Saga: Volume 2–>
Title: Saga: Volume 1
Series Title: Saga
Author: Brian K. Vaughan
Artist: Fiona Staples
Date Added: September 28, 2016
Date Started: May 15, 2017
Date Finished: May 23, 2017
Reading Duration: 8 days
Genre: Graphic Novel/Comic, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Paranormal Romance, Space Opera
Recommended by: Cupcakes and Machetes
Pages: 160
Publication Date: October 10, 2012
Publisher: Image Comics
Media: Paperback
When two soldiers from opposite sides of a never-ending galactic war fall in love, they risk everything to bring a fragile new life into a dangerous old universe.
From bestselling writer Brian K. Vaughan, Saga is the sweeping tale of one young family fighting to find their place in the worlds. Fantasy and science fiction are wed like never before in this sexy, subversive drama for adults.
I never read comic books growing up. Not that I had anything against them. I make no judgments about the media you consume. All narratives are worthy of discourse regardless how they’re presented. Comics and graphic novels just never passed into my zone of consumption until a college postmodern class where I was more than happy to read Watchmen. Though even without that experience, I can’t say they weren’t part of my sphere of influence, though I might not have known at the time.
I was obsessed with MTV’s The Maxx and Aeon Flux, the former, which began as a comic/graphic novel and the latter, which has one in the form of The Herodotus Files (currently on my TBR list), and this fails to even mention the plethora of movies that are based on comic books e.g. anything involving superheros like Superman, Batman, the Avengers (Loki!), etc. nor are comics limited to just that as my favorite movie for years Constantine is based off the comic Hellblazer. There are more that I can’t speak on due to ignorance, but suffice it to say that comics and graphic novels are no mean genre deserving of ridicule, nor would someone like me who constantly defends video games from the same vitriol ever make such an ill-informed claim.
Saga came highly recommended not only by Cupcakes and Machetes, but by, well, everyone. Anyone I spoke to about this graphic novel did nothing but sing its praises so I was anxious to get my hot, little hands on it, and I was beyond blown away. There is no point that is boring or tedious, and though its broken into chapters, each ends on a cliff that forces you to drop down to the next ledge.
Vaughn’s narrative and Staples’s visuals weave a tale of moon crossed lovers who started out on opposites of a war no one even remembers why they’re fighting, and the glib description of the “horns and the wings” presents a glaring metaphor for the ancient battle between Heaven and Hell that’s hard to deny, but there are no simple good guys or bad guys in this war (there never are). There’s only a little family trying to survive a universe that wants them dead and enslaved. Assassins are on the hunt for Alana and Marko with instructions to take their baby Hazel into custody for god only knows what. It’s also blatantly obvious that “breeding with a moony,” which is what horned Marko’s people are called, is considered the utmost abomination, but former soldier Alana and prior prisoner Marko couldn’t care less about that.
Cue the free lance assassin’s The Will and The Stalk out to collect the bounty, and you’d think it would be an easy opposition of “defeat the bad guys,” but Saga makes you care about both sides for various reasons. Obviously, you don’t want Marko, Alana, and Hazel in harm’s way, but when The Will and his sidekick Lying Cat visit the sex planet and Will comes across a pimp peddling a six year old girl, there’s only one recourse for that.
I truly never knew what the fuck was going to happen next. What random monster or situation was going to pop up, whether or not a planet was going to hatch, Marko’s former fiancee was going to call down lightning, or a robot prince was going to order hits while sitting on the toilet, and it all makes sense in the context of the story. Let’s also talk about representation, because besides aliens, ghost babysitters, and spider lady assassins, there is a shit ton of that, as well.
Saga deserves every accolade it’s received and more. I cannot stress how phenomenal it is, and even if you’re not a comic book reader, this is something you’ll want to pick up. It is not for children or the younger crowd, despite what many assume that genre caters to, and I’m currently on the second volume as I’m writing this, will probably read the rest as rapidly as I can, and I’m already thinking of an Alana cosplay.
5 stars.
The Shameful Narcissist Speaks 
It really is great and goes from strength to strength in each volume. Certainly one of the best series out there right now.
I’d like to recommend Locke & Key as another excellent series. Only 6 books long but a tremendous horror story.
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I have Locke and Key! It’s sitting in my immense book pile right now. I’ll probably read it after I finish Saga 🙂
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I’m glad you enjoyed it as much as I did! I don’t read comics much at all, but I was pleased I checked this one out. I highly approve of what Will did on that awful planet, Lying Cat is awesome, and OMG you really have no idea what is going to happen next, haha. I need to check out the other Volumes soon. Unfortunately, someone keeps informing me about so many other things I need to read 🙂
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Guilty as charged lol #noshame I started Volume 2 immediately, and omg I keep going back to that scene with The Will. That was amazing. I was going to start reading my Zelda manga after I finished Volume 1, but I HAD to buy the second in the series *sigh* I see me spending a lot of money on this in the near future. They’re quite a bit expensive. I think the first was around $8, but the second was like $11.99 o.O Worth it though!
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Saga is one of my favorite series in comics currently. It’s such a great space opera.
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YAY! I didn’t get into comics until I was a teenager and most of it wasn’t superhero related. (Was OBSESSED with Jhonen Vasquez.)
I need to get Vol.3 of this. Problem is I fly through it so fast because I sit down and read a whole volume in one go and then, am incredibly upset when I don’t have the next volume waiting to go lol.
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The one comic I’ve had on my TBR list for years is The Maxx because I absolutely loved the MTV show, and I want to know more about it, but I never actually read a comic/graphic novel until Watchmen.
I just bought Volumes 3 and 4 because I cannot be trusted with access to Amazon, but I’m hoping they’ll hold me for at least two weeks, because I’m just breezing through them.
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I’ve never heard of The Maxx. What’s it about?
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Alright, so the Maxx was this 90s MTV cartoon that came on as part of this block of shows that also included Aeon Flux. I had no idea it was based on a comic book until years later, but it’s about this social worker who’s an assault survivor and this homeless guy in a purple costume and mask who thinks he’s a superhero. He flashes back and forth between our world and this world called the Outback, where the social worker whose name is Julie Winters is his Jungle Queen. It sounds mental, but it’s actually really, really good. He fights this villain named Mr. Gone who it turns out was Julie’s attacker who was also a friend of her father when she was a child. The show is a bit spotty and things happen and you’re like “Wait, when did Maxx move in with Julie,” and I know the graphic novel smooths a lot of that out. There’s a lot of “What’s actually happening, and what’s actually Maxx’s messed up head?” stuff going on, too. It’s been years since I watched it, so I hope it’s still as awesome as my teenage brain recalls lol.
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Sounds really interesting!
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Awww yeahhh! Haha I’ve been so excited for this review. 😀 I’m so happy you loved it so much. And an Alana cosplay would be awesome!!
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I actually just finished the second volume and I ordered 3 and 4 from Amazon. I’m probably going to tear through this series like wildfire!
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Oh, wow! I can’t blame you one bit! I’ve only gotten to read the first two volumes so far, so you’ll definitely be beating me to it! 😛 I can’t blame you one bit though, the series is addicting.
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It so is! I just received volumes 3 and 4 today in the mail. I’m probably going to order volume 5 once I finish 3, because I”m so hooked ♥
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Did you by any chance watch Dead@21 back in the day?
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No I didn’t! What’s this about?
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It was a live action show about this guy who turns 20 and suddenly these people show up on his doorstep saying that he was part of some weird genetic experiments as a child that make him super smart, but they’re also going to cause him to die when he turns 21. He then goes on the run to try to find the guy who did the experiments hoping that he’ll save him and is chased along the way by some evil government assassin guy that’s trying to capture him for more experiments. It only lasted one short season and ended on some massive cliffhanger where he meets some other people like him who teach him that he can join them in this weird virtual mental realm where he can live out whole lifetimes in a few seconds of real time. It was on back in the Liquid Television days, but I have yet to meet anyone else that saw it.
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That sounds amazing! I was all about Liquid Television back in the day! I remember that’s where I first saw Aeon Flux and there was this weird cartoon that was from Canada. I think it might have been called “Oh Canada.” I’d watch something like that, but it sucks it ended on that major cliffhanger.
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