Book Review: Saga, Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan (Writer), Fiona Staples (Artist)

Saga, Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan (Writer), Fiona Staples (Artist)

Paperback, 176 pages

Published October 2012 by Image Comics

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) nominated for Best Cover Artist (for Fiona Staples) (2013)

British Fantasy Award for Best Comic/Graphic Novel (2013)

Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards for Best New Series

Best Continuing Series, Best Writer (for Brian K. Vaughan) (2013)

Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Best Graphic Novels & Comics (2012)

I find it really strange that this series has been going since 2012 and I never read it. I am pretty sure I saw the cover around. Brian K Vaughn is a hit or miss writer for me, I loved Y the Last Man enough that I would have been interested if anyone told me the concept. I got interested when a film podcast I listen to mentioned that the film rights sold and they described as almost unfilmable. They seemed to think that BKV wrote Saga to be something that could only exist in the comic book medium. Is that true? Not sure about that but after reading the first book it seems very possible.

Saga is a high fantasy space opera, think of a hard R rated Star Wars. I would describe this as a fully adult Star Wars that gets a big boost from the amazing world-building in both the writing and Fiona Staples' amazing art. Much like A New Hope, we are thrown into this universe with little explanation but that is OK because the action and characters hook you right away. Eventually, you figure out that this is in our far future (I think) and humans are spread out in the galaxy, we see a few of them but our main characters are soldiers from opposite sides of a war who have just given birth to a baby Hazel.

This story is told by Hazel whose father Marko has horns and grew up a moon of their homeworld and her mother who winged and ferry looking a solider on the other side. They are badass new parents and they have to be because the Robot Kingdom and various bounty hunters are hired to kill them. Both sides are not stoked on the situation. There is not a ton to the story in this the first of nine volumes but it is a great introduction to the world and that is the job of this issue. At the core is a very relatable story of two parents trying to raise their child in an extreme situation. Beyond that surface is a super weird fantasy world that includes TV faced cyborgs, half spider lady assassins, a Rogue character with a truth detector cat and plenty of potential for space opera madness. All are things I dug.

Saga is a really cool piece of work and actually, I would love to see it as a TV series. might have to tone down the adult stuff but I don't think the story would suffer for that. He is an interesting thing. This is only the 9th book I read this year but if you look back at the books I have read this year I couldn't help compare this the uncompleted series that Malcolm Mcneil started in the 70's Tetra. Originally published in the '70s in Gallery magazine Tetra only recently re-surfaced when James Reich and Stalking Horse press brought it back from the dead.

Saga is much more developed but I did think to myself while reading SAGA if only Tetra had the time to grow. I am going to keep reading this for sure.