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Loki (Loki)

by Robert Rodi, Esad Ribic (Illustrator)

3.97 of 5 stars 3.97 · rating details · 447 ratings · 32 reviews

There are two sides to every story. You've heard Thor's - now it's time to hear Loki's. Odin's least favorite son rewrites Asgardian lore from his perspective in this groundbreaking collection, featuring the breathtaking painted artwork of Esad Ribic (Wolverine). In this story, Loki's insatiable lust for power, his conflicted sentiments toward Sif, his antipathy toward Bal...more

Hardcover, 104 pages

Published February 9th 2005 by Marvel Comics (first published January 1st 2005)

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Dec 15, 2012 Paul rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed, graphic-novels

Ah yes, the age old rivalry pitting brother against brother, it'll never get old.
In this story, we get to see Loki's point of view for a change. After all, would a villain portray himself as such? Wouldn't the villain feel justified in his actions?
This is a story of Gods, you see, and mere mortals as ourselves cannot begin tho fathom the minds of such beings ;-)
Overall, it's a pretty good story with a beginning, a middle and an end (unlike most comic-book stories which are mostly soap operas ad...more

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Apr 19, 2013 Jean-Pierre Vidrine rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. What we have here is a series of dialogues, a far cry from the sorts of knockdown battles typical of Marvel's versions of the Asgardians. The writer attempts to give us a view of the events that have shaped Loki into the villain he is in the Marvel universe from the trickster's own point of view. These dialogues may not be quite as insightful as he intended, but we do get a glimpse of the other side of the arguments. Sif, Balder, and Odin are all scrutinized for the parts they played in Loki's l...more What we have here is a series of dialogues, a far cry from the sorts of knockdown battles typical of Marvel's versions of the Asgardians. The writer attempts to give us a view of the events that have shaped Loki into the villain he is in the Marvel universe from the trickster's own point of view. These dialogues may not be quite as insightful as he intended, but we do get a glimpse of the other side of the arguments. Sif, Balder, and Odin are all scrutinized for the parts they played in Loki's life. It is a little telling that only Odin seems to show any realization about mistreating Loki (not with words but with facial expressions), though he stops short of any actual admission of guilt. The dialogue with Thor never happens as the thunder god remains silent as the trickster hurls words at him.
Esad Ribic's art deserves a lot praise here, with one caveat. Not only are his paintings beautiful, but the artist goes beyond simply conveying characters' emotions with facial expressions. Whole thoughts are implicit, or plainly obvious, on their faces. The reader can see what they're thinking (and sometimes denying) without a thought balloon in sight.
Balder's telling of other universes (kind of reconciling the differences between the Norse myths and Marvel's history) lead to two pages of stunning portrayals of multiple Thors and Lokis.
As for that caveat I mentioned: Loki's face is very haggish here, with hard lines, reddened nose, and missing teeth. I'm not sure why Ribic went in this direction for the character. Perhaps it was a way of visualizing the bitterness behind Loki's actions in the story. Instead of hiding behind a smug handsome grin, his darkness shows plainly on his face. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not.
The ending of the books is abrupt and inconclusive.
The pitch included at the end of the book sheds a lot of light on what Robert Rodi set out to do with the book. It's hard to say just how much he succeeded in doing what he wanted. But, given how much attention Loki has gotten in recent years, and the changes he's gone through, perhaps he was successful in laying the groundwork for looking at this character differently.(less)

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Sep 03, 2012 Matimate rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, graphic_novels

Comics time :P

When one was constantly bullied and considered evil from the beginning, when one was still innocent and tried only to please. Things went to hell or to Hela depends on your religion. The story is Loki centred and various traditional Norse myths are twisted to fit the plot line, which was made to be captivating and from time to time disturbing. Loki was on the run and hiding from wrath of gods, when his brother found him. They talked, but the end was bad for Loki as always. Who was...more

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Jun 18, 2012 Loki rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is one of my top three favorite graphic novels. The others are "The Trials of Loki" and "Thor: Ages of Thunder". The artwork and writing in all three books is excellent though very different. I loved this story so much, I bought the hard cover version. The story delves into Loki's past and helps the viewer understand some of the taunting and teasing he had to endure growing up which led him to a path of poor choices based on anger and hate. Its basically a "what if" story. What if Loki fina...more

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Jun 18, 2012 Reed Raab rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: graphic-novels-comics, owned, reviewed

I’m usually one to side with the heroes: clearly I’m cheering for Batman over the Joker (no matter how great his one-liners are), if I were a mutant I would choose Charles over Erik, and if the right path is harder than what’s easy that’s the road I go on down but when it comes to villainous Loki, he has my vote.

Having lived my life never being the best or the favorite but minded the shadows while others were in the spotlight, relating to Loki comes easily. Sure, I have never gone to extreme mea...more

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Jun 03, 2011 Orren Merton rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There are two parts to this graphic novel: the main story of the book is collected from the mini-series Loki (#1-#4) by Robert Rodi, art by Esad Ribic. This story takes a tack not unlike John Gardner's Grendel. In Gardener's novel, Beowulf's saga is told from the monster's point of view; In Robert Rodi's Thor & Loki: Blood Brothers, the story begins with Loki having deposed his step-father (Odin) and defeated his half-brother, Thor, to rule Asgard. The central conflict of the story is whethe...more There are two parts to this graphic novel: the main story of the book is collected from the mini-series Loki (#1-#4) by Robert Rodi, art by Esad Ribic. This story takes a tack not unlike John Gardner's Grendel. In Gardener's novel, Beowulf's saga is told from the monster's point of view; In Robert Rodi's Thor & Loki: Blood Brothers, the story begins with Loki having deposed his step-father (Odin) and defeated his half-brother, Thor, to rule Asgard. The central conflict of the story is whether Loki should have his brother executed, or simply let him wallow in humiliation for the remainder of his days. This allows Rodi to explore what turned Loki into "the trickster God," how his psychology was formed and affected by his environment and those around him, and his fitness to rule.

This is a very psychological graphic novel, with the tension coming from Loki's flashbacks of pain and his decrees as ruler; there is hardly any action. While this meant that Thor & Loki: Blood Brothers will never appeal to the segment of comic fandom that requires widescreen action panels, I very much enjoyed the story. I like the fact that while Thor & Loki have been used for decades as traditional comic action fodder, Rodi takes the time to mine the mythological depths, to tell a taught character tale, in which dysfunction in family relations and moral repercussions of one's actions can be dealt with.

And speaking of the art, Esad Ribic paints (rather than draws) beautiful and expressive panels, which serve to lend a more "classic" and "deep" aspect to this graphic novel. The art definitely enhances the story and makes the whole thing seem both more "realistic" and "mythological" appearance.

The graphic novel comes with some nice extras from the Loki series—the original pitch/treatment from the author, and a bunch of character sketches. However, there is a fair amount of filler. There are two issues from the 60s of Journey Into Mystery (#85 and #112) showing the first appearance of Loki in the Thor comic and giving his comic origin story. There is also an issue from J. Michael Stracynski's run on Thor in 2007 (#12) which out of context doesn't do very much, other than show you that other writers also dealt with Loki's complex psychology (in JMS's run, Loki appears as a woman, which if you're not familiar with the JMS run, can be quite confusing...). While these three issues are fun, they are so off-topic from the main story they serve to bring the whole package down a notch, in my opinion. I'd have rathered the book be shorter but only deal with Rodi & Ribic's mini-series.(less)

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Sep 07, 2008 Mark Desrosiers rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics

Robert Rodi is more famous (at least to me) for writing entertaining queer novels such as Drag Queen and Fag Hag. So here he is, disguised as "Rob Rodi", writing a Mighty Thor comic, and yeah, it's pretty funny stuff. This series focuses on Thor's evil stepbrother Loki, melding his Marvel supervillain nature to the Norse trickster god(/goddess!) on which he's based.

So what you end up with is a clueless trickster god, bedecked with a cuckold-horn helmet, who has the Mighty Thor captured and chai...more

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Dec 07, 2012 Aazir rated it 5 of 5 stars

Wow... just wow.

I generally read 'classics' and this is the first 'comic' I picked up (well the motion comic) and I didn't expect much from it

However, I was blown away by the psychological and philosophical questions delved into here.

It reads like Shakespeare in it's complexity and beauty and I would highly recommend it to any follower of philosophical literature, what Camus's 'L’Étranger' does for Absurdism this does for determinism.

Fantastic.

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Mar 27, 2013 Kate rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novels

An interesting delve into the mind of Loki, but the characterization of Thor was a little too one-dimensional to really be believable.

To be fair, Rodi only had 4 issues to work with. But after more complex depictions of the brothers' relationship (in the MCU films, post-Siege and in the recent Journey into Mystery stories, and even Trials of Loki [to some extent]), this version of Thor was a little hard to buy.

The way Rodi drew on the concept of multiple universes, the fixity of fate and hubris(...more

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Oct 30, 2012 Corinna rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was an odd little story. It's never really explained how Loki came to rule Asgard. Not quite sure if I liked it or not. The art was good, save for the strange outfits the women wore (but that's standard for superhero comic books, it seems). I think I liked the Stan Lee & Jack Kirby Journey Into Mystery comics that were added on at the end more than the main story.

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May 04, 2013 Coiote Flores rated it 2 of 5 stars

Fico meio assim de dar uma nota tão baixa quando as ilustrações em si já o colocam muito acima dessa qualificaçào.

Procurem pelas imagens de Esad Ribic para Loki e se deliciem. Coloquei uma ontem no facebook, mas fotografei com o celular e perdi um tanto do foco.

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Jun 26, 2012 Nurul rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The artwork is truly remarkable. I'm not the greatest fan of comics, but this was a great introduction. There were quite a number of fantastic lines as well that really bring out the tragic side of Loki. I only wish it'd been longer.

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May 11, 2010 Jeremy Young rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is non-canon, of course, but it's still a pretty awesome story. Loki in charge and Thor in chains. It's a great setup. The copy I had smelled like sweat and desperation, though.

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Jun 10, 2012 Shanleigh rated it 3 of 5 stars

Amazing artwork, fantastic ending. Took a while for me to feel invested in the plot though. Robert Rodi does a great job in portraying Loki's complexities.

Rating: 3.5

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Aug 06, 2012 María Paula Castellano rated it 4 of 5 stars

Mucho sufrimiento. Loki feels everywhere. Muy bueno para los que quieren saber por qué Loki es tan malo, aunque triste al final. Me encanta el amor de hermanos de Loki y Thor. sufrimientooooooooooooooooooo

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Nov 29, 2012 Mo rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics, speculativefiction

Lovely art and great ending! The drama was moderately interesting and there's some nice insight into Loki's mindset.

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Jul 17, 2012 Meghan R. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction-fantasy, fiction-superheroes, fiction-speculative, fiction, ebook, sequential-art

Loki finally gets to be the hero of his own story! He really should have asked what kind of hero. (Turns out? Tragic hero.)

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Aug 17, 2010 Jeff rated it 3 of 5 stars

pretty good, but not a whole lot of action for a comic (but then, what do i know about comics). art is very good.

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Aug 20, 2012 Caro rated it 5 of 5 stars

THIS IS NOT OKAY

NOPE

NOT AT ALL

SHIT LOKI WHY IS YOUR LIFE SO TRAGIC

ALSO, THOR IN CHAINS.

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Nov 23, 2009 Brenda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novel, marvel

Loki is a Marvel graphic novel that tells the story from Loki's point of view. Usually we hear stories from Thor's POV, and Loki is made out to be an unlikeable character. Well, in this story I think he's still unlikeable. I could see how he wasn't treated very well, but I still didn't like him, and didn't really feel sorry for him. Still, I love Marvel, and the artwork was great, so it was enjoyable.

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Aug 16, 2012 Elena rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics, emotions-alert

Deprimente. No sólo por los dientes de Loki.

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Dec 01, 2012 Lichi rated it 5 of 5 stars

So much Love~ Fantastic!

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Nov 17, 2012 Federiken Masters rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Buena historia, muy buen dibujo. Pero lo que sin duda me terminó de convencer fue el final. De los mejores finales que haya visto jamás en un comic de Marvel. Y casi lo pone al nivel de los "Relatos de Asgard" si de Thor hablamos.

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Jul 01, 2012 Matimate rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, graphic_novels

All mighty Thore, where did you make a epic mistake? Did you ever consider All-father that something could be terribly wrong in your own house? Balder, being bright and loved did not mean to behave like utter bitch.

After reading this, you would understand many things about Loki. His life was that kind of life, which makes you take gun and shot to the heaven and hopping to hit Odin in the other eye for such unjustly fate.
Life like this would make the saint to kill babies.

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Dec 30, 2011 J. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A very character-based, philosophical book. Here, there is almost no action--the story is made up of Loki's dealings with the other Asgardians, his lies (especially to himself), and his reflections on fate. The parts about fate were particularly poignant, and the art was fantastic. The only problem was the ending, which was . . . startling? It certainly pushes the piece as a whole into the genre of Greek tragedy, but it is a little sudden on the heels of the rest of the piece.

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Sep 18, 2007 Rowal rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics

mengenal lokin dengan pola pikirnya..
memandang sosok dewa antagonis pendendam licik dan pecundang dari mata sang dewa itu sendiri..
sendu dan tragis..

entah knapa gw sering nemuin orang sperti ini..
bikin gw berempati..
mreka spertinya ga salah..
tapi kita yang salah..
cara kita memperlakukan mreka yang salah..
hweh..

buku yang bagus..
didukung artwork yang luar biasa pula..

lebih dari skedar komik..

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Oct 09, 2012 Elizabeth-Anne rated it 5 of 5 stars

If you have seen the movie Thor but are new to the comics, this is a good place to start, as it's sympathetic but never forgiving portrait of Loki is one shared by the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The story cleverly shows us Loki's point of view and brings understanding to how he is, while never condoning how far he has gone. There are no easy answers here, and it all leads to an emotionally devastating climax.

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Oct 10, 2012 larthia rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics

Excellent coloring, sad story.

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May 03, 2012 J.A. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: graphic-novels, nook-books, heavy-is-the-head

This was my second download on my nook. Once I got past the aggravation of a preordered item that did not automatically sync, I was able to view it on the release date. The paintings are not as impressive on the e-reader, but it is still a beautiful book.

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Mar 14, 2012 Ryan Haupt rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: comics

Paired with a PranQster from North Coast and written up on iFanboy. Please enjoy the comic completely and the beer responsibly.

Comic Shots: LOKI and PranQster

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About Robert Rodi

English version. Robert Rodi was born in 1956 in a suburb by Chicago, IL, USA. At the age of 22 he completed a degree in Philosophy. Primarily writing in comedy, his novel, "Fag Hag" published in 1991 was a huge success. He has written several other funny novels, numerous short stories and sketches. Robert lives in Chicago with his partner and their dog.

German version: Robert Rodi wurde 1956 in ei...more

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Quotes from Loki

“Over all the millennia, only you have ever loved me, Thor. Only you have ever looked at me with affection in place of condescension. Why, then, am I killing you, and not the others? Because you stopped.” — 2 people liked it

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