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Loki Reading Order (with Kid Loki, Journey into Mystery, Agent of Asgard)

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Loki Reading Order

Based on the Norse deity of the same name, Loki is now part of the most famous Marvel characters, thanks to his presence in the Marvel Cinematic Universe where Tom Hiddleston played him. And he is now the star of his own television series.

Since his first appearance in 1949, Loki has been portrayed as both a supervillain and antihero. Half-brother of the superhero Thor, the God of Mischief is a master of manipulation and deceit with superhuman strength, speed, and longevity.

First stereotypically evil (but not really threatening), years and years of stories shaped him as one of the greatest villains of Marvel, and one of the most multi-faceted characters. There is, after all, more than one incarnation of Loki. Like most Marvel figures, he died multiple times and writers used those opportunities to have him come back changed — as a woman, as a kid, as a person searching for redemption and much more…

Where to start with Loki? The Recommended Reading Order List

  • Loki Omnibus Vol. 1 – Wants to discover Loki in the Silver Age era? Marvel released an omnibus collecting the major appearance of the character during this era, including his first appearance as modern-day Loki in Journey into Mystery #85.
  • Thor: Trials of Loki – A recent Loki’s origin story by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and illustrated by Sebastian Fiumara.
  • Loki: Journey Into Mystery by Kieron Gillen – With artist Doug Braithwaite. The god of lies has been reborn as Kid Loki but can he be Asgard’s savior? A run that helped redefined the character and can be an entry point for new readers.
  • Young Avengers by Kieron Gillen & Jamie McKelvie – Gillen continues to explore the character, but this time as a member of the Young Avengers.
  • Loki: God of Stories Omnibus – Want all the Loki series? This is the perfect omnibus for you as this collects all the stories starring the 21st-century trickster in all his glorious forms! From the first Loki series in 2004 to Agents of Asgards, Original Sin, Vote Loki and more!

Loki Reading Order (Icon)

Loki Reading Order

Loki first appearance

The character made his first appearance (or at least, a version of the character) in Venus #6 published in August 1949, during the golden age.

This is not the modern-day incarnation of Loki we know, he was depicted as a member of the Olympian gods exiled to the Underworld and resembled the traditional image of the Devil. This is also the only appearance this version made, so you can read it for fun.

Loki in the Silver Age and Most of Bronze Age (1962-1983)

Created by writer Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber and penciler Jack Kirby, the Silver Age version of Loki made his first appearance in Journey into Mystery #85 in October 1962, in a story called ‘Trapped By Loki, The God Of Mischief‘ which describes briefly the origin of Loki and reintroduced him as Thor’s enemy. 

He will then made frequent appearances in all Thor-related titles, like Journey into Mystery and Thor, but also in The Avengers or, on occasion, in the X-Men.

To discover Loki from this time period, helped by the fact the character has now his own television series, Marvel has an upcoming Omnibus coming, collecting the characters’ major appearances during the first years of his existence:

  • Loki Omnibus Vol. 1
    Collects Avengers (1963) 1; Journey into Mystery (1952) 111, 113, 115-123; Thor (1966) 153-157, 167, 173, 175-177, 179-181; Thor Annual (1966) 2; material from Journey into Mystery (1952) 85, 88, 91-92, 94, 97, 100-104, 107-108, 110, 112, 114, 124-125; Thor (1966) 126-129, 142, 147-152; Strange Tales (1951) 123; Tales to Astonish (1959) 101; Silver Surfer (1968) 4

If you want to read all about Loki, from anecdotic appearances to the most important ones, you can find those silver and bronze age Thor’s stories collected in different editions:

Loki (Letter Icon) Reading OrderDuring this era, Loki played a part in the crossover event Avengers/Defenders War that takes place after Thor (vol. 1) #207.

Loki Reading Order (Icon)

Thor by Walt Simonson, with Loki of course! (1983-1987)

Walt Simonson’s run is considered by many as the greatest run on Thor. He took over writing and art duties with issue #337. He stopped drawing after issue #367 but still continues to write on the title until issue #382 (in August 1987). He was then working with penciller Sal Buscema.

Simonson took Thor in a totally new direction and explored the character’s mythological origins. He modernized the hero and his supporting cast, including Loki, working hard to take over Asgard.

This is in Thor #337. Loki is sitting on his throne, saying 'To Think That Loki, Prince of Darkness, should waste his time in monotonous exile while cheer and good fellowship abound in the land. Bah! I've half a mind to...
Loki in Thor #337

Also collected in omnibus:

Loki Reading Order (Icon)

From War of the Pantheons to Avengers Disassembled (1987-2004)

Loki continues to manipulate others and plot against his enemies during the 90s but it’s not, without surprise, a very memorable period for the character and also a not well collected one by Marvel at the time of writing.

Loki (Letter Icon) Reading OrderAvengers Disassembled is a 2004 crossover event, but Thor is not in it. He is busy battling Loki in Asgard, so you don’t have to read the main event as it is a parallel story.

Loki Reading Order (Icon)

Loki in mini-series

At the beginning of the noughties, we have several miniseries, that you can read whenever you want. They all mostly take place in the past or, in one case, is a ‘what if’ story.

  • Thor: Godstorm (an homage by Busiek to the Jack Kirby era)
    Collects Thor: Godstorm #1-3; Thor (1966) #408-409 (Tales of Asgard backups); Busiek/Rude; bonus story by Mike Mignola
  • Thor & Loki: Blood Brothers (our first Loki solo series, a what if!)
    Collects Loki #1-4, Journey Into Mystery #85, Journey Into Mystery #112 (Tales of Asgard backup). O
  • Thor: Son of Asgard (Tales of a young God of Thunder)
    Collects Thor: Son of Asgard #1-12.

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Loki Reborn (2007-2012)

Thor is reborn under J. Michael Straczynski’s supervision, with the beginning of a new Asgardian cycle of life after another Ragnarok. And this is where Loki makes his comeback as… Thor’s sister or Lady Loki, penciled by the excellent Olivier Coipel.

Thanks again to the television series, Marvel rushed to release a trade paperback collecting the time Loki was mistress of Mischief.

  • Loki: Mistress of Mischief
    Collects Thor (2007) #5, 9-10, 12, 600 (A story), 601-602 and material from Dark Reign: The Cabal (2009) #1

If you want to read all of J. Michael Straczynski’s run on Thor, Marvel released an Omnibus Thor by J. Michael Straczynski.

Loki (Letter Icon) Reading OrderThe cross-over event Secret Invasion (reading order) takes place during Straczynski’s run and leads us into the Dark Reign era, which culminated with Siege, an important event for Loki, this time during Kieron Gillen tenure on Thor.

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Kid Loki in Journey Into Mystery (2011-2012)

Branching out from Thor: The World Eaters, the god of mischief and lies has been reborn and stars in Journey into Mystery. The title has ties with the Fear Itself event (reading order) at the beginning, though it is not a necessary reading to understand the story.

Journey Into Mystery (2011) #636

Kieron Gillen’s run on Journey Into Mystery is also collected in Omnibus:

During that time, you can also encounter Loki in some capacity in Matt Fraction’s The Mighty Thor.

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Loki in Young Avengers during Marvel Now! (2013-2014)

Writer Kieron Gillen returns and teams up with artist Jamie McKelvie, with whom he created the Siege: Loki one-shot in the Prologue section, for this series. Given that this is a team book, Loki shares the spotlight with numerous other characters who each have their own backstory, including Superior Hawkeye. While knowledge about these other characters’ series might make the book more engaging, no prior information is necessary to understand it and so these previous series are not listed.

Thor IcoLoki is not present at the beginning of Jason Aaron’s run on Thor, but his epic story begun a few months before Young Avengers. And you can consult our Thor by Jason Aaron Reading Order for more information.

Kieron Gillen’s run on Young Avengers is collected in Omnibus

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Loki: Agent of Asgard (2014-2015)

Loki: Agent of Asgard is the final series in the “Kid Loki Trilogy” and the only one not written by Kieron Gillen. Instead, this section is written by Al Ewing with the majority of the art duties falling on Lee Garbett. Though this section contains tie-ins to both the Original Sin and AXIS events, the events themselves are not necessary to the story and are not listed.

This is also what can be considered the end of the Kid Loki saga.

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Loki, supporting player during All-New, All-Different Marvel (2015-2019)

Secret Wars happened and Marvel enters a new era, one in which Loki doesn’t have a solo series (with the exception of the limited series Vote Loki). During that time, the character plays a recurring role in Jason Aaron’s Thor, a saga culminating in the War of the Realms event. 

You can also find those in oversize hardcover in Thor By Jason Aaron & Russell Dauterman Vol. 2.

You can also find those in oversize hardcover in Thor by Jason Aaron & Russell Dauterman Vol. 3.

Loki (Letter Icon) Reading OrderLoki Sorcerer Supreme! — During quite a short time, Loki takes Doctor Strange’s place as Sorcerer Supreme (see Doctor Strange Reading Order). He will help Squirrel Girl and Spider-Man in this role. This is also the beginning of his quest for the Infinity Stones (also desired by the All-New Guardians of the Galaxy, where Loki makes a few appearances).

Loki Reading Order (Icon)

 

Marvel Fresh Start (2018-)

The Infinity Stones are back, and soon enough, the war for control over them follows in the Marvel Cosmic event Infinity Wars from Gerry Duggan when Loki is one of the protagonists – see reading order here.

War of the Realms logo 88The War of Realms is here, you can go to the full reading order for the details. Malekith the Accursed has been conquering the Ten Realms one by one until there is only one left: Midgard (Earth!).

In the aftermath of War of Realms, Loki has a new solo series that explores the ramifications of this recent event.

Alligator Loki is the star of his own series. If you’re interested in reading his exploits, go check out the ‘Alligator Loki’ Infinity Comic on Marvel Unlimited!

Directly after Defenders: There Are No Rules, Al Ewing and Javier Rodríguez continue their work on Defenders with a new lineup, including Loki, God of Stories! When Doctor Strange sends a dire warning from beyond the grave, Blue Marvel, America Chavez, Taaia (Galactus’ mom!), Tigra and Loki assemble to defend reality itself!

Following this team-up, the consequences will soon be explored in a new Loki miniseries, announced for June 2023!

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