LOKI: AGENT OF ASGARD - THE COMPLETE COLLECTION Paperback – December 17, 2019

I read this series when it was released in single issues, and again when the trades were released. So, I was happy to get the complete collection, with all the lovely covers, and revisit it once more. Loki makes a good anti-hero simply by his nature and here he is more mischief than mayhem. My reviews of the original trades:Vol1: With his wild popularity in the Marvel film universe (yeah, I’m in Loki’s Army), it wasn't a surprise that Marvel’s publishing arm would try to capitalize on the character. The tricky part was how to center a comic series on the “bad guy” without selling the character out. Loki himself said it best: “I’m not evil. I’m complicated.” (Amazing Spider-Man 503). Loki is certainly Thor’s nemesis, but over the course of comic history he has sided with the heroes on more than one occasion when it was in his best interests. After being reincarnated as a child in Journey into Mystery, Gillen aged Loki up to the twenty-something star of his own series. He’s working for the All-Mothers of Asgard in exchange for having sins wiped from his history. Though one sin can’t be so easily wiped - this Loki murdered his younger self to take his place. That bit of darkness hangs over what are other-wise snarky and lighthearted stories. He saves Thor from an evil that is poisoning him (and just what that poison is blew me away!); he meets a girl, while speed-dating no less, who can see through any lie; he sings to himself in the shower. This Loki is fun, clever, and doesn't take anything too seriously. Just what you’d imagine the Trickster we know would have been like as a teenager. What I liked best about the series is that, even though the stories appear light weight, there are some clever, deep threads woven through that really make Loki shine. He’s not a hero and his greatest enemy has always been himself. This isn't the film Loki, but it is definitely Loki. Will he go back to the dark side? Has he always been there? I can’t wait to see how these questions get answered. Highly recommended!Vol2: At the end of Volume 1, Loki quit his job as Agent of Asgard when he learned the All-Mothers of Asgard were working to bring about the prophecy of future King Loki because it meant security for Asgard, but the consequence would be that this Loki disappears, and he would forever be the villain. A villain who always loses. This volume begins with Doctor Doom discovering the future of King Loki, so he decides to remove the current Loki. During this, the Marvel “event” Axis overlaps. To stop the telepathic Hate Wave being generated by Red Skull (who has Charles Xavier’s powers…it’s a long story), Loki uses the Sword of Truth to overcome it. When Axis flips everyone’s natural alignment, Loki becomes a hero! [And, it’s a crime that this volume doesn’t include the cover art for these issues as they cleverly recreated a classic cover with Thor now the God of Evil]. Once everything is put back, Loki finds himself unable to tell a lie, and the truth about the Crime That Cannot Be Forgiven is finally revealed. It leaves Loki at his lowest point, facing his greatest enemy alone – himself.Usually, crossover events just interrupt the narrative of individual series in order to tie in, with little consequence. But here, Loki’s story evolved as a direct cause of the event in a compelling way. He got to experience being a true hero, and it shaped him. The best part of this volume is at the end, with Loki’s confrontation with his mother, Freyja, and an unexpected interaction with Odin. Overall, this series is fantastic and it’s a shame it didn’t continue after Hickman’s Incursion concluded.Vol3: I noticed that fans appear to be split on this final volume of AoA, mainly because of how the Marvel-wide event Incursion/Last Days overtakes the narrative. Hickman’s Avengers run began a cossover wherein the multiverse is being destroyed as the Earth in one universe crashes into one from another universe, destroying both. All of reality will be obliviated. Honestly, I HATED this event. Every series I was reading up to this event was ruined by Incursion being shoe-horned into the narrative, and then stopping the series cold - because EVERY series either relaunched or was canceled in the wake of the event. And the writing for the event itself was monotonous and boring (try to stop an incursion, fail, repeat ad nauseum). That said, I think AoA was the only series that used the Last Days in a way that made sense for the character and worked. The volume opens with King Loki showing our AoA Loki how they get to the future of King Loki. King Loki is trying to destroy it all because he DID change, and no one would accept it. To everyone he was still the God of Lies, and nothing more, so he decided to fill that role and take it to the maximum. During this vision, Loki encounters other versions of himself within The Void, including Kid Loki, and the story becomes VERY meta. Loki is learning about himself, and what he wants to be. And he makes his choice. Eight months later, the final Incursion is upon the Marvel Universe, and King Loki is reveling in it by driving all the forces of Asgard and Hel into battle. This makes for several pages of epic action scenes, that are fun but have no consequence. During this, Loki, at least A Loki, appears at Verity’s doorstep – and readers finally learn how Verity Willis, AOA Loki’s friend and human lie-detector, came to have her gift. She doesn’t know what to make of this new “God of Stories”, this new Loki who doesn’t seem to remember everything. Overall, though it has some problems, I still enjoyed the volume and felt it was a solid ending for AoA in light of Incursion. The ending, Loki versus King Loki, was insanely clever, emotional and just worked for the character. As did his response to the universe ending – pure Loki. My only gripe is that I have yet to see Verity again in the post-Incursion Marvel Universe. I liked her relationship with Loki. It was the highlight of this series.

The wife loved it

Al Ewing has received a lot of praise for his recent work on Immortal Hulk (2018) and for good reason, but for me this is his greatest achievement. The ultimate Loki story. One that will fundamentally change the way you view Loki, the Ten Realms, and magic in the Marvel Universe in general. Ewing takes the best elements from previous works by Kieron Gillen, Matt Fraction, and to a lesser extent Brian Michael Bendis and even Michael Avon Oeming and Robert Rodi, and makes them his own. His work is what truly brings the character's metamorphosis following his death in Siege (2010) to a close in a truly inventive way. It's a book that revels in the fact that it's part of the wider MU, tying into many notable events from that time including Avengers and X-Men: Axis (2014), Original Sin (2014), and even Secret Wars (2015). In fact, though not currently shown in the Amazon description, Original Sin #5.1-5.5 co-written by Thor scribe Jason Aaron is also included. The art is truly amazing as well. Lee Garbett gave the series a sleek and energetic look, Simone Bianchi returned to grace the realms with his work, and Jorge Coelho made his mark too. It's a very emotional series that nonetheless is never afraid to be fun as well. Ewing cultivated a cast of characters new and old that made the book a standout. I described Kieron Gillen's Journey Into Mystery as clever as Hel, and that fits this book perfectly.5/5

Reads like a VERY GOOD Story Teller, is telling you a story. It has EVERYTHING, adventure Love, friendship, mischief, mayhem, wonder, and the ending doesn't feel like it came out of nowhere. The Ink is very high quality, and the soft pages feel like a comic book, but the pages don't rip easy or fold easy as comic books can. the book has a very good weight to it, but it also isn't too heavy to keep holding to read. If you're looking to start reading comics, OR you just want to know about Loki, PLEASE buy this book. You will never regret that you did.

It came in great physical condition, both the spine and 4 corners were intact. The graphic novel was recommended to me after I had enjoyed the second season of the Loki tv series. I’m not a huge comic book and graphic novel reader but I’m enjoying dipping my toes in. Would definitely recommend this to fans of the show as well as avid comic readers. It’s expanded my knowledge of the comic universe’s and inspired me to check out other stories. I say it’s worth the buy

Gosh this run hits so hard. "What is a lie when it's at home?" No matter how many times I read these, those last few issues always get me.

I've heard so much about Agent of Asgard and some of the lead up to it but I haven't been back into comics until recently. I wanted the separate volumes but the omnibus is just as good. I was so hooked in the final moments and love this comic with all my heart.

I bought this as a gift for the biggest Marvel dork I know who just so happened to have an affinity for Loki, and she loved it. While I myself have never really been super interested in that kind of thing, I did find myself flipping through the book and admiring the artwork, and let’s just say... well, sometimes some of the quotes can be a little sus if taken with absolutely no context whatsoever.But I mean, she she did call Loki a snack, so what do I know anyways. I don’t really understand what’s going on, but she said it was good, so..... 5 stars.