This is my personal recommended reading list for new readers.  This is a collection of my favourite arcs, and what I would consider “core” reading.  You may notice that it is not necessarily in order, and that much of it is within around 10-15 years old.  This is because as a title gets much older than that, it becomes less relevant and can even become an outright chore to read, and the newer stuff is an absolute nightmare to start with.

I like to recommend from around this point in the comics because it’s all fairly straightforward (as much as a Marvel comic can be), and doesn’t require a lot of title hopping to keep up.  Once the main series starts branching off and doing weird things, I suggest going on to some of the other lists and following titles marked with ✨. 

I’ve also included a lot of random little things that don’t have anything to do with anything, but which are very fun, low-stakes reads that aren’t convoluted to all hell.


📵 – Not available on Marvel Unlimited
💥 – Recommended starting points
✨ – Core/Recommended reading
📱 – Marvel Unlimited exclusive

#TitleVolumeIssueRelease DateCover DateNotes
1Thor: Season One (2013)1#1Oct 2 2013Dec 2013This is a weird one that I absolutely love. It's main continuity, but also really, really not. It's a primer for the lore, quickly establishing who the main players are and what makes the world turn. Don't look for a Season Two, because there isn't one. This is part of an ongoing process by Marvel to make it as difficult as possible to get into comics. I'm putting this one right here at the top because if you read this one, you don't have to slog through all those Silver Age comics that can make you want to claw your eyes out from silted dialogue and bizarre art.
2Thor (1966)1#617Nov 10 2010Jan 2011Sometimes this run gets lumped in with vol 3, which is also quite good and elsewhere on this list. I recommend starting here for new readers because this is a quick arc that establishes what the current stuff is doing now.
3Thor (1966)1#618Dec 8 2010Feb 2011
4Thor (1966)1#619Jan 19 2011Mar 2011
5Thor (1966)1#620Feb 23 2011Apr 2011
6Thor (1966)1#620.1Mar 23 2011May 2011This is a "Point One" issue, which for a while were being used as unofficial starting points in order to avoid launching a new volume. Unfortunately for Marvel, they wound up being confusing as hell and tended to take place somewhere other than the comic it was released after.
7Thor (1966)1#621Mar 30 2011May 2011Inexplicably, the series was renamed BACK to Journey into Mystery after this. Marvel were just going all out of their way to confuse and alienate readers at this point.
8Thor (2007)3#1Jul 5 2007Sep 2007Taking a step backwards to what came before. If the Point One, and renaming to JiM weren't confusing enough, volume 3 takes place and was even released before the above volume 1 issues. This run explains why Asgard is in Oklahoma, and why Loki is a small child. It also takes place after Ragnarok, which I've listed below because I highly recommend it, although many people found it very intense.
9Thor (2007)3#2Aug 1 2007Oct 2007
10Thor (2007)3#3Sep 12 2007Nov 2007
11Thor (2007)3#4Nov 14 2007Dec 2007
12Thor (2007)3#5Dec 28 2007Jan 2008This is where things start to get sticky. It's the infamous "Lady Loki" arc, and whatever you've heard about it from Tumblr, throw it all out the window. This arc is Loki at his absolute most depraved. It has nothing to do with his sexuality or gender, although he may have learned some things about himself during this arc. This is the arc where he steals Sif's body and parades it around half-naked because he can.
13Thor (2007)3#6Feb 27 2008Feb 2008
14Thor (2007)3#7Mar 19 2008May 2008
15Thor (2007)3#8Apr 23 2008Jun 2008
16Thor (2007)3#9May 29 2008Jul 2008
17Thor (2007)3#10Jul 30 2008Sep 2008
18Thor (2007)3#11Oct 29 2008Nov 2008
19Thor (2007)3#12Dec 24 2008Jan 2009
20Thor (1966)1#600Feb 11 2009Apr 2009After #12, volume 3 was re-numbered to 600 and slots back into volume 1. It picks up the exact same story, but the numbering is different. I don't know why they do this.
21Thor (1966)1#601Apr 22 2009Jun 2009
22Thor (1966)1#602Jun 24 2009Aug 2009
23Thor (1966)1#603Sep 30 2009Nov 2009
24Thor (1966)1#604Dec 3 2009Feb 2010
25Thor (1966)1#605Dec 23 2009Feb 2010
26Thor (1966)1#606Jan 27 2010Mar 2010
27Thor Giant-Size Finale (2009)1#1Nov 25 2009Jan 2010This directly follows Vol 1 #603, and wraps up that bit of the story before leading into Siege.
28Thor (1966)1#607Feb 24 2010Apr 2010This begins Siege, which was an entire ordeal that encompassed almost every facet of the Marvel Universe. I am compiling a full list for this event elsewhere, if you would like to read the whole thing. Otherwise, you should be able to follow this story with minimal confusion with the issues listed here.
29Thor (1966)1#608Mar 24 2010May 2010
30Thor (1966)1#609Apr 28 2010Jun 2010
31Thor (1966)1#610May 26 2010Jul 2010
32Thor (1966)1#611Jun 30 2010Aug 2010
33Thor (1966)1#612Jul 28 2010Sep 2010
34Thor (1966)1#613Aug 25 2010Oct 2010
35Thor (1966)1#614Sep 8 2010Nov 2010
36Thor (1966)1#615Sep 22 2010Nov 2010
37Thor (1966)1#616Oct 13 2010Dec 2010
38Journey into Mystery (1952)1#646Nov 21 2012Jan 2013After Siege, the main title got obscenely convoluted and has not managed to un-arse itself since. There's a lot of good stuff that comes next, but I can't recommend it to a new reader because the story bounces between two titles at once in the most bizarre way. To follow everything after Siege in order, see the Kid Loki list (Agent of Asgard is absent from this list because it needs Loki's run of Journey into Mystery to understand). Instead, this is a short run that Sif helmed for a while, continuing the ongoing themes of identity and self-worth. It's a very fun, light-hearted romp which unfortunately can't stand on its own too well, and needs all that stuff up there to kind of understand.
39Journey into Mystery (1952)1#647Dec 19 2012Feb 2013
40Journey into Mystery (1952)1#648Jan 20 2013Mar 2013
41Journey into Mystery (1952)1#649Feb 27 2013Apr 2013
42Journey into Mystery (1952)1#650Mar 27 2013May 2013
43Journey into Mystery (1952)1#651Apr 24 2013Jun 2013
44Journey into Mystery (1952)1#652May 22 2013Jul 2013
45Journey into Mystery (1952)1#653Jun 26 2013Aug 2013
46Journey into Mystery (1952)1#654Jul 24 2013Sep 2013
47Journey into Mystery (1952)1#655Aug 28 2013Oct 2013After this point if you would like to continue on with the main continuity, I would recommend either visiting the Siege or Kid Loki reading lists, and following any titles marked with ✨. If you choose to launch into the Current Continuity reading list, here's a spoilery TL;DR: The Loki who got blown up during Siege made a deal with Hela and Mephisto that resulted in his soul not carrying on to an afterlife. He made himself a horcrux of sorts and hid it in a trans-dimensional pocket, which his reincarnated child self found and stuffed into a magpie that didn't really exist, and named it Ikol. Despite not existing, that magpie killed the kid and took over his body. Something went wrong; either enough of the kid survived, or somehow the horcrux was made wrong and Ikol found himself burdened with a big old disgusting conscience loaded with guilt. He stole some powers while on a mad romp with the Young Avengers and aged himself up to a young adult, just in time for another, older version of Loki to start running around and causing problems. Ikol again blows himself up and seemingly reincarnates once more into a greasy chaos gremlin who seems to be the version currently running around today. Also, he's king of Jotunheim, and once ran for President of the USA. War of the Realms was a wholeass acid trip. Read that for more on whatever's going on with Loki.
48Thor (1998)2#80Aug 2004This starts Ragnarok, which is balls to the wall insanity. The main Thor title stopped for a few years after this while Marvel took a step back and fiddled with a bunch of different ways to reboot the lore. Some of those, I've listed below. I can't find solid release info for this run, but the Marvel apps tend to default to the cover date anyway.
49Thor (1998)2#81Aug 2004
50Thor (1998)2#82Sep 2004
51Thor (1998)2#83Oct 2004
52Thor (1998)2#84Nov 2004
53Thor (1998)2#85Dec 2004
54Thor: God of Thunder (2013)1#1Nov 14 2012Jan 2013This technically picks up from a run that I didn't list above, but it really has nothing to do with anything that happened before it. Love and Thunder is heavily influenced by this run. The art is gorgeous, the story terrifying, and this run remains one of my favourites.
55Thor: God of Thunder (2013)1#2Nov 28 2012Jan 2013
56Thor: God of Thunder (2013)1#3Dec 19 2012Feb 2013
57Thor: God of Thunder (2013)1#4Jan 9 2013Mar 2013
58Thor: God of Thunder (2013)1#5Feb 20 2013Apr 2013
59Thor: God of Thunder (2013)1#6Mar 13 2013May 2013
60Thor: God of Thunder (2013)1#7Apr 10 2013Jun 2013
61Thor: God of Thunder (2013)1#8May 8 2013Jul 2013
62Thor: God of Thunder (2013)1#9Jun 12 2013Aug 2013
63Thor: God of Thunder (2013)1#10Jul 17 2013Sep 2013
64Thor: God of Thunder (2013)1#11Aug 14 2013Oct 2013
65Thor: God of Thunder (2013)1#12Aug 28 2013Oct 2013
66Thor: God of Thunder (2013)1#13Sep 18 2013Nov 2013
67Thor: God of Thunder (2013)1#14Oct 9 2013Dec 2013
68Thor: God of Thunder (2013)1#15Nov 13 2013Jan 2014
69Thor: God of Thunder (2013)1#16Dec 18 2013Feb 2014
70Thor: God of Thunder (2013)1#17Jan 15 2014Mar 2014
71Thor: God of Thunder (2013)1#18Jan 29 2014Mar 2014
72Thor: God of Thunder (2013)1#19Feb 12 2014Apr 2014
73Thor: God of Thunder (2013)1#20Mar 19 2014Mar 2014
74Thor: God of Thunder (2013)1#21Apr 16 2014Jun 2014
75Thor: God of Thunder (2013)1#22May 7 2014Jul 2014
76Thor: God of Thunder (2013)1#23Jun 18 2014Aug 2014
77Thor: God of Thunder (2013)1#24Jul 2 2014Sep 2014
78Thor: God of Thunder (2013)1#25Sep 17 2014Nov 2014This issue leads into Jane becoming Thor, which spans multiple runs in the most confusing way possible. For that one, you'll want the War of the Realms list, particularly those marked with ✨. I don't know why Marvel insists on making their comics as difficult to follow as possible.
79Loki (2004)1#1Jul 8 2004Sep 2004Sometimes also titled Thor & Loki: Blood Brothers, because it gets confused with the motion comic. This is a short, non-canon series that explores the idea of what would happen to Asgard if Loki won.
80Loki (2004)1#2Jul 21 2004Sep 2004
81Loki (2004)1#3Aug 18 2004Oct 2004
82Loki (2004)1#4Oct 6 2004Nov 2004
83Loki (2010)2#1Oct 20 2010Dec 2010This one is a retelling of some of the more well-known myths surrounding Loki, reframed to fit within the main continuity. It shows how he went from Thor's beloved brother to the biggest problem Asgard has ever faced. This recently got a reprint with Ikol on the cover. It was very weird and I don't know why they did that.
84Loki (2010)2#2Dec 15 2010Feb 2011
85Loki (2010)2#3Feb 16 2011Apr 2011
86Loki (2010)2#4Mar 16 2011May 2011
87Thor: The Mighty Avenger (2010)1#1Jul 8 2010Sep 2010This is another primer for the lore, but done in a very different way that I really like. It takes Don Blake out of the equation entirely and leaves Thor confused and stumbling around very similarly to the way we saw in the first film. This is also notable for being the first time we see Loki being genuinely helpful in his own irritating way, rather than being slotted into the role of the villain.
88Thor: The Mighty Avenger (2010)1#2Jul 28 2010Sep 2010
89Thor: The Mighty Avenger (2010)1#3Aug 11 2010Oct 2010
90Thor: The Mighty Avenger (2010)1#4Sep 9 2010Nov 2010
91Thor: The Mighty Avenger (2010)1#5Oct 13 2010Dec 2010
92Thor: The Mighty Avenger (2010)1#6Nov 24 2010Jan 2011
93Thor: The Mighty Avenger (2010)1#7Dec 8 2010Feb 2011
94Thor: The Mighty Avenger (2010)1#8Jan 12 2011Mar 2011
95What If? Thor (2018)1#1Oct 24 2018Dec 2018Cute little oneshot that takes place outside the main continuity and flips the roles: What if Thor were raised by frost giants?
96Alligator Loki (2022)1OngoingMar 11 2022Mar 2022This is a Marvel Unlimited exclusive that gets a release every couple of weeks (I'll update this list to include all the issues once the series completes). It's completely stupid, and funny as hell, running with one of the stranger parts of the TV show. Loki's an alligator, and he's here to cause chaos. That's all.

There is so, so much more to read after this, but if you’re a brand new to comics, this is where I would suggest starting off before using the other lists to explore different avenues.  If you’re here for Loki, you may have been recced Agent of Asgard, Vote Loki, or the 2019 run, but those are honestly the last places I would suggest starting.  I have not included any of these runs because they are all so complicated and convoluted that even long-time readers had a hard time following some parts without a second or third read.