Saga, Volume One

On opposing sides of an interstellar war, Alana and Marko run off and marry, much to their superiors’ chagrin. The story opens with Alana giving birth to their daughter Hazel. The family barely has a chance to savor the moment before they are on the run again. Not only are their respective armies looking for them but assassins as well. This is going to make for a very strange childhood for Hazel, our narrator.
This book is irreverent, funny, gorgeous, and heavily influenced by Star Wars and other epic space operas. Staples’ artwork, particularly in all the fascinating alien designs, is amazing. She blends realism and fantasy in such a way that you can absolutely imagine that a giant spider-lady with eight eyes who wields several show more weapons in her many arms is an actual real thing you might encounter on an alien world. This is one of my favorite comic series and I’m happy to be doing a re-read while publication is on hiatus. show less

Every time I mention Saga to someone in their twenties, they invariably say, “Oh my gosh, have you read it? It’s AWESOME!” Anything that elicits this sort of response from my peers must be amazing, right? Right. Saga is one of the few things in life that lives up to its hype!

This is the year, the 25th of my life, in which I really decided to seriously read graphic novels/comic books. I started off with Neil Gaiman’s Marvel 1602, and my love for them has grown from there. With Saga, not only is Brian K. Vaughan’s writing impeccable, but Fiona Staples artwork absolutely sells the story. Saga makes me question why all of my favorite books are not illustrated so magnificently and has helped me understand why some people read show more nothing but comics.

I’m not ashamed to admit that I really struggled to understand the merits of comics until I read one myself. As a teacher, I would talk to parents who said their kids hated reading everything but comics /graphic novels/manga, and the parents were convinced that the comics weren’t really books or worth reading. I never judged the kids, so long as they read something I didn’t care, but I did find myself secretly agreeing with the parents. Comic books didn’t “count” the same way “real” books did.

Now I question how I lived so long without embracing the idea of a well-written and well-illustrated comic compendium. I’ve always admired Ben’s artistic ability and lauded him for it, but I considered his art to be “above” that of comic artists and video game artists. So wrong. So, so wrong. If I’ve learned one thing from reading graphic novels, it’s that literary masterpieces really do come in all shapes and sizes and I can say nothing more about Saga but that it is, truly, a masterpiece, and if you haven’t read it yet, well, what are you waiting for? show less

Summary: For as long as anyone can remember, there's been war between the technologically advanced people of Landfall, and the magic-wielding people of their moon, war that has since spread out to encompass their entire planetary system. But there are two soldiers that are fighting back - Alana (a Landfallian) smuggled the Moony Marko out of the prison they were guarding, and the book starts with them on the lam on a planet named Cleave, in the middle of the birth of their first child. Their unusual family is being hunted by operatives from both sides, including some of the deadliest bounty hunters the galaxy has to offer. All they want is to find a way off Cleave, and find a place where they can live in peace, but accomplishing those show more things will be difficult in a galaxy that views them as traitors and their daughter as a miscegenated abomination.

Review: Oh, this one was good. This is exactly the kind of graphic novel I shouldn't read, because it is funny, and in a cool world, and with interesting characters and a palpable sense of danger and really appealing artwork... and because this is only the first volume, which means I'm going to have to wait! Argh!

I think one of the things that appealed to me from the very first pages of the book was its similarity to Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone books. I mean, two peoples locked in a seemingly eternal war, with two soldiers from opposite sides falling in love with the enemy... it's just in this case, the girl's the one with the wings, and the guy's the one with the horns. But this series is more adult, and has a much more twisted sense of humor - I mean, the first line of dialogue is "Am I shitting?" But Alana and Marko are extremely interesting characters - good people, but with their fair share of flaws and bad decisions - and their relationship is interesting to watch develop. And I think Vaughan did a nice job of balancing the main story with the subplots, and providing enough details about the secondary storylines to keep me from feeling lost without distracting too much focus from the main action. The whole thing feels wonderfully epic and imaginative while still being relatable, and I can't wait to read more. (But I will have to wait. Argh, self, why do you keep starting awesome series before they're complete?) 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Not - repeat, NOT - for the kiddos. There's swearing and violence and some graphic sex. But for grown-ups, it's got a lot of elements that I think would make it appealing to fans of sci-fi/fantasy. (In particular, I'm getting a Whedon-esque vibe from it, although I can't put my finger on exactly why.) show less

I don't read comics. I didn't quite know what to expect when I was going to give a try to an "adult graphic novel". It was odd, the mix of art and story... I totally loved it.

I never thought I would care about a comic where there is a mom with wings and a dad with horns and a baby with both. They are of races fighting a war, and everyone is trying to track the couple and their kid down, because "fraternizing with the enemy" is unforgiveable. Mom's world is technology-based, dad's race fights with magic - we are lead to believe everyone is interested in the result of the marriage of the two.

Sounds corny, right? Well, it is a bit, but it is really tongue-in-cheek and imaginative. I was sold when the grease monkey they rented the garage show more from turned out to be, well, a monkey in a mechanic outfit. I loved the robots that are totally human except for their heads. They have sex and babies and sit on the toilet and are addressed as royalty. Prince Robot IV. There is a bit too much graphic sex and gore to my taste, I am wondering if that is the genre or just this book.

The art is beautiful and loved the humor in the rendering of various creatures. The narration about the trials of new parenthood is spot on - although these parents have it a bit worse than usual. The love between the characters is beautifully presented and funny, Alana is a fun and tough chick. I wish Izabel wouldn't have her guts sticking out, otherwise she is great.

Really fun and short, I want to read the sequels! show less

*review of volumes 1-3 as a whole*

Each of these volumes collects about five issues of the comic book Saga, which follows two soldiers from opposite sides of a centuries' long war who have fallen in love, had a child, and are now on the run from a variety of baddies who are trying to track them down. The story is first rate, with action, humor, and truly touching moments in about equal measure. And the bad guys are just as interesting as the goodies (I want them all to be okay. This is not possible. And some of the baddies have done very bad things to the goodies. But they have their own reasons and lives and. And and and. Squee.) I'm about as invested in this story and these characters as I have been in any story I've ever read, and I show more can't wait until the next volume comes out (and I'm just OCD enough about editions that I'm making myself wait for the next collection rather than trying to hunt down the individual issues). The artwork is also gorgeous. Recommended. (Do take heed of that "mature" rating, though.) show less

Goodreads has been recommending this one to me for some time, and good many of the people I follow here have gushed with praise. My local library had a copy so I figured that I'd finally pick it up. I burned through it in two days. I only put it down because I had to sleep. Then I read it again.

As per the book blurb, two soldiers on the opposite side of a war fall in love and conceive a child. All they want now is to be left alone to raise her in peace. But the opposing factions have been at it for so long, that talk like that is treasonous, blasphemy. Now they're being hunted down in order to stifle their narrative busting idea that peace between their worlds is possible.

There's a American-Soviet Cold War parallel here. Both worlds show more recognized early on that they'd grown too powerful. If the war continued on their respective worlds (one is a moon of the other planet), the damage would be catastrophic and likely lead to mutually assured destruction. So instead, they've exported their war to other worlds in the galaxy. Forced to choose sides, the locals soon realize the hard way that it's a lose-lose situation. Worlds are mined; people are executed for collaborating with the enemy. They've become collateral damage in a war without end.

I get a slight Heavy Metal vibe (film or comic). It most notably comes through in the scenes on the pleasure planet, Sextillion. There's also Saga's juxtaposition of magic and technology in a space fantasy setting that lends a commonality to Heavy Metal, though Saga seems more grounded with its adult themes—some of them dark—than some of the latter's absurdist stories.

But enough of the comparisons. Brian Vaughn has written a compelling story, told with straightforward dialogue and populated with a whole smorgasbord of mashup aliens, wonderfully rendered by Fiona Staples. Staples' artwork captures the fantastic elements of the story and perfectly conveys the emotions of its characters. I love the color palette. The backgrounds look like they're watercolors while the characters are rendered in solid colors.

I have to give this five stars. I can't think of a reason why I shouldn't. show less

If I believed in some mystical power in the universe, pulling strings in order to line things up exactly right for me, I might almost imagine that this series was sent to me as a gift, a boon, a salve for my disappointment in giving up on the X-Men. Because, honey, this book is all kinds of things I didn't eve know I needed wrapped up in a bow like Christmas.

Let's start with the cover. SImple, striking. Enough to arrest my attention as I glanced at it on my way to an unrelated section of the bookstore on a very specific errand. Then, whose name is on the cover but Brian K. Vaughan, author of Y: The Last Man, a series which I loved dearly and have been thinking of fondly again recently as I've been pondering how to get a friend hooked show more on graphic novels. The synopsis on the back didn't have much work to do to sell me before I was bringing it home.

Then, the story. Seriously. This story. Two soldiers of two different species who have been at war for generations upon generations fall in love. And we're dropped into the story just as Alana is giving birth. Oh, and Alana has wings, and Marko has horns. And there are assassins, and robots, and ghosts, and spaceship trees, and atrocities, and humor, and the whole thing is narrated in past tense by the very child they've just brought into being.

As each new fantastical element is dolloped on, there is a brief wobble. The mind doubts, thinks, "Oh, well now this is when the whole tower will collapse under the weight of its own hubris." But it never does. I was propelled on, needing to know what could possibly happen next.

Given all the novel elements and the small size of this trade paperback, the plot was just getting off the ground when the final page was turned. I am so impatient to get to what's next, I may be forced to follow the individual issues. (I'll buy the TPBs, too, who am I kidding?)

I am sold on this story. Outright. show less