"Let The God Of Lies Weave You A Story"
Title: Loki – Agent Of Asgard
Author/Artist: Al Ewing & Lee Garbett + Various Artists
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Category: Heroes
Review by Brayden (they/them)
Other Favourite Titles Include:
2010-2015 was a pretty wild time for Marvel Comics publishing, with big crossover events like ‘Siege‘, ‘Fear Itself‘, ‘Avengers vs. X-Men‘ and ‘Infinity‘ making for a pretty wild state of affairs for our friends on Earth-616. With ‘Loki: Agent Of Asgard‘ Al Ewing does manage to tell a great character story with interesting themes, but it can be a bit of a slog to get through the moments which have to connect with Marvel events like ‘AXIS‘, ending with the literal end of the universe as they knew it with ‘Secret Wars‘ in 2015. While it can feel like it suffers from event-itis, it is more than worth pushing through those moments for the excellent character focussed tale that explores the effect that stories have on the world around us. Also it manages to have a truly excellent final issue which is an incredible feat considering it takes place within ‘Secret Wars‘, and as I mentioned previously is the end of… well… everything?
Loki, fresh off the back of some complicated growing up after being Kid Loki for some time, is turning over a new leaf and wants to rewrite some wrongs from the past. By rewrite I do of course mean what any villain in the real world would do, have their crimes erased from history. To do this Loki becomes the “Agent of Asgard”, being sent on missions by the All-Mother to do their bidding and aid them in creating the future they desire for Asgardia. Don’t question why Asgard is now Asgardia, a floating city on earth, it super does not matter. Just another part of the strange-ness of Marvel Comics at this time, also to bring you up to date with things that are going on at this time, Thor is Unworthy and is now just “Odinson”, as Jane Foster is currently ‘The Mighty Thor‘, another excellent series you should check out!
The story Al Ewing is weaving here I love, it’s all about finding, knowing & accepting oneself and the constantly changing future full of possibilities. The highlight for me however is the exploration of the nature of storytelling and the power within stories.
Throw in some great modern cheeky humour, some fun references and some gender fluidity (though quite late in the story and not as much as I would’ve liked, but still good for 2014) and this is super fun and enjoyable!
If you are a fan of Loki from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or just enjoy a fun modern fantasy romp then picking up the ‘Loki: Agent Of Asgard’ Complete Collection is a great time.
Also no spoilers but while double checking some details for this review I found out that apparently there is a direct continuation from the final issue of this in Thor #24/750! I can’t wait to see what it is!