There’s not much to be said about Saga
For those not in the know, Saga is a sci-fi fantasy epic. It is described as “Star wars meets Game of Thrones” and also takes strong influence from Lord of the Rings and Flash Gordon. Saga tells the story of Alana and Marko, two star-crossed lovers from opposite sides of an intergalactic war. The story opens with some rather strong language from Alana as she gives birth to her and Marko’s daughter on the backwater planet, Cleave. The story goes on from there and the first 6 issue story arc, as collected in Saga: Volume One, follows their exodus from Cleave.
As expected, Brian K Vaughan comes into Saga in fine form as one of those rare writers with a masterful grasp over both plot and dialogue. Every conversation feels important and there really is no filler here. All the dialogue is witty, well worded and economical, while the story creates a world that is both insanely engaging as well as rich with its own unique lore.
Vaughn’s words are brought to life by the evocative art of Fiona Staples. The real genius of Staple’s art is her ability to blend the familiar and foreign into one cohesive setting. Everything she draws is vivid and full of life whether it be Alana’s horrified facial expressions, the enchanted forests of alien planets or even two robots getting it on.
Saga is edgy, original and just plain brilliant. It is well thought out and executed and I see no reason as to why this won’t become part of the comic ‘must read’ cannon up there with books like Alan Moore’s Watchman and Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns.
Christof Bogacs
I picked up this book on Christof’s recommendations and was utterly blown away. So much so that I had to write my own review, and since I didn’t want to publish two review of the same thing on one site, you’ll have to head over to my blog to read it.
http://www.katekrake.com/saga-by-brian-k-vaughan-and-fiona-staples-a-comic-review/