The truth of Angela’s heritage has finally been revealed, but she’s not particularly happy about it. What will the secret daughter of Asgard do now? Your Major Spoilers review of Angela – Asgard’s Assassin #2 awaits!
ANGELA – ASGARD’S ASSASSIN #2
Writer: Keiron Gillen/Marguerite Bennett
Penciler: Phil Jiminez/Stephanie Hans
Inker: Le Beau Underwood with Tom Palmer
Colorist: Romulo Fajardo
Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles
Editor: Wil Moss
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Previously in Angela – Asgard’s Assassin: “Eons ago, during a war between the angels of the Tenth Realm known as Heven and the gods of Asgard, the newborn daughter of Asgard’s rulers, Odin and Freya, was seemingly murdered by the Queen of Angels. In response, Odin banished the Tenth Realm to another Dimension. But, unbeknownst to nearly everyone, the child was actually saved by one of the queen’s handmaidens and raised to believe she too was an angel. Recently, Thor and Loki learned of the existence of the Tenth Ream and their lost sibling, resulting in both Heven’s return to our dimension and Angela’s true identity being revealed to all. With the knowledge of her true heritage now public, Angela has been cast out of the Tenth Realm and wants nothing to do with Asgard…”
ROBOT-HAND-AND-AXE THOR
We open with a particularly robust sequence of events, with Thor (hammerless and missing an arm, as per the events in the title that shares his name but is no longer his) confronting Angela over possession of a child. It immediately turns sour, leaving prideful Thor and resentful Angela ready to attack one another with extreme prejudice…
…before the flashbackery. Keiron Gillen is one hell of a writer, especially when it comes to dialogue, so the scenes of young Angela (who was raised in Heven to believe that the Asgardians were murderous, cannibal monsters) meeting the various denizens of Asgard are hilarious. When she meets her birth-mother, Freyja is up to the task of meeting her snark with greater snark, though in her defense she’s busy giving birth. When the child is born, proud father Odin offers to let his prodigal daughter hold her. Angela agrees, and then absconds with the All-Father’s daughter, leading us to the conflict that opens the book…
“BY THE FIERY CROTCH OF SURTUR HIMSELF!”
I am very glad of one thing in this comic book: The Judeo-Christian iconography of Angela’s Image Comics back story are something I’m not particularly comfortable with in a comic book setting, but Gillen handles them well. A sequence which tells us about Heven and Angela’s place in it is woven into the story as Angela’s wizard friend Sera explaining to a little girl why the big redhead is such a pain in the neck to deal with. The art is… not what I expected when I heard that Phil Jiminez was involved, eschewing his usual George-Perez-styled intricate pencils with a more painted style. It’s certainly fitting the epic tone of the work, and while the story turns into kind of a madcap chase at the end, it never ceases to be a fun ride. (A moment where Thor screams to the skies about being cursed with ANOTHER treacherous magical sibling is pure gold.)
THE BOTTOM LINE: THEY DIDN’T SPARE THE SNARK
Our story wraps up with a moment that clearly explains why Angela and Thor don’t get along, as she gleefully leaps into battle against Dark Elves, reminding us that they’re very similar creatures. Having limited experience with Angela as a character (mostly her Image/MacFarlane stuff), I wasn’t in any way excited to see this series, finding her origins problematic and her nature boring. Gillen, Jiminez, Bennett and Hans (along with the rest of the team) have changed that for me, putting her in a situation where her nature is kind of fascinating and giving us lovely dialogue and some snappy plotting as well. Angela – Asgard’s Assassin #2 was a surprise for me, but it’s a book that I thoroughly enjoyed, earning a better-than-average 3.5 out of 5 stars overall.
