Marvel-Verse: Loki

Marvel-Verse

by J. Michael Straczynski

Au travers d'une poignée d'histoires emblématiques, découvrez qui est Loki, frère de Thor, Dieu de la Malice, tantôt vilain, tantôt anti-héros. Avec Loki, une chose est sûre : il faut se méfier de lui, même quand il est dans votre camp ! La collection Marvel-Verse propose des histoires emblématiques des plus grands personnages Marvel. Alors que la série Loki avec Tom Hiddleston fait son apparition sur Disney+ (l'un des événements les plus attendus parmi les séries télé Marvel annoncées), il était logique que ce titre rejoigne la collection !

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, Mythology, Fiction

120 pages, Paperback

Published June 9, 2021

About the author

Joseph Michael Straczynski is an American filmmaker and comic book writer. He is the founder of Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Studio JMS and is best known as the creator of the science fiction television series Babylon 5 (1993–1998) and its spinoff Crusade (1999), as well as the series Jeremiah (2002–2004) and Sense8 (2015–2018). He is the executor of the estate of Harlan Ellison.
Straczynski wrote the psychological drama film Changeling (2008) and was co-writer on the martial arts thriller Ninja Assassin (2009), was one of the key writers for (and had a cameo in) Marvel's Thor (2011), as well as the horror film Underworld: Awakening (2012), and the apocalyptic horror film World War Z (2013). From 2001 to 2007, Straczynski wrote Marvel Comics' The Amazing Spider-Man, followed by runs on Thor and Fantastic Four. He is the author of the Superman: Earth One trilogy of graphic novels, and he has written Superman, Wonder Woman, and Before Watchmen for DC Comics. Straczynski is the creator and writer of several original comic book series such as Rising Stars, Midnight Nation, Dream Police, and Ten Grand through Joe's Comics.
A prolific writer across a variety of media and former journalist, Straczynski is the author of the autobiography Becoming Superman (2019) for HarperVoyager, the novel Together We Will Go (2021) for Simon & Schuster, and Becoming a Writer, Staying a Writer (2021) for Benbella Books. In 2020 he was named Head of the Creative Council for the comics publishing company Artists, Writers and Artisans.
Straczynski is a long-time participant in Usenet and other early computer networks, interacting with fans through various online forums (including GEnie, CompuServe, and America Online) since 1984. He is credited as being the first TV producer to directly engage with fans on the Internet and to allow viewer viewpoints to influence the look and feel of his show. Two prominent areas where he had a presence were GEnie and the newsgroup rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated.

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice 'overview' of Loki (L). Given the popularity of the character this will appeal to those who only know him from his portrayal in the MCU. Of particular interest is the version L gives of his part in the formation of the Avengers (originally in Avengers #300). Additional stories include Silver Surfer #4, Amazing Spider-Man #503 and #504 and Journey Into Mystery #626.1 (each reviewed as a single issue).

[Petergiaquinta · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent enough primer for the casual viewer of the Disney Plus Loki series who would like to know more about this key figure in the MCU, this collection brings together four very different Marvel tales from over the years featuring Loki (and featuring three distinctly different takes on Loki, although no Lokigator, sorry!) which will help to fill in some of the blanks for any Loki-noob hoping to gain more insight into the concatenation of the Lokiverse.

Sorry, I kid. There isn’t really a Lokiverse, although there are untold numbers of Lokis stretching across the multiverse, and there are a goodly number of them just in our own singular universe of Earth-616 showcased in this collection, if you want me to get all nerdy about things.

This Marvel-Verse volume opens with Avengers #300, with the god of evil and lies ruefully recounting his role in the formation of the Avengers. Frankly, I’d call this a misstep on the part of the editors…we really should go to Avengers #1 here for the original source material if this collection is indeed designed as an intro for a recent convert to the Faithful. I get it, though; we want to give Loki a voice here, hear those events from Avengers #1 straight from the horse’s mouth (now there’s a story I’ve never seen Marvel try to tell—the time back in Asgard when the gender/species-fluid Loki becomes a mare and gets it on with the giant craftsman’s stallion building the great wall around Asgard, giving birth to Sleipnir!) because it’s all about empowerment and agency these days, isn’t it? And although there’s something interesting about allowing the universe’s greatest liar to tell his version of these events, the author Ralph Macchio drops the ball here because Loki’s spin on things is just a straightforward, shorter rehash of the original story. He’s not even trying to recast himself in a sympathetic light, so that’s a lost opportunity. Plus, the art in Avengers #300 really sucks, and I just read it reprinted in Vote Loki anyway…

Maybe, though, they used this rehash to give Macchio a chance to appear in this Marvel-Verse collection, because the author of Avengers #1, Stan Lee, also scripts the next tale, the strongest and most interesting of the four here, Silver Surfer #4, where Loki enlists the gullible Norrin Radd to take on Thor in Asgard. There’s not much depth to evil Loki’s character here, but I’m a fan of John Buscema’s artwork, and it’s fun to see the Surfer temporarily freed from his imprisonment on Earth. This story is followed by a team-up between Peter Parker and Loki from the ‘90s in the pages of The Amazing Spider-man which gives us a less conniving, less evil version of Loki, a kinder, gentler Loki actually working to Earth’s benefit, it seems, but drawn by John Romita, Jr, who isn’t quite sure how to capture human facial expressions or even basic anatomy. Big sigh. Then the collection concludes with a relatively recent story from the rebooted Journey into Mystery, where a younger Kid Loki is trying to figure out just who in the heck he is, now reborn into an Asgard which has crash landed in Oklahoma, of all places…spoiler, Kid Loki: few people trust you; most folks hate you, and it’s going to be tough going for you, kid, especially in Oklahoma.

So…nothing new here, but it’s worth a read for the beginner looking to make sense of sixty years of Loki in the Marvel-verse or the six thousand more, give or take a few centuries, since the All-father and his brothers fashioned the universe from the cosmic giant Ymir’s big old body.

[Francine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the first story as a gimmick, but especially the third and fourth story: give me Kid Loki anyday, and a Spider-Man team-up? yes please.
The second story I didn't enjoy at all: I very much do not care about the Silver Surfer, and I'm really not a fan of Thor and the way he speaks in ye olde comics - plus it takes up about 1/3rd of this collection, which is just... way too much.

Yeah I bought this because of the Loki series hype, you wanna fight about it? 👊 I do enjoy comic!Loki more than his MCU counterpart, so I'm glad I read this collection. Excited to dive into Agent of Asgard next, and hopefully Vote Loki after that!

[Kai Charles(Fiction State Of Mind) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of stories showcasing the many moods of Loki!

[Liv Rawding · Rating 4 out of 5]

I mean it’s Loki do I need to?

[Joey Nardinelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Felt like this was framing the new, young reborn Loki and while I’ve seen him in a few issues from The War of Realms arc, his timeline still confuses me. I’m not quite sure where this ended up landing in terms of the character’s chronology. The old Loki comics have some charm, but the stories often feel a bit boring. Oddly, that same issue persists into more recent comics with the character where his charm and personality trump good narrative structure. Loki is a character who works a lot better in an ensemble and I think we’ve been treated to such a funny, nuanced version of him on film/television now that it’s tough to see him so reduced here.

[Josh Newhouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unusual choices, a little uneven but a solid if mote adult themed read. Not inappropriate but not accessible in parts.

[Glyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this more than the Wanda-Vision one. There’s less goofy old stuff, though I wish we saw more of the kid Loki storyline. The Spider-Man bit was the best though, their interactions were fun!

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Neste encadernadinho do Loki da coleção Marvel-Verse, metade das histórias são boas e metade não são. Começa com uma apresentação do personagem e como ele foi responsável pela reunião e formação da primeira equipe dos Vingadores, os Maiores Heróis da Terra. Depois temos a chata e enfadonha história do Surfista Prateado de Stan Lee enfrentando Thor por causa das artimanhas de Loki. A melhor parte deste encadernado é o encontro e parceria feita entre Loki e o Homem-Aranha durante a fase de Straczinsky e Romita Jr. quando juntos, os dois precisam deter a ameaça de um deusa ancestral. Por fim, uma história da fase de quando o Kid Loki estrelava a revista Jornada ao Mistério, ou seja, quando a persona de Loki era encarnada em uma criança (e em um corvo também, diga-se de passagem) e que valeu a pena só por me lembrar dessa fase sensacional de Loki escrita pelo ótimo Kieron Gillen. Assim, ficamos numa avaliação dentro da média.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice little collection. I would have liked a bit more variety in the time periods they pulled from (especially since 2 came from the '60s and one of them was pretty long for a comic--over 30 pages!), but that's honestly more of a personal preference thing. I really liked the last three, which included a Spidey/Loki team-up and Kid Loki. It was a nice contrast to the just-villain Loki from the older issues.

[Danpel Stiltskin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing stories of Loki! I loved the story arcs of Loki with The Amazing Spider-Man and the story arc of Kid Loki.

[Michaela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it! I liked the first two short stories, especially because they were so old and showed the beginnings of Loki's character in the comics, but my favourite were the last two stories - Loki teaming up with Spiderman and the Kid Loki one. I find it absolutely hilarious that Loki just sat on a roof with Peter and ate hot dogs and the last story, hearing Odin say that he loves both his sons and won't abandon them was just so sad and beautiful at the same time. And just the most hilarious thing imo was the scene with Odin in the second story, one of the old ones, where Loki sends the Silver Surfer to fight Thor - when a messenger tells Odin that Thor and the Silver Surfer are fighting, all Odin does is basically say "ok lol, let them fight, now prepare my bed, I want to sleep" . I was laughing at that so much.

I'll definitely be rereading these in the future, not only are they all great stories (well, okay, maybe the first one wasn't as good imo because it was so short), but they're all also very nice to look at (especially the last two stories).

5/5, absolutely.

[Centauri · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a nice step into yesteryear.

The first tale has Loki remembering & blaming himself for inadvertently gathering the Avengers for the first time in an attempt of revenge against Thor. This throwback issue is not one I had read before (and honestly, I liked the actual throwback issue of the avengers first gathering much better).

Next story is a throwback issue where Loki deceives Silver Surfer into attacking Thor whilst in Asgard. Its a bold move but Surfer holds back a bit because he's not sure (while Thor seemingly holds back a lot, for the same reasons). It would have been nice to see them both actually fight, so there needs a retelling of this tale where an evil Thor is possessed or something into destroying a world and Surfer intervenes. (If it does exist already, please tell me how to find & read it.)

Loki teaming up with the quick-tongued Spider Man for any reason is a nice treat, especially when the god of mischief doesn't get the friendly neighborhood hero's one-liners. Throw in a twist and the story spins a web of wit and foreboding mystery (<-- see what I did there? I'm proud of it!). I only wish to know more about the antagonist.

Lastly, Kid Loki wanting to know what Asgardians think of him is a bit of a sad tale. This kid is aware they are a reincarnation of some villain, so they are attempting to find a better path this time around, but long & hurtful memories of the adults are a barrier to that destiny. No wonder the little god turns to even order entities for answers, only to muck up their fate. Darned if you do, darned if you don't. It's almost like a crap-shoot, and the young reincarnated god has no chance of achieving greater for his life.

[Adam Rodgers · Rating 3 out of 5]

A compilation of four Loki focused tales, in his various incarnations.

The early Stan Lee Silver Surfer issue is the weakest story here, as Loki tricks the Surfer and the Asgardians to fight. While some of the charm from these character origins seep through, it is mainly due to John Buscema's lively artwork, as this is a two dimensional overally long tale that goes nowhere. Equally Macchio's reworking of the Avengers origin (via Loki) is brief and empty.

Straczynski's Spider-man entry is much more interesting, delivering a more measured and unusual depiction of the trickster god, as he comes to the aid of the wall-crawler and one of his progeny when a reincarnated chaos sorcerer threatens them. John Romita Jr. is given lots of opportunities to display his range as Spider-man is put through his paces.

The last, and most recent story is from Rob Rodi, when Loki has been reborn as a young boy, and rounds off the book with a fresh take on the god of lies. Pasqual Ferry has some of the most emotive artwork of the book as Loki basically tries to find out if the other gods like him by conjuring a eldritch 'teller' demon.

More iterations of Loki (such as the female version) would have added more variety, but overall this is a fun collection, with stories that improve towards the end, but really only scratch the service of the duplicitous Norse deity.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

This comprised of 5 issues of various comics. The first two were from the 1960s and difficult to read. Several characters were written in accents or Shakespearean English, and I did not enjoy it at all. The last three were much easier to get through, and they were more enjoyable over all. These three also showed a version of Loki that is more in line with the one everyone knows from the MCU. He seemed more "evil" in the first two issues.

[Craig Lotter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ignore the cover bait and switch - that version of Loki doesn't appear in this Marvel-Verse collection of stories. Book is split into four stories, two from the Silver Age 1963/68 (which are pretty dated and don't really hold up all that well), but the final two stories from the 'modern' era (1999/2011) are pretty decent and rescue what would otherwise might have been a two star rating. Great artwork on these last two as well.

[Emeraldawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bind up of 5 comics (4 stories) of Loki in different times of the marvel universe. I peek into the different ways Loki was depicted in the comics. Overall it made me want to read a store line of his, and I did like the evolution from 1963 Loki to 2011 Loki. However, this is not a complete take on Loki, so don't buy the book if you want more than 4 short stories picked over a 60-year spread.

[Meenakshisankar M · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good collection to read. I particularly liked the one in which Loki tries to trick the Silver Surfer o act on his behalf against Thor. The whole collection revealed new shades of Loki's character, especially when he narrates.

[Mady · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sympa pour avoir une idée du personnage de Loki et de son caractère.
Par contre le format petite anthologie n'est pas pour moi. C'est assez frustrant de ne pas avoir accès aux suites des épisodes proposés. (Je sais que c'est le principe mais je préfère les récits complets)

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun volume that I read as prep for attending a talk about Loki in comics at my local library tomorrow. I know Loki of Mythology, Loki of Fanfiction, and Loki of movie/tv universe much better than Loki of comics so I enjoyed this quick summary of some of his comic adventures.

[Nikola · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the story about Spiderman and Loki and the pictures, there were the best from the book.

[Maya · Rating 4 out of 5]

לוקי אהבת חיי.

[Tyler Marsolais · Rating 5 out of 5]

It had Spiderman in it, so of course it's good. That's it though, good; good collection overall.

[Lisandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,25 estrelas

[xylily0 · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars pushing 3

[Emma Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love love love marvel! Especially Loki, i loved this and how there were different graphic stories in it. It kept me hooked from the beginning and i finished it within a day.

[Andrei · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unlike the Thor Marvel-Verse book which collects new stories outside of continuity, this Loki collection has a much more classic tone. There's a part of Avengers #300 where Loki retells his classic origin, a 2-issue story from the pages of Amazing Spider-Man by JMS which is interesting because these characters don't mingle quite that often, a story from Silver Stan Lee's Silver Surfer which showcases Loki's mischievous side and a short one from Journey Into Mystery #626.1 with Kid Loki where he tries to find out what other Asgardians think of him (my favourite)

Diverse enough and still very new-reader friendly, this is another great example of a well put together Marvel-Verse book.

[viv reads whatever · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first comic book I've ever read. I don't know much about this medium but it was recommended to me through Hoopla. Honestly it was a bit boring mostly. My favorite story was the issue with Spider-Man. Other than that, I don't think this was for me.

[onceuponamon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Marvel-Verse: Loki
🟢🟢🟢🟢🟢🟢🟢🟢🟢🟢
Mushy Rating: 🍄🍄
79 in TBR List
41/50 in 2023
Pages: 120
Days to read: 3
Song to go with: "Loki Green Theme" by Natalie Holt

Vibes: magic, mischief, lore, Norse Mythology, fantasy, comic book, graphic novel

Review: There was a lot of monologuing.

[Aeltuar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mouai j'ai bien aimé la première "histoire" avec Spider-Man tout ça mais les autres étaient pas dingue dingue