Loki - Agent of Asgard

It’s been a while since I’ve really been reading comics (well, apart from the free online ones, I read quite some of those regularly). Much longer since the last superhero comics I’ve read (I think that was Young Justice, for the short time the series ran in Germany). But, well, I’ve always liked Loki (especially since Avengers and Thor) and I couldn’t really withstand the new series by Marvel he stars in.

Getting the first issue online was a great thing, since I’m currently miles from the next comic store. I would prefer having the comic book in my hands, but online whenever I want to is good as well.

I knew the comic was coming, since I’d seen previews on various sites, but I only really realized I wanted it, when it really came out. I saw a few pages that had been posted on Facebook. I liked what I saw. I liked the comic, once I read it. I laughed out loud at this panel, which comes at the end of the two pages Loki needs to get the Avengers to fight each other, so he’s free to complete his mission.

Loki will, of course, never be a perfect, shining hero. That’s not in his nature, not in his current incarnation, not in the past ones, not in the future ones. But he makes a very good secret agent or, as Marvel puts it in the summary for the series, Asgardia’s one-man secret service.

He wants to break free from the expectations. That’s what he died for, to bury the villain Loki and get a new chance. He wants to be utterly himself, not slipping back into the role the universe wants him back in. By serving the All-Mother (unlike Odin All-Father, who is dead, the All-Mother is a triumvirate of three goddesses who rule the new Asgardia), he can purge his records in Asgard, removing the old legends, the old facts. New legends for old - a chance to have a new life without the burden of the past. A way out of the box, the expectations of the others, is worth working hard for.

However, with the end of the first issue, I do have the feeling getting away from his old self will be a good deal more difficult than he thought.

I like the style of the comic and the humour and will follow it for a while (not sure how long). If you like a devious main character, Agent of Asgard is a good one for you.