I read this entire series in comic book form when it first came out, and based on my memories of that years-long reading experience, I'd probably have rated it 4-stars, but this chance to read the whole thing under one cover shows me that the series didn't necessarily age that well despite wrapping up just over a decade ago.

The general concept is that Mitchell Hundred retires from being a superhero (he has voice control over all machines) to become the out-of-nowhere, independent candidate who wins the 2001 election for mayor of New York City. Each story arc has him dealing with some political crisis while flashbacks show his superhero career and slowly reveal parts of his origin story and how the source of his powers will lead to the biggest crisis of his career and life.

A lot of the series rides on shock value, starting with an alternate outcome for the September 11th attacks. Sometimes that shock can backfire like in the first arc where these are prominent uses of the N-word in a meta situation with a white artist using the word to get attention. Or a white police officer's shooting of an unarmed black man that is brushed under the rug by the man's family and the city government.

I'm bothered by the frequent casual homophobic cracks and slurs made by several members of the cast. Late in the series there is an attempt to explain why one character was doing it, but that didn't make the earlier remarks less jarring.

Also, as I read it in one go I started to notice a trend where women who are powerful and/or opinionated and who have transgressed in some way against the main character are killed in cruel fashion. Many men are killed in violent ways also, but they tend to be side characters. One of the three or four men closest to Hundred ends up dead, whereas half of the six women most prominent in his life die.

Finally, while I have good memories of the stories from the beginning and middle of the series, I had forgotten how dark the ending was. Make sure you have your seatbelts on.

Overall, I still enjoyed the book despite my present-day misgivings, but now I'm worried that in ten or twenty years I'll wonder what I thought was so great about Saga. Please no! ( )