Loki: Agent of Asgard #7 (2014)
by Al Ewig & Jorge Coelho
cover by Lee Garbett
After the fight Doctor Doom and Loki had last time, they’re going to team up to deal with a much worse villain.
Picking up where last issue ended: Loki is still frozen in time and Doom is completely ignoring Verity, Loki’s ally and human lie detector.
Doom gets a new art piece for his collection AND ice cream!
Valeria is, understandably, the first to pick up on Verity’s presence.
How can you not love Valeria?
Although you shouldn’t need super-intelligence to figure out that that being friends with Loki is dangerous.
Meanwhile Doctor Doom is busy quoting Aleister Crowley (maybe) and admire his art collection.
Little known fact: in Latveria, Victor Von Doom is the fifth Beatle.
But he’s then informed of the subplot from the previous issue.
This turns into a full-on rebellion.
And only one person could be behind it, right?
Doom is just about to slip into his more generic characterization…
…if he didn’t realize that he was under telepathic attack.
Specifically from the Red Skull.
Which I guess requires an explanation, as it’s the basis for the AXIS crossover that will also involve Doom.
The Red Skull… well technically his clone, but who’s keeping score… now has telepathic powers, after stealing the brain of the then-dead Professor X.
Comics, everybody!
Doom himself is protected against Red Skull’s manipulation… FOR NOW… but the rest of Latveria is another story.
Since Red Skull involved Professor X, guess who stops by Latveria for a chat.
Verity would take this opportunity to free Loki, but Valeria isn’t convinced.
Valeria shouldn’t really need this pep talk, as she probably knows that according to Marvel’s time travel rules the future is not fixed.
But on the other hand, I’m cutting her some slack since SHE’S THREE YEARS OLD.
More technobabble should be done through sound effects.
I’m still not including you in the hero count, Loki.
But it’s actually his magic sword that’s going to do most of the work.
This is thematically fine, but I’m not entirely convinced. This is a nice sentiment for a comic book story, but there are people I hate BECAUSE I know the truth about them.
Also I would make fun of a plan that involves STABBING EVERYONE IN THE COUNTRY TO SAVE THEM, but it’s not like Doom is offering any alternative.
Doctor Doom, too stubborn for the universe since 1962.
Doom quickly tries to get Verity on his side. Considering she doesn’t object, I’m pretty sure he’s saying the truth.
Also, Loki’s little jab here made me laugh.
And at the end, Magneto recruits Doctor Doom for AXIS.
Doom significance: 4/10
Doom’s involvement in AXIS does have a bit of significance for him.
Silver Age-ness: 5/10
Stabbing the entire country with the sword of truth, plus “All you need is Doom”.
Admit it, you can hear that cover now.
Does it stand the test of time? 7/10
Quite a letdown from the previous issue. The interactions between Valeria and Verity are great, but other than that it has to juggle too many players and plots; the result is a bit of a mess.
I was also disappointed to see that Doom’s only idea on how to make the Latverians stop fighting against each other was yelling at them! For story reasons it makes sense that he’s not the only one to fix it, but why not give him try SOMETHING?
It was a Doombot all along
We know Doombots can fool telepaths, so Red Skull’s attack might have worked on a Doombot. I’m inclined to believe it’s the real Doom since he uses magic… but technically he only SAYS he’s using magic, isn’t it?
Also Doom has resisted telepathy before… but not from someone as powerful as Professor X.
Crazy tech
Doom is severely lacking in ways to protect himself and Latveria from telepathic attacks, considering he has to use magic. So nothing this time.
Sounds like a fun series.
I have not read the relevant stories and maybe that would make the deal easier for me to handle…but I never quite accepted the way Valeria gives so much trust to Doom, apparently in spite of available facts.
There is something about the circunstances of her birth and some form of necessary switch between Doom and Reed, but that is how much I know.
There are apparently people around there who are big fans of the way Doom interacts with Valeria. I am not of of them, at least so far.
It’s a fun series, even if it’s a bit meandering at times.
I love Valeria’s interactions with Doom. Her morality is somewhere in-between Doom’s and her father’s; it’s enjoyable seeing them trying to outmaneuver each other emotionally and intellectually. She appeals to Doom’s better nature, Doom appeals to her cold logical side.
Valeria is a bit like Doom if he had the chance to grow up with a loving family, which might be why he has a soft spot for her and wants to make her understand why HIS way is better than Reed’s.
To Valeria, Doom the fun uncle who lets her do anything her father won’t allow, and tries to get him closer to her actual family.
Which is funny because she literally has a cool uncle that lets her do what she wants, but Johnny isn’t playing with the toys that she likes 🙂
That, “All you need is Doom” sequence with the cave filled with jukeboxes is a reference to the final episode of, “The Prisoner” back in the 60’s. An interesting and appropriate thing for Doom to homage .