New Episode! We exploring self-forgiveness by examining the God of Mischief's internal war with his evil self.
Your history does not define you, but it can sometimes shackle your future. We examine how change is and is not possible as experienced by Loki in the Journey Into Mystery/The Mighty Thor crossover event, "Everything Burns" published by Marvel Comics in 2012.
Once upon a time, a resurrected Kid Loki attempted to be more than a diabolical trickster. He could fight for good! He could love humanity! But, in the process, he discovered that it was difficult to be more than what was already written because his friends, family, and internal monologue (a.k.a. the devilish magpie mirror Ikol) refused to imagine him as anything else. Breaking free from this narrative proved torturous, and challenged the readers as much as the characters.
During his time on Journey Into Mystery, writer Kieron Gillen went raucously meta, using Loki's tragic story to expose how corporate characters were chained to reader's expectations. We want Loki to achieve new realms, but we also don't want Loki to be not Loki! What does that mean? Can a character transform, or are they forever damned to their point of origin?
Self-forgiveness is something we all struggle to accomplish. It's easy to focus on our mistakes, and imagine our future littered with the same failures. Accepting culpability while striking for brighter possibilities is doable, but it requires practice. In this week's Comic Book Couples Counseling, we dig into Ellen Michaud's "Twelve Ways to Forgive Yourself for a Past Mistake," latching on to the strategies found within. Further study will help discover absolution for yourself and others.
Our Loki and Loki conversation serves as a fun companion to our other Disney+ inspired One Pod Stands examining WandaVision, and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. We plan on doing more of these to pair with future MCU shows. Up next, What If...? And that's going to give us an opportunity to return to the comic book couple that started CBCC, Scott Summers and Jean Grey. Stay tuned, friends.
CBCC 69: Loki and Loki - Journey Into Mystery
Are we capable of change? Kid Loki sure hopes so as Asgard explodes into flames in the climactic Journey Into Mystery storyline, "Everything Burns." While his past self literally infects his brain, taking the shape of the devilish magpie Ikol, Loki attempts to rectify his sins by making a few new ones. And in the telling, we come face to face with everything we love and hate about comics.
Helping us unpack Loki's deceptive self-loathing strategy, we're using Ellen Michaud's "Twelve Ways to Forgive Yourself for a Past Mistake" found on Prevention.com.
Issues covered in this episode: Journey into Mystery issues 642 - 645 and The Mighty Thor Volume 2, issues 18 - 22. They're scripted by Kieron Gillen and Matt Fraction, illustrated by Alan Davis, Carmine di Giandomenico, and Stephanie Hans, inked by Mark Farmer, Barry Kitson, Jay Leisten, and Hans, colored by Javier Rodriguez, Chris Sotomayor, Wil Quintana, and Hans, and lettered by VC's Joe Sabino and VC's Clayton Cowles.
We also recommend reading Kieron Gillen's Tumblr post explaining why he ended Journey Into Mystery in the manner he chose. Find it by clicking HERE.
Be sure to follow the podcast on Instagram and Twitter @CBCCPodcast, and you can follow hosts Brad Gullickson @MouthDork & Lisa Gullickson @sidewalksiren.
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Podcast logo by Aaron Prescott @acoolhandfluke, podcast banner art by @Karen_XmenFan.