Written by: Jason Aaron
Art by: Mike Del Mundo and VC’s Joe Sabino
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: April 17, 2019

My only real complaint about the War of the Realms #2 was that we didn’t get any Thor in it. Seeing that Thor came out this week, I thought, “Ah, Jason Aaron wanted to save him for his solo title.” Yea, I was wrong. This issue is a Loki issue that is a Dickens-like tale even if it pokes fun of such things in the issue itself. It may not be the issue I was expecting but was it an issue I wanted without even knowing it? Let’s find out…

I am a big Loki fan so getting to see him again this soon after his little problem in War of the Realms #1 was actually pretty cool. Plus, the concept and tone of the issue make it a nice match for artist Mike Del Mundo and shows me that in the right circumstances, his art doesn’t make me feel like I took too much of the brown acid. By the way, Chip Monck announced that not Wavy Gravy…and now you know! That said, this issue still is a mind f***, but one that Loki fans are sure to like more than casual readers picking up the book because of the War of the Realms banner across the top.

The issue plays out like a Christmas Carol wrapped in a bit of This Is Your Life and while I would put It’s a Wonderful Life in there as well, there doesn’t seem like a lot of opportunity by the end to change the things that happened. In fact, this issue gives you the feeling that all the stuff going on in the War of the Realms could never be avoided no matter how many lies Loki tried to tell himself.

As far as tie-ins, this didn’t read like an essential chapter to the overall story, but it did add some flavor to it. We do get some big revelations, but because they deal with Loki, they aren’t really all that shocking. Without spoiling anything, would it surprise you that Loki’s past actions set up some major things in the War? Of course not since we kept seeing him leading everyone and everything to it already. The most interesting thing here, however, is seeing Loki genuinely upset at what he set in motion, but not being able to do anything about it. This all is wrapped up in a narrative that looks at who is the best/worst Loki and ends with a cliffhanger that again, isn’t shocking, but is cool nonetheless.

I said it already, this is not really essential to the overall WOR story and I am still upset it didn’t deal with Thor. Seeing what comes next, it seems like Jason Aaron is going to use the Thor book to tie up some loose ends while the Event is going on and if that isn’t your thing or you haven’t been reading Thor up until now, you probably can skip it. That is a shame, but as a Loki fan, I liked this issue enough. Not enough to suggest it, but enough to not get that mad I read it.

Final Thoughts:

Jason Aaron fills in some blanks I didn’t know were empty and as a Loki fan, I didn’t mind reading this issue. Your mileage may vary depending on why you pick this up, but as a War of the Realms tie-in, it didn’t feel essential.

6.0/10