<P> Thor was one of the founding members of this superhuman team, and often led them in battle against his brother . Several times Loki, while not directly battling Thor himself, caused threats for Thor to battle, like increasing the mental powers of a carnival fortune teller Sandu, making him powerful enough to lift buildings with his mind, and releasing a Lava man called Molto by accident when he caused a long - dead volcano to explode . When Loki convinced Odin to punish Thor, Odin took away half of Thor's power, after which Loki returned the memory of the 23rd century villain Zarrko . Zarrko defeated Thor and took him back to help conquer his time period, although the God of Thunder was able to finally capture the villain . Loki even released Mr. Hyde and Cobra by paying their bail, then doubled their powers . Loki told them to kidnap Jane Foster, which he knew would attract Thor's attention, but they were again defeated . Loki finally went after Jane Foster himself, sending her to another dimension . However Doctor Strange was able to protect her, and Thor forced Loki to return her . </P> <P> Among Loki's better known henchmen was the human criminal Carl "The Crusher" Creel, whom Loki transformed into the superhuman criminal known as the Absorbing Man . Creel would prove to be a formidable adversary to Thor over the years . Loki went so far as to attempt to turn Odin against Thor and to steal Thor's enchanted hammer, Mjolnir in an attempt to free himself, but all his efforts failed . When he convinced Odin to go to Earth and leave him in charge of Asgard with part of the Odinforce, he released Skagg, the largest Storm Giant, and Surtur, the huge Fire Demon, to try to destroy Odin . However Thor and Balder helped defeat the monsters, and Loki was sent to serve the Trolls . Loki was responsible for the Destroyer being awakened, by leading a Hunter to the Temple where the Destroyer armor resided using his mental abilities while Thor was nearby, causing the Hunter's soul to animate the armor, but Thor forced the Hunter to return to his body, then buried the armor under thousands of tons of rock . The Absorbing Man was brought back to Earth by Loki, and battled Thor, but Loki quickly took him to Asgard when Thor was on the verge of defeating him . The Absorbing Man defeated the Asgardians without too much trouble and absorbed Odin's attacks . However Loki and his ally were exiled into space due to a trick by Odin . He sent his astral form back to Earth and took over the Destroyer armor, attempting to take over Asgard, but Odin sent Balder to discover the location of Loki, then used his powers to send Loki out of the Destroyer armor . </P> <P> Loki's destiny to be the cause of Ragnarok was later recounted . Loki returned from his exile in space, but was then stripped of his powers and exiled to Earth by Odin . Loki plotted to gain new powers from Karnilla; however, this accidentally created the Wrecker, who gained Asgardian powers when he was mistaken for Loki after knocking him out and putting on his helmet just before Karnilla appeared in response to Loki's ritual . He almost killed Thor by collapsing a building on him, as Thor had been stripped of all his powers except his strength by Odin . Loki then fomented a battle between Thor and the Destroyer animated by Sif . Loki then took command of Asgard during the Odinsleep, using his right as the' son' of Odin before Thor could claim it, but fled when Asgard was invaded by Mangog as he realized that this new foe was too powerful . </P> <P> Loki later usurped the throne of Asgard by taking the Odinring, but fled again when Asgard was invaded by Surtur . He subsequently attempted to destroy Thor by switching bodies with him, leaving him with Thor's raw strength against Thor's inexperienced use of his magic, but Thor was able to regain his true appearance by tricking Loki into throwing Mjolnir away so that it became stuck in a cliff, causing Thor's body to return to the form of Donald Blake and allowing Thor to regain control of his true form . Much later, Loki usurped the throne of Asgard again, and set the Destroyer against Thor once more . Shortly after that, Loki caused the temporary death of Balder using mistletoe, as he had conspired with Hela to cause Ragnarok if his last plan failed . At this time, Loki's estranged wife Sigyn returned to Asgard . When Loki was chained and a viper dripped poison onto his face as punishment for killing Balder, Sigyn tried helping him . Loki attempted to bring about Ragnarok, but was foiled by Odin . Alongside Tyr and his forces, Loki stole the golden apples of Idunna and invaded Asgard with help from the Midgard serpent, but then changed sides and aided Odin's forces in defeating Tyr . </P>

How many times has loki died in the comics