of backstory to fully understand).

How Can I Find Kieron Gillen’s Journey Into Mystery?

You can find the entire series at Marvel.com. You can also find every volume but the first at Marvel.com — though thankfully, Things from Another World carries it: Vol. 1 “Fear Itself,” Vol.2 “Fear Itself Fallout,” Vol. 3 “The Terrorism Myth,” The New Mutants Crossover “Exiled,” Vol. 4 “The Manchester Gods,” and The Mighty Thor crossover, “Everything Burns.”

Comixology also has all the volumes: Vol. 1, Vol. 2, Vol. 3, Exiled, Vol. 4, and Everything Burns.  

Remember to check out your library and local retailers first!

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Images Cites From: Hans, Stephanie. Cover Artist for Journey into Mystery, Marvel, Vol. 1, 2011.

Gillen, Kieron and Doug Braithewaite. Journey into Mystery, Marvel, Vol. 1, Issue 622, 2011.

Gillen, Kieron and Doug Braithewaite. Journey into Mystery, Marvel, Vol. 1, Issue 626, 2011.

Gillen, Kieron and Stephanie Hans. Journey into Mystery: Everything Burns, Marvel, Issue 645, 2012.