In ‘Loki: Agent of Asgard’ #3, we saw that the old trickster Loki has been playing an extremely long game in order to get what he wants. Once again Al Ewing shows that he is crafting a glorious tale of deceit and trickery giving us only pieces of the puzzle. Alongside the writer, Lee Garbett delivers an amazing look that compliments the story we are being told. Yes that means we have another winning issue on our hands!

While the last installment had us once again in the past, ‘Loki: Agent of Asgard’ #4 puts us back to Loki in modern times. He’s casually taking a break playing video games when suddenly a pixelated version of the All-Mothers pops into his game and lets him know what will happen if he doesn’t fulfill his duty after failing to capture Lorelei in the second issue. Well, by failing to capture her we know that he has recruited her for his own ends but what those are,  you’ll have to wait and see.

So the All-Mothers want him to complete another mission and capture the once great hero Sigurd to prevent him from roaming the Earth and doing his own thing. We’ve seen in the last issue that he has his own plans after attempting to retrieve his old sword.

A lot happens in this issue. From a quaint dinner with a certain human who can’t be lied to (which includes the trick to making good salmon), a theft of the sword of truth, an epic fight scene, a deal to change one’s fate with a dark master of the arts, another appearance of a well known trickster, all in all Loki is once again getting what he wants. Is there a lot going on due to good writing? Or is it all simply a matter of deception to keep the reader guessing?

It’s hard to say. What isn’t hard to say is that the issue closes with his purpose starting to become a little more clear as Loki now has a new mission. This is a mission of his own design and one that requires a little help from his friends, old and new.

I have to tell you, the way this one ended has me eagerly looking forward to how the next will play out! Assuming we don’t get more time travelling Old Loki and more of what Young Loki has up his sleeve. Or is it actually Old Loki that has a trick up his sleeve? Both seem to have long term plans in place but one has to wonder which of these two is the one actually orchestrating the events that we are reading? I suspect that the help from Loki’s friends might all be a part of the elder Loki’s plan to find a way to once again have true freedom instead of the limited freedom that he used to change his past for a better future. Mysteries and riddles that I feel we are probably nowhere near solving.

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LOKI: AGENT OF ASGARD #4
Writer: Al Ewing
Artist: Lee Garbett