Note: Some spoilers within for previous issues in this series.

Saga tells the continuing story of the little family of (the late) Marko and his wife Alana - a mixed-race couple - and their daughter Hazel. The family struggled to stay together in spite of a war between their two races.

Alana was from the planet Landfall, where inhabitants have wings on their backs, and Marko was from its moon, Wreath, where all people have horns on their heads. The two defied all convention (and propaganda, viz: those people have horns on their heads!) and fell in love. Hazel was born with both horns and wings, and it is Hazel who narrates the story.

Marko and Alana just wanted to find a way to be safe and happy and live in peace, but it wasn’t possible. The three of them were pursued throughout the galaxy by a number of beings trying to exploit them or kill them (or first one, then the other).

In Volume 9, however, both Marko and Sir Robert - once an enemy but eventually an ally - were murdered. It is now three years later. Alana, Hazel and Sir Robert’s son Squire are trying to make their way through the universe, surviving on scraps and barely escaping all those who still want to kill them.

This issue begins with Alana meeting a guy, Gale, who seemed to be trying to pick her up. She blew him off nicely, but he got extremely angry. Next we see Gale going into living quarters with a gun, where he meets Ianthe, who claims to be a captured diplomat. She asked Gale to help release her. As he is questioning her, Gale got captured as well. His captors are old characters we have met before, Upsher and Ghüs, friends of Alana. Gale threatened them with death (ironic since he was tied up) unless they told him “exactly where to find Hazel and her whore of a mother.”

Upsher, who lost his partner Doff, explained to Gale that for a while, he was consumed with the desire for vengeance. But seeing how Alana coped changed him, and he decided to break the cycle of violence and revenge. Now he seeks to help others “unlearn the lessons of generational trauma.” He said to Gale, “You’re not evil, you’re powerless. And afraid. Whatever horrors you’ve been compelled to do - by others or by your own broken psyche - it’s not too late to start making amends. It’s not even too late to find redemption.”

Gale called him stupid and retorted that “Killing is just nature’s way of expelling useless waste.” He escaped his bonds and tried to kill Ghüs and Upsher. What happens next to the three of them ends this installment.

Evaluation: This issue turned out to be quite timely, coming out just before the violence in Israel and Gaza over generational traumas. As usual, Vaughan’s text is full of astounding insights into life that will have you coming back for every new issue. Illustrator Fiona Staples is outstanding. ( )