We meet Marko and Alana the day their daughter is born. In the back of an old body shop, on a star called Cleave, little Hazel is born to parents who were once on opposite sides of an ages old war. Now, with the birth of their hybrid daughter, Marko and Alana's old armies have even more reason to find the new family and end them. . .
Marko is from planet Wreath. He was a prisoner and Alana his guard; she was from planet Landfall. Both of them decided their love was more important than continuing to fight in a war that neither planet can remember the origins of.
But now Hazel has been born, and there is a buzz in the Landfall Capital. Prince Robot IV is being taken out of his peaceful reprieve and sent to hunt down Marko and Alana - making sure to end them before word gets out to either side of their AWOL treachery in the name of enemy `love'. Meanwhile, Wreath's people have hired freelance assassins to kill the dissenting parents, and return with baby Hazel alive. On the case are two of the galaxy's most successful assassins - The Will, along with his trusty Lying Cat. Then there's The Stalk - who never misses her target.
`Saga' Volume One is the first graphic novel instalment in a new intergalactic series, with story by Brian K. Vaughn and art by Fiona Staples.
I am a fan of graphic novels - but I admit, I've been very conservative in my graphic reading habits. I tried to get into the spin-off `Buffy' comic series back in 2007, because it was touted as being Season eight and I was still feeling the `Buffy' void after the show's end. But I just couldn't get into it - Joss Whedon's particular brand of snark works best for me on TV. So then I limited my reading to graphic adaptations of the book series I already loved - Diana Gabaldon's `The Exile' story set in her `Outlander' universe. I love the graphic adaptations of Paricia Briggs's `Mercy Thompson' and Gail Carriger's `Parasol Protectorate' series. I journeyed outside my comfort zone when I read the brilliant children's graphic novel `The Deep: Here Be Dragons' with story by Tom Taylor, and art by James Brouwer. So I was well and truly ready to delve even deeper into the graphic novel world, when a blog I frequent by the name of Jezebel wrote up a glowing piece on this new series called `Saga'. It sounded dark, smart and complex - but it was mention of a (literal) star-crossed lover's story that really hooked me.
`Saga' is so, so, so good! I was laughing from the first page - and from the first panel glimpse of Marko, I was swooning. The story begins right in the thick of action - with Alana giving birth to Hazel and soldiers from both Wreath and Landfall breaking in to take the family down - because word of enemy's falling in love and starting a family would be one hell of a bad PR campaign for this war of no end.
The series is very clever and makes societal and political commentaries that are reflective and relevant to the modern-day. It's in the things like Landfall royalty, Prince Robot IV, having a television for a head - that, I think, says something about corrupt media's tyrannical hold over society. Then there's the pornographic planet, Sextillion, where hired assassin The Will travels when he's down on his luck hunting the new parents and wants to drown his sorrows in sex. Sextillion is all bright lights, paid flesh and beautiful depravity - but, as The Will soon discovers, it has a sick and seedy underbelly . . . again, this is no doubt commentary on the sexualisation of our own society - and in a particularly horrendous scene, Vaughan will really have you thinking about the slippery slope of carnal consumerism.
I did appreciate how very, very clever `Saga' was - for all that's between the panels, if you will. But what made this graphic novel so brilliant was the story. In particular, I loved our narrator; an older Hazel is recounting the story of her parent's love and her birth from somewhere in the future. She peppers her reminiscence with references to life now. At one point she muses; "From my very first day, I was pursued by men. All of them tried to hurt me, but only one managed to break my heart . . . Sorry, getting ahead of myself." I loved that Hazel had a voice in this novel, it means that though she's an adorable (but silent) baby when this story starts, we do get a sense of her personality through her omniscient narration - more than that, her hints about what the future holds makes me very, very hopeful for a long, epic series in which we eventually catch up in the story to follow an older Hazel.
`Saga' is very much an adult graphic novel (if the mention of Sextillion wasn't enough of a tip-off). There are graphic sex scenes, and violent deaths. It's also scary as all get out . . . when I turned the page and saw an image of spider-like assassin The Stalk I felt my palms begin to sweat. It's really a testament to Fiona Staple's utterly beautiful, detailed and sometimes creepy artwork. She's amazing - and I think I will have to trawl through her backlist and read absolutely everything she's put her artistic licence to.
The fact that `Saga' is so adult is also why I liked it so much - it's complex and far-reaching, set on an epic scale and concerning AWOL lovers, broken-hearted assassins and royal soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder. This is really a series to sink your teeth into.
I will also say that `Saga' has a very cinematic quality to it. I have high-hopes that because Brian K. Vaughan has a Hollywood history (he was a writer/producer on TV show `Lost') that there is every chance this brilliant series could be adapted . . . I'm especially elated to discover that Vaughan wrote for the Buffy season 8 comic series, because while reading `Saga' I kept thinking that it had a Joss Whedon quality to it - with hints of `Firefly'. It's in Alana's snarky comments, a tangled back-story between The Will and The Stalk and a clear long-reaching story arc.
I love, love, loved `Saga'. I'm now officially addicted. Issue number seven has recently come out, with instalment eight due later in November. I need it - seriously! It has become a delicious drug, delving into this intergalactic love story and I just can't wait to go back. . .
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From the Publisher
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"A little bit Romeo & Juliet and a lot Star Wars." —USA Today |
"Mischievous, vulgar and gloriously inventive." —TIME Magazine |
"May it run for 1,000 issues." —Rolling Stone Magazine |
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| What to read next if you love SAGA! | Four 12-year-old newspaper delivery girls from the year 1988 uncover the most important story of all time. | Every ninety years, twelve gods incarnate as humans. They are loved. They are hated. In two years, they are dead. | A teen girl struggles to survive the trauma of war, and shares a mysterious psychic link with a monster of tremendous power. | A scientist has punched through the barriers of reality but what lies beyond the veil is not epiphany, but chaos. | The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse roam the Earth, signaling the End Times, but our best hope for life lies in death. | It's 2003, supernatural creatures casually exist amongst humans, and America is made up of 31 states. |
It's definitely worth the hype!
Two star crossed lovers have a child and end up fleeing from their worlds to fight the odds and raise their child. Alana was supposed to be guarding the prisoner, Marko, but neither agreed with the war and ended up escaping. While on the run they fell in love, got married, and had a child named Hazel. Because they are wanted, they have two people hunting them down. The Prince with this tv head (who isn’t all that interesting to me and parts of his story are in my opinion not needed) and another freelancer. As they run, they’re able to defend themselves and when they couldn’t they had the help of a local girl.My only gripe with his volume was Sextillion. Right… I think this story could have honestly done without this part. I felt it was a little cheesy and didn’t see the point or how it could really benefit the story. Maybe that will be answered in some other way in future volumes, but it think it was a bit much. Definitely had some mature content if you haven’t picked up on that yet!Otherwise, I can’t believe I waited so long to pick this up. After hearing for so long how much everyone raved about this it was time I finally got into and now I’m sorry I waited so long! I loved the story line (minus a few pieces here and there), the characters, the mood, and the art is really pretty too. The story is such an interesting premise. It’s strong and relatable. The characters are also strong. They’re a bit stubborn at times, but also fierce and loyal and you can’t help but love them and what they stand for. The art helped pull you in and created the feels and moods especially with the colors used. I’m obsessing over this at the moment. The instant I finished I knew I had to continue. Amazon Prime two day deliver won’t be soon enough!
Top reviews from other countries
Henning
"Intrigantes Universum und fesselnde Charaktere: Saga Band 1
Reviewed in Germany on June 22, 2023Sofia Boquist
Beautiful art and a good story
Reviewed in Sweden on September 21, 2022
KL
Fascinating read! Totally recommend it.
Reviewed in India on March 16, 2019
KL
Reviewed in India on March 16, 2019
About the graphic novel, it was an amazing read and it took like an hour to finish. And the graphics were brilliantly done!
*The story follows this couple - Alana and Marco who are from this two kinds of people - horns and wings who are fighting eachother for a long time .
*So the couple have a baby and the story is from the kid's perspective , how it's parents are struggling to keep themselves and the baby alive.
*They are in another planet and trying to fight there way out of it.
*It's hilarious , emotional and amazing.
*This is a adult graphic novel and those who are reading it should be aware of nudity and foul language.
Images in this review
