A Brilliant Saga

I'm so far behind in my comics reading, it isn't funny. One comic I've been anxious to read, but never quite got around to reading, til this week, is Image's Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples. In two sittings, I read issues 1-12.

I'd bought the individual issues and the trades, and my intent was to read the single issues, toss them, and just keep the trades, but the issues have letter columns, and what amazing lettercols they are! Vaughan is writing them, and they are much fun, with fan art and recipes and all kinds of stuff he's asked people to send in. So, I guess I have to keep the issues, too.

As for the stories, I can't do an issue-to-issue review, having read them all. They're 2 small stories thus far in a bigger story, that of Hazel, who is the narrator from some time in an unspecified future, and her parents, Alana and Marko. Alana and Marko are different species that are at war. Alana is a winged person from a planet called Landfall and Marko, a horned person from Landfall's moon, was a prisoner of the Landfall forces. The war had long ago moved to proxy planets. Alana and Marko fell in love, escaped, married, and had a baby. In fact, Hazel's birth is the opening scene, and from there, the story alternates between flashbacks and the present, filling in the backstories of Alana and Marko.

There are other characters, too, and lots of danger, because both Alana and Marko's people are after them. They want to kill Hazel's parents and take her for who knows what purpose. So there are bounty hunters after them. There are also a lot of freakish looking aliens, but what there's more of than anything, is a lot of heart.

The dialogue is crisp and each character is a fully realized individual. Hazel's narration, scrawled by Staples to accompany her evocative art, has a voice so clear you can visualize the woman she is destined to become. If you haven't read Saga, or haven't been sure if it's worth the time, it is very much worth reading. Including the lettercols. I so freakin' love Alana, Marko, and this book, so much so that it just vaulted to the top of my list. It does have adult content, so do keep that in mind.