Original Sin: Thor and Loki – The Tenth Realm #2

Writer – Jason Aaron, Al Ewing
Artist Lee Garbett, Simone Bianchi
Colours – Nolan Woodward, Adriano Dall’Alpi

The Guardians of the Galaxy are in mid-battle when Angela decides to take off, feeling the pull of something calling her and not knowing that it is Old Loki doing so and more than likely, up to no good.  Thor and current-day Loki meet up with the angels who inhabit the Tenth realm and they are none too friendly.  Loki abandons Thor seemingly only to get the better of their leader and then makes a deal between the Queen of Angels and himself.  While Thor battles for his life outside, Angela shows up much to the surprise of everyone involved.  Aaron and Ewing do it again with this issue, surprisingly melding the race of angel-warriors into the Marvel mythology quite well.  The Queen of Angels is a great new villain character who will make a superb addition to Thor’s rogues gallery should she live that long.  The combination of art between Lee Garbett and Simone Bianchi works absolutely wonderful together creating a perfect blend and if it was any other artist paired with one or the other, it would definitely not look as great as it does.  The writing is smart and the book suspenseful at times which really moves it along at a brisk pace.  Why Old Loki is in this and what his goal is remains to be seen but with three issues left, it is sure to be made apparent soon.  It was hard to believe that anyone could write Loki better than Kieron Gillen, but Al Ewing is doing amazing work.  Really great stuff!

4 out of 5

Star Spangled War Stories feat G.I. Zombie #1

Writer – Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray
Artist – Scott Hampton

A woman walks into a bar…  Sounds like a joke, but in this case a woman really does except she is an undercover agent who is trying to investigate her case by getting in with the local crime element.  She has a partner, who gets captured (it was planned) and to prove herself, she kills him in front of everyone.  Good thing he just happens to be a zombie!  So after she leaves and while he puts himself together, they talk about the case and how he is doing, particularly if he craves anything to eat.  He says he is fine, but soon he leaves to go out and fill his belly the way only a zombie can.  This was a fun little tale from DC, Palmiotti, Gray and Hampton.  The great thing was seeing DC take a chance on an unknown property and let it run in their Batman/Superman world.  Carmen and Jared are a good pairing but this is certainly no buddy cop movie.  If anything, she is wary of Jared, not knowing what he is capable of or what he will do if she is not careful.  Never mind the case; she has to look out for herself on all fronts.  Hampton delivers some great work and has been a consistently good penciller over the course of his career.  While this book is not the most exciting one you will have ever read, nor a very quick read, it is interesting enough to stay tuned for the next issue as the relationship between the two leads is quite fun.

3.5 out of 5