Thor and Loki are in trouble. They’ve summoned the Midgard Serpent’s sister, and now they have to save Asgard from her. And even if they succeed, something even more terrifying might be waiting on the other side in Thor & Loki: Double Trouble #2, with a story by Mariko Tamaki, art by Gurihiru and letters by VC’s Ariana Maher
Mariko Tamaki is a writer who catches me off guard. I never know which Tamaki I’m going to get and that’s a great thing. She writes phenomenal superhero stories, her current run on Detective Comics looks to be stellar, and her YA books are well stellar; there’s a reason Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me won the Eisner and the Harvey. So, as we get deeper into her new Double Trouble mini-series, it’s great to see a blend of these two types of stories, as well as a helping of just plain comedy.
After a first issue that was filled with a lot of comedy and character building, this issue starts off with a big action piece, which gives Gurihiru a chance to shine in a different way than the previous issue. The character pieces in issue 1 allowed for the artists to show off how well they do facial expressions and acting. Here, with Thor and Loki doing their best to fight off the Serpent, their skill at action scenes is front and center.
This doesn’t mean either the character work or the comedy takes a backseat. Loki attempting to distract the Serpent by offering it flowers and flirting is hilarious, and while Tamaki gives Loki some funny dialogue, it’s Gurihiru who sells it. The anime influence in their art is never more clear when you have the hooded eyes of Loki looking up, with sparkles floating around his head, holding a bouquet of flowers. And it’s even funnier when the Serpent just chucks him aside, because Loki? He’s got this coming.
When the Serpent is finally taken care of, the back third of the issue deals with the fallout. Readers get to see the first Gurihiru drawn Odin, who is blocky, huge and very displeased with the chaos his sons have caused; they smashed his favorite ice cream stall! The fact that these are teen versions of these characters means we’re not seeing Thor banished to Midgard or Loki exiled; instead, they just have to clean up their mess, which is both fitting punishment and funny to watch.
Tamaki comes back to really showing the difference in character of the two brothers at the end of the issue. Thor has resigned himself to doing what his All-Father has told him to, but Loki is, as always, looking for a shortcut. And since one magic artifact got them into this, a different one that Loki lifted from Odin’s vault is obviously going to get them out of it, right? We’ll see, but I think the answer will be no. The beats as we watch Thor try to resist Loki’s charm offensive to get him to agree to using the artifact are exactly what you’d expect. Thor thinks it’s a bad idea, but really doesn’t want to lose any more time cleaning up using boar bladder trash bags (yup, that’s what they have on Asgard), and Loki as ever uses his wit to convince his brother. And when things do go wrong, the whole thing is summed up perfectly in Loki’s last line of this issue: “I maintain no responsibility.”
This story continues to perfectly captures Thor and Loki’s relationship, while moving at a brisk pace enjoyable to both adult and younger readers. If the more dire and portentous events in mainstream Marvel Asgard aren’t working for you, Thor & Loki: Double Trouble is a perfect diversion for fans both old and new.
Matt Lazorwitz read his first comic at the age of five. It was Who's Who in the DC Universe #2, featuring characters whose names begin with B, which explains so much about his Batman obsession. He writes about comics he loves, and co-hosts the creator interview podcast WMQ&A with Dan Grote.
