Thor & Loki: Blood Brothers

I've always enjoyed reading Marvel Comics' Thor: The God Of Thunder comic books, especially the Jack Kirby and Walt Simonson drawn issues.

Thor is unlike any other Marvel superhero title.  It stars a literal god and his cast of fellow gods and goddesses-- good and bad.  Mysticism, magic and the like are common fodder in the title.  Interestingly enough Thor is also a member of The Avengers as one of its founding members.

Thor's evil half brother: Loki, the god of mischief, has always been Thor's chief antagonist.  They represent the forces of good and evil and despite their many conflicts neither wishes to kill the other.  Thor only wants his brother to stop his mischievous and evil ways while Loki contents himself with humiliating his half brother at every opportunity.  The fact that mortals and gods get hurt or killed is of little consequence to Loki.

Recently writer Robert Rodi and artist Esad Ribic collaborated on a stunning mini-series: Thor & Loki: Blood Brothers, that explored the strained relationship between the two brothers.  Up until that time their relationship was only hinted at and Loki's past veiled in shades of secrecy.  It was a great mini-series.

Imagine my surprise when Marvel Knights announced that it would be adapting the mini-series to animation.  Recently Shout! Factory released the animated mini-series on DVD and it is stunning!

Using the original painted artwork the animators of the mini-series cleverly manipulated the images so that they move and when full animation was required they've created fully computer-generated animated figures and sequences to move the story along.

The visual effects are first class, the voice actors chosen couldn't be better and the direction moves the mini-series along at a comfortable pace without sacrificing any of the story or beautiful illustrations.

I highly recommend this animated mini-series that captures the essence of Thor, Loki and Asgard in all their regal splendor.