Thursday, November 28, 2024

On the Coffee Table: Saga

Title: Saga, Volumes One - Four
Writer: Brian K. Vaughan
Artist: Fiona Staples

via Amazon

Saga
is an ongoing space opera comic book series, one of the most critically acclaimed titles in the industry, having won multiple Eisner, Harvey and Hugo awards.  The series has been running since March 2012 with 69 issues so far.  Apparently the goal is 120.  These four trade paperbacks cover the first 24.  

via Amazon

The story follows the adventures of Alana, Marko and their child, Hazel.  The parents are from two races who have been waging interstellar war for generations.  The family is being hunted by mercenaries from both sides, neither wanting the interracial romance exposed to the public.  Saga has drawn comparisons to Star Wars, Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings and Romeo and Juliet.  I see it as a Tarantino tale set in space with a lot more sex.

via Amazon

And yet, amid all of the violence, gore and lust, Saga has a lighter and relatable side.  Alana and Marko are, at their core, lovers desperately horny for each other, willing to risk it all for the sake of their love.  Once the child is born, they are protective and stressed out parents.  Their in-laws and exes complicate matters.  Set aside the fact that Alana has wings, Marko ram horns, their nanny is a ghost and their ship is a magical tree and it's just like real life.

via Amazon

The series is wonderful.  The art is vivid.  The writing is compelling and the story moves at a satisfying pace.  I have several more volumes on my TBR shelves as my wife has already read them.  So I'm definitely with Saga for the long haul.  Because of the quasi-pornographic sex and the shameless violence, it's not a series for children.  But for adults, it's good stuff.

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