Issue 1 of Loki, the new limited comic book series starring everyone’s favorite God of Stories, came out last week, and the series is off to a strong start. In the first issue, Loki finds out that the Frost Giants have tried to steal Naglfar, the ship made of the fingernails of the dead. Their botched attempt breaks part of the ship into three pieces, and Loki realizes he has to retrieve them before they bring chaos to the universe.
There’s a lot to love about this issue. Parts of the story are narrated by the dead souls whose nails make up the ship, and who are expected to sail it in the ever-looming Ragnarok. There’s a guest appearance from Thor, and plenty of magic and mayhem.
My personal favorite moment in the issue is when Loki does a little bit of magic to make his quest easier. He needs to take Naglfar with him to find its missing pieces, but the ship is pretty big. Loki holds his thumb and forefinger up so that it looks like he’s holding the ship between them, in the same way you might pretend to hold the moon. Then he is holding it, and he puts the now miniature ship into a bottle.
That little spell is an aspect of Loki that I hope we eventually see more of in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Why is Loki so underpowered in the MCU?
I love the Loki series on Disney+, but I agree with fans who have complained that Loki is severely underpowered. He has telekinesis and energy blasts, and he can conjure objects or make them disappear. He even seems to teleport at times. However, he’s bested by human soldiers on the train on Lamentis, and even his most impressive powers seem sparse and fleeting. You can go long stretches forgetting he has any powers at all, even when he’s away from the power-negating Time Variance Authority.
In the comics, though, Loki’s powers are weird and creative. He’s definitely not all powerful. He loses plenty of fights. But as the God of Stories, he’s able to mold reality in subtle ways. He’s a true shapeshifter, but he can only change into things that resemble his true nature, like a fox or a unicorn. As a god, Loki is a being made of magic, which means his powers manifest in an endless variety of tricks and spells—but there’s always a subtle, underlying logic to them.
That’s the Loki I hope we get to see someday in the MCU.
Loki season 2 is coming in October, so we might not have to wait long to see Loki delve more deeply into his powers. After all, season 1 ended with Loki realizing, thanks to Classic Loki’s magic, that Lokis are more powerful than he ever thought.
So cross your fingers that Loki season 2 will bring us the God of Stories! If it doesn’t, at least we still have the comics.
(featured image: Marvel Comics)
