Scarlet Witch #8: Are You There, God? It’s Me, Wanda…

Scarlet Witch #8 is here, and we see Wanda continue her adventure with a clone of her currently dead father, Joseph, as they venture to Jotunheim, the land of the Frost Giants, at the behest of mountain giant Arkin the Weak. Why is Wanda and her crew there? During the War of the Realms, Arkin’s people were decimated by Malekith, and Arkin hopes that by going to Jotunheim to ask the Frost Giants’ king of aid in rebuilding the once-proud race of Mountain Giants. Trick is, Loki the God of Lies and Mischief, is currently the king of Jotunheim, and a bargain with him is never what it seems.

That’s a lot of story for only 20 pages, and it’s done in a very Steve Orlando way. Arkin is Wanda’s newest character to search for Wanda’s help through the Last Door in her apothecary in Lotkill, and his need convinces Wanda to assist him in his journey. Joseph tags along, and while being a very able assistant in the land of the Frost Giants, not all is as it seems to him. Once you reach that last page you shall see that the plot thickens on our lost clone of the Master of Magnetism. It’s a move that was kind of expected, but also kind of a surprise to happen so soon after the events of the last issue. What you may ask? You gotta read it to believe it.

Anyway, back to the main plot for this story. Arkin is another one of those completely obscure characters from the days of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (first seen in Journey into Mystery #109,1964) that Orlando has brought back to give him a new lease on his life. There’s just one thing. Last time Arkin was seen, he had kissed the hand of Hela hoping to garner her favor, but instead was greeted by her cold embrace and went to his death (Domination Factor: Avengers #3.6, 2000). So what he’s doing here remains to be a mystery. Could Orlando not know about his fate? Doubtful. Steve’s surely got a plan for our recently resurrected Mountain Giant, and it’s sure to come back to bite Wanda in the tuchus.

Arkin unfortunately isn’t the focus of his own story, but it is that of his cousin Loki, the king of the Frost Giants, who is in fact the one with whom we get the most panel time, and that is what was the most enjoyable. Wanda approaches the God of Lies and immediately casts a hex that will force Loki to only be able to tell the truth for an hour. Loki surely could break this hex, but for giggles he goes along with it, and the two mystical powerhouses do their dance. And that’s exactly what they do. It was a pretty comical exchange between the two, and not something that was expected. But the biggest revelation was the point when Wanda told Loki that she could not only see herself having a romantic relationship with him, but it could only be with him as he is right now. She would only be with him if he was completely honest, but that is not his nature, and alas they shall never be together. Quite poetic.

Lorenzo Tammetta’s back on art duties filling in for series artist Sara Pichelli (who handles the art for the G.O.D.S. tie-in at the back) this issue. While the last issue’s art was quite enjoyable, this issue was rather a bit of a let down. The entire conversation between Wanda and Loki had no background, and it seemed as if he used these moments to have the colorist do most of the heavy lifting. His style is quite nice, but this issue feels a little like he was in a bit of a rush in order to meet the deadline. I’d like to see what comes next for Lorenzo.