Saga, Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples – A Review

Saga, Volume One by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
Science Fiction
Published by Image Comics
Released October 23, 2012
Goodreads | Amazon
Rating:

The Saga series has been on my radar for years, so I’m not sure why I didn’t start reading it before now. There’s quite a bit of hype surrounding this series, so that could be part of the reason. As much as I hate to admit it, hype tends to make me nervous about picking up a book.

Saga, Volume One tells the story of one family amidst inter-planetary war. Alana and Marko are both former soldiers for their respective planets and find themselves on the run from both planets’ governments after giving birth to Hazel. Two mercenaries, The Will and The Stalk, are hired to track them down and kill the parents, but leave the infant alive.

One thing to keep in mind is that this comic series is meant for adults. There’s nudity, sex, violence, and a lot of foul language. This isn’t the type of graphic novel you give to your children.

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Hazel is the narrator of the story, which I hope continues into volume two and beyond. She’s telling us the story of her parents and her childhood, and it’s an interesting storytelling device.

There’s a lot going on in this graphic novel: war, magic, ghosts, spaceships that grow like trees, television people, a giant cat that can tell when someone’s lying, and so much more. I really enjoyed the uniqueness of it all, and will most certainly be carrying on with the series.

The writing style and art style work exceptionally well together. While I don’t think it lives up to the insane hype surrounding it, it is a great science fiction comic book series.

The thing that really makes this series stand out is its character development. Few of the characters are simply good or bad – there’s a lot of complex morality and personalities in the story.

Overall, while it’s definitely not my favorite comic book series, it’s still enjoyable and a unique take on the classic Romeo and Juliet trope.