A few weeks back Aron and Paul mentioned a new offering coming to the All New Marvel Now. The title was to be Loki: Agent of Asgard. I sounded interesting and this second incarnation of the Marvel Now was being touted as new reader friendly. So with their recommendation and the promise of being a good jumping on point, I picked up the first issue.

This issue opens up with a very dynamic and shocking page. There is a full page of Loki thrusting a glowing sword through the chest of his brother, Thor. The only text on the page are two bubbles. Trust me. I know what I’m doing. The book then jumps into the past and shows us where this one page has it’s beginning.

Loki is on earth and working missions for the All-Mother. She interrupts him in his shower and gives him a mission. As he is undertaking said mission we get to hear his explanation of magic. It is a fairly interesting take on the subject and provides some excellent foreshadowing for the rest of the issue.

His explanation is that magic is telling a story and making the universe believe it. As he explains it, he talks about the various grimoires that can can house spells and even mentions an AD&D Manual which made me smile. Loki demonstrates this through his use of various magical item that he has liberated in his earlier adventures. It plays up the idea that he is magical Jason Bourne of the Asgardians and plays well into the actual reward for a successful mission which is the erasure of a horrible crime committed by his earlier incarnation. I know that this isn’t an original take on magic but it is one of my favorite and seeing it being used here to change the course of Loki’s future is intriguing.

The mission itself is to cleanse Thor. He had been tainted by something he had came in contact with but the other had not noticed. It had caused him to become more surly and brutal as time passed. It was dragging him down into a destructive cycle that had to be stopped. To accomplish his goal, Loki had to stir the Avengers into a mass of chaos and then become captured. This capture is not believable and it is pretty neat when Thor sits next to Loki and asks if he has time for a drink before his inevitable escape. He says yes and they have a heart to heart discussing how their relationship is broken and how it might he has tried to change but isn’t sure that he has really changed. The most touching point is when Loki pauses and then says lets swallow the lie as sometimes that is all we have.

Damn good stuff.

Loki then turns over the taint that had infected Thor as the All-Mother requested and heads off to continue on in his new life. The All-Mother opens the container to reveal that the presence was actually the Old Loki and he had gone to great length to get this audience.

I have to say that I enjoyed the story immensely and am fascinated by the two Loki and what this could portend. The art and colors are fantastic. Garbett’s art has these soft lines that gives an ethereal aesthetic that I find really accentuates the story. Woodard’s colors pick this up and adds a layer of energy that just pops from the page when there are these power dramatic moments and yet provide a sepia toned filter for the touching character moments.

I am looking forward to this series and will have a review of issue two soon!