By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)
Dark Horse Comics
Available Now
The god Loki is front and center in issue #2 of the adaptation of Neil Gaiman‘s Norse Mythology. Following the events of the last issue, a contest of the champions is in order. Two dwarven master metalsmiths are to fashion three gifts to the Gods. Loki’s head is the prize between two rival clans. Norse justice is harsh. The trickster god needs to be punished because Sif lost her hair in the previous issue.
Loki knows his fate is sealed unless he thwarts the construction of these magical items. I remember Snorri Sturluson’s Skáldskaparmál from the Prose Edda, and this comic book treatment is a different and faster read. Though we don’t see the details in how the dwarves created these treasures of the gods, I can certainly say they burned no black holes out in creating Mjölnir or the other devices. Well, maybe the sun was captured for Sif’s hair. These tales are nothing like the Marvel Cinematic Treatment.
There’s plenty of differences to notice with chapter three. Brokkr and Sindri are brothers in the original and the comic spells their name Brokk and Eitri. We don’t get to see all six items being fashioned. I’m sure having enough detail to work on or editing this tale down to 20 pages is difficult. All comic books need their ad space, but to think this tale was very thin to begin with. It’s setting up how the series will end. Loki’s being prepped for his ultimate punishment and the coming of Ragnarok!
With only two more issues and at most five more stories to tell, I’m curious in which of the eleven tales will get adapted. It’s easy to assume, “The Children of Loki,” “The Apples of Immortality” and “The Last Days of Loki” will be important, but “Hymir and Thor’s Fishing Expedition” is questionable.
