I knew Saga would be good. So many people told me it would be good. I still didn’t expect it to be this good. Viscerally good. I want to drop my plans for the rest of the week and re-read it and then read volumes 2 – 4. The stars on this go up to 6.
In my last review, I spent a lot of time complaining about one of the female character’s costumes, and how was I supposed to take Gamora seriously as a deadly assassin when it looked like her boobs were about to pop out, and I’m pretty sure I could see her uterus. So it was kind of nice to start Saga off with a man staring at a woman’s uterus and then be shown a bared breast and have it be appropriate. Just look at the cover.
Fiona Staples artwork is as amazing as Brian K. Vaughan’s story, and neither would be as rich without the other.
Alana and Marco are dynamic characters in just a very few panels. Their love for each other and their newborn daughter is captured on their faces in Staples art. Without a lot of ponderous information dumps, the universe and the peril facing the young family is illuminated. The antagonist characters are quickly made complex, but also frightening. Even the protagonists’ allies are visually scary, but terribly charming.
I kind of fell in love with Izabel.
Saga’s universe is a scary, crazy, fucked up, violent place. But a romance novel seems to be the key to two enemies falling in love and creating a blend of their warring races. Even if you’ve never read or been interested in reading a graphic novel, read this one. It’s fantastic. And I must thank Mrs. Smith again for including this in my Cannonball Book Exchange Box. You have no idea how hard it was not to read this as soon as it came out of the box.