Loki, Loki and More Loki: Young Avengers #5

(w) Keiron Gillen
(a) Jamie McKelvie, Mike Norton (line art) Matthew Wilson (colors)

This is the first (and, I hope, the only) time I will be reviewing an issue so long after its original release, but I enjoyed Young Avengers #5 so much that it's worth the much belated review.

After "borrowing" Wiccan's powers at the end of issue #4 and seemingly leaving the rest of the Young Avengers to fight a losing battle against magical copies of their dead parents, this issue basically opens with Loki apparently being taunted by the soul of the child whose body he is currently occupying.  He is basically faced with the dilemma of what he wants to do, which is not yet clear, and what he has to do, which is to help the Young Avengers out of their jam.  Considering that the series is called "Young Avengers" and not just "Loki," it should be pretty clear how he decides, and the ass-kicking battle that follows is some of McKelvie's best work that I've seen so far. Gillen, however, doesn't just tie things up neatly; he leaves Loki's true motivations a mystery that will probably reverberate through this series in the issues to come.

Gillen and McKelvie have put together a five-issue story arc which, while slightly decompressed at times, is still eminently readable and will probably stand up to multiple re-reads.While the first issue, and arguably this entire storyline, was kick-started when Wiccan cast a spell he shouldn't have, basically it's Loki who finishes what Wiccan started, but not without some lasting effects; basically the whole lot of them, including those of them who swore never to be superheroes again, now have to stick together. As reasons for forming superhero teams go, the one presented here feels more believable than the usual story trope of wanting to unite in order to dispense justice and all of that; these kids are stuck together because their lives depend on it, apparently, and a great deal of them, with good reason, have little to no trust for Loki, who seems to be the glue holding them all together. It's a highly combustible mix that could make for some really good reading in the months to come and which, in Gillen's and McKelvie's capable hands, probably will.

4.5/5