Star-crossed interstellar lovers Alana and Marko are on the run from their people, trying to find a safe place for themselves and their new baby.
Time and Place: Anytime. The planet Cleave, in a distant galaxy, and Space.
Summary
Opening with the birth of a baby girl in a dirty machine shop on the planet Cleave, Saga launches straightaway into a story about love, family, and how far parents will go to protect their child. Alana is a winged former soldier from Landfall, the largest planet in their galaxy. Her horned husband Marko is a former prisoner from Landfall’s moon, which is at war with its parent planet. They are from two races – possibly species – and fell in love when Marko was in prison, and Alana his guard. They are on the run from the military might of each of their people, both factions showing up just moments after the birth of their baby. Through a stroke of luck, the soldiers kill each other but leave Alana, Marko and the baby unharmed. (Though, as Marko is able to wield fairly powerful magic, it might not all have been luck.)
The trio is given a map that mentions a place called “Rocketship Forest.” Having no other resources to fall back on and knowing they have to get off the planet, they begin their journey to find a rocketship. Of course, their path is fraught with peril and there are – quite memorable – bounty hunters on their trail, but they receive help from a surprising source along the way.
Evaluation
This book was gorgeous, gruesome, gritty, ghastly, and glorious. The art was beautiful, the writing witty and real, brilliantly peppered with common “human” elements that immediately connect the reader to the characters. I fell a little in love with all of them (well, not all.) What a fantastic kickoff to a massively popular ongoing series. (It’s for mature readers – there’s some graphic stuff in there.)
Why I read it: I have been avoiding graphic novels for a long time (call me old-fashioned, but I tend to like more words per page.) I had to face my fears and went looking for a good one to start with. Two reputable sources raved about Saga, the cover was gorgeous, I’m all about interracial alien romance, so I was sold.
Rating: ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ / ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ (rating scale here)
Discussion questions
- The book started pretty grittily (or gristly as the case may be) – did you like it, or did that put you off?
- Did you expect The Will to turn out to be “the good guy”? Did you feel sorry for The Stalk?
- Why do you think the author decided to skip the whole first meeting / falling in love / escaping from prison backstory and jumped right to the birth of Alana and Marko’s lovechild?
Genre: Graphic Novel – Science Fiction / Fantasy
Awards
- Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story (2013)
- Harvey Awards for Best Continuing or Limited Series, Best New Series, Best Single Issue or Story (Saga #1), Best Writer (for Brian K. Vaughan), Best Artist (for Fiona Staples)
- Best Colorist (for Fiona Staples) AND nominated for Best Cover Artist (for Fiona Staples) (2013)
- Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards for Best New Series, Best Continuing Series, Best Writer (for Brian K. Vaughan) (2013)
- Voted one of the top graphic novels of the year by the NYT, IGN, the Examiner, and SF Weekly
- Voted Best Comic of the year by MTV Geek and Best New Series by Paradox Comics Voted a finalist in the GoodReads Best GN of 2012 contest
- Named one of Time Magazine’s top 10 graphic novels for 2013
Professional reviews: Publisher’s Weekly
Readalikes: Bright of the Sky (Kay Kenyon,) The Walking Dead (Robert Kirkman,) John Carter (Peter David / Peter Allen)
Author readalikes: Joss Whedon, Dan Abnett, Pat Mills
Bibliographic information
Title: Saga, Volume 1
Author: Brian K. Vaughan (writer, http://bkvcomics.com/) and Fiona Staples (artist, http://fionastaples.tumblr.com/about)
Publication: Image Comics, Inc., Berkeley, 2012
Pages: 160
ISBN: 978-1607066019
Series notes: Book 1 of 42 in the Saga series
Available in: Paperback ($6.92,) Kindle eBook ($3.99)
Also available for free at your local library.
4into8 
Recent Comments