It has been a very long time since I’ve had this much fun with comics! The story follows Alana and Marko, two former soldiers, now deserters from their opposing armies, who got married and went on to found a family. We see their daughter, Hazel, growing up on the run with her parents in a (mostly) hostile universe in which they encounter new friends and enemies alike.

And this is where Saga shines beyond any other comic I’ve ever encountered: Our fugitives meet a broad range of people who more often than not want to either capture or kill them. Unless there’s no other way, Alana, Marko…



… and their very diverse rag tag group of friends…



…and great sidekicks…



…will treat people with respect…



…kindness and the kind of simple decency I wish all of us would apply…



There are certainly very adult topics and scenes but they’re very obviously not included to “disturb” or “provoke” but they’re sensible parts of the story. This might not be something you want your kids to see but it’s part of our adult lives so why exclude it?

The story deals with issues such as war, racism, and sexuality in a thoughtful and nuanced way. It never feels preachy or heavy-handed, but rather adds another layer of depth to an already complex narrative.

The world-building (or rather: universe-building!) in general is brilliant: Vaughan has created a rich and complex universe, filled with different species, cultures, and technologies. The attention to detail is impressive, and I found myself fully immersed in this fantastical world.

The characters are also incredibly well-developed. Alana and Marko are complex and flawed, but ultimately relatable and likeable. Their love story is at the heart of the narrative, but the supporting characters are just as important. From the ghost(ly) babysitter Izabel to the bounty hunter The Will, each character has their own distinct personality and backstory.

The artwork by Fiona Staples is stunning. Her style is unique and dynamic, and she brings Vaughan's imaginative world to life with vivid colours and intricate details. The character designs are also impressive, with each species having their own distinct look and feel.

At times, the artwork feels slightly psychedelic, adding immensely to the overall enjoyment.

I only regret that I managed to get started on yet another unfinished series - and that cliffhanger at the end of “Compendium One” is just plain cruel!

If you have even the slightest interest in comics, graphical novels, epic space operas and/or science fiction, read this!

Five out of five stars! 🌈

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Ceterum censeo Putin esse delendam ( )

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More please! ( )

It's hard to know where to start when reviewing an epic set in a galactic, fantasy universe where everything is shaped by a generations-long battle between and underdog world of Esperanto-speaking horned magicians and mostly more crass, technologically oriented oppressors with wings, aided by a race of fleshly robots with televisions for heads; where a toddler is babysat by a teenage ghost whose guts hang down from her severed waist; where a human bounty hunter mourns his lover-colleague, a Venus de Milo whose body is that of an enormous spider; where a herder-warrior in the shape of a baby seal moves in a universe saturated with sex and drugs and monsters made out of shit. It just goes to show that if the emotions are real and the characters interact in believable ways, it doesn't matter how preposterous the setting. I read the first several issues of Saga in a bookstore, compelled to keep turning pages over a lunch break that grew to two hours, and the story stuck in my mind so insistently that I followed up several years later, buying the entire run of hundreds of pages as a tablet-based comics app.

After the first few issues, the art is truly tremendous. The humans look like real people, and the alien worlds look like real worlds with real temperatures and smells and glare. Themes wrestled with along the way include child abuse, domestic violence, abortion, religion, LGBTQ issues and the many challenges of being a committed couple. (If the stances taken on these issues never stray from what you'd expect from earnest liberal millennials, at least the stances are seriously examined and honestly held.) A major flaw in the storytelling, especially when reading the story not as a monthly serial but all at once, without enforced pauses, is the way extreme violence never seems to have serious psychological consequences. True, one of the main characters became a pacifist after his war experiences, and another deserted the army. But they don't suffer from PTSD or the other disorders that often follow after participation in deadly conflict, and--more to the point--neither do the several children who are literally doused in blood after adults around them are beheaded, dismembered, crushed or exploded in the course of the story. If anyone suffers from the violence, it's the reader, as the most interesting characters come to the earliest and most abrupt ends, while the ones who try the patience live on and on, and on.

But all told, this is a story worthy of its name, a fantasy war story smarter and less cynical than Game of Thrones, not a waste of time or something the middle-aged like myself need be embarrassed to have lying around. And if you're tired of the same old thing, it's worth checking out. You'll know by the end of the third issue whether it's your thing. ( )