Two years ago, my sister loaned me issues of a comic she’d gotten into, Saga. “It’s really, really good. You’re going to love it.” I agreed, mostly to get her to stop talking about it. One thing led to another, and somehow, I kept putting it off. The Chancellor read several issues and agreed with my sister. And still…I kept forgetting to read it. But then, she came over last weekend, and I decided that I needed to give her back her comics, but I’d check out Volume 1 from my library. And oh, man. Oh, man. Sister, you were totally right about Saga.
If you’ve never read Saga, you need to stop reading my review and go order yourself a copy or go get one from your local library. It’s really THAT GOOD. It’s the story of Hazel, a child of war between species and planets. Hazel is the narrator who, in Volume 1, recounts her first days and the context for her birth. Her parents are Alana and Marko, fighters on the opposite sides of an interplanetary war. They are both wanted for getting married and producing Hazel. At the same time, they’re finding out each other’s pasts. It’s a rich, rollicking ride that twists and turns constantly.
The thing is, Saga is pretty much perfect. Great story? Check. Fantastic art? Check. Terrific characters? Check. Sly humor? Yes. I totally get why people are freaking out over it, and I need it IN MY LIFE LIKE RIGHT NOW.
There was a slight crisis of faith, however. My library only coded Volume 1 in the online reserve system, so I was convinced that the library did not have it. I was deliberating on whether or not to break my edict of not-buying-that-book-before-reading, when I decided to check out the library in person and see. Sure enough, Volumes 2, 3, AND 4 were there. Boom. I have lots of reading to do this week.
